President's Claims About Obamacare Cost Controls Don't Add Up

Less than truthful

Secretary Sebelius, like Obama, asserted that "the statistics show how the Affordable Care Act is already making a difference."

A little problem: The ACA, also known as Obamacare, wasn't passed until 2010, and the key portions of the law don't take effect until 2014. Some of the provisions that took effect by 2011 may have added to health-care spending by making coverage more generous. …

The Wall Street Journal, in an editorial on the subject, quoted government actuaries calling the law's impact on health costs through 2011 "minimal."

Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, joins many other health-care analysts in saying that a weak economy is one big reason for slower-growing costs.