Recent comments made by President Barack Obama about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has left some business leaders in the U.S. with a sour taste in their mouths.
At a press briefing, Obama pointed out how many polls suggest that Americans aren't particularly fond of the ACA, mainly due to the variety of analyses suggesting that healthcare costs may rise once the law goes fully into effect. But Obama noted that it's not the reform law causing premiums to spike.
"The 85 percent who are already out there, and they may be saying, well, if this law's so great, why is it that my premium still went up?" said Obama. "Well, part of what's happening across the country is in some cases for example employers may be shifting more [employee benefit] costs through higher premiums or higher co-pays.
He added that increased costs derive not from the ACA but from those that are being passed down from insurers and companies that raise premiums when they don't have to.
Someone who's taken umbrage with that statement is Dan Danner, CEO and president of the National Federation of Independent Business.
"In an effort to garner support for a health-care law that half of Americans view unfavorably, President Obama is taking a new tack – blaming job creators," said Danner. "Telling Americans that employers, not a poorly-crafted law, are to blame for the skyrocketing costs that will come with the full implementation of Obamacare, is terribly misleading and inaccurate."
Numerous polls have shown just how unfavorably consumers in general view the ACA. In a recent poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports, only 19 percent of respondents said that the ACA has helped them by either providing them with coverage more easily or lowering their premiums. Conversely, more than one-third said that the law has wound up hurting them financially, often causing their health costs to rise.
