White House Press Secretary was faced with some difficult questions about Obamacare and pressed to admit that the law will have "winners and losers" now that some Americans are facing dramatic rate increases.
White House press secretary Jay Carney speaks at the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 28, 2013, where he took questions on intelligence gathering of world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Though there are several other instances of increased cost under Obamacare, reporter Ed Henry brought up 56-year-old Dianne Barrette, who told CBS News that her health care costs will increase at least ten times.
Carney was evasive and refused to address "individual case-by-case" stories. However, he did actually admit that not everyone will be able to keep their plans as President Barack Obama promised so many times.
"What is true is that subsidies are available to individuals that are not necessarily reflected if they just look at premium prices," he replied. "Nearly 50 percent of the people we are talking about here would qualify for a subsidy… The fact of the matter is millions of Americans are going to have available to them insurance that they've never had, and quality insurance that they've never had."
Following up on Henry's question, NBC News reporter Peter Alexander asked how many Americans will lose their current plan or have to change plans because of Obamacare.
Carney conceded that some people will be required to switch from plans that don't meet minimum standards under Obamacare.
"So does the White House concede that there are winners and losers in this plan?” Alexander pressed. “Including one individual we spoke to in North Carolina whose family, to keep the closest, similar plan to the one they have now, will pay 430% more than their present plan."
"Again, I don't have specifics from your networks -- Peter, what I can tell you is overwhelmingly people are going to have affordable health care available to them that wasn't available before," Carney said. "I understand that there are existing plans that are so bare bones, they don't provide adequate coverage."
Carney also argued that it's "not a fair comparison" to compare people's old plans to new plans under Obamacare.
(H/T: Mediaite)
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