Affordable Care Act's Role in Slowing Health Costs Debated

Health cost growth has slowed in recent years and some are crediting the Affordable Care Act for that, including President Barack Obama. But some experts say the lower rates are due to the economy and less spending during the recession. The health law's impact was too hard to measure, experts said. 

Fact Check: Is Obamacare Slowing Growth of Health Costs? (ABC News)

  • President Barack Obama claimed in remarks to his Export Council that in just three years the Affordable Care Act has helped slow the growth of health costs to the lowest rates in decades.
  • The president's claims are correct, according to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data. National health spending grew by 3.9 percent from 2009 through 2011 and by nearly 4 percent in 2012. Those rates should be similar for 2013 – the lowest since the government started keeping track in 1960.
  • Many independent experts say, however, that the lower rates are due to the economy and less spending during the recessions. The Affordable Care Act's role is hard to measure, they say.

In Fox News poll, Republicans like Affordable Care Act more than 'Obamacare' (NY Daily News)

  • Republicans' support of President Obama's health care legislation rose eight percentage points when referred to as the Affordable Care Act instead of "Obamacare", according to a new Fox News poll.
  • However, support among Republican voters was just 22 percent of those surveyed between Sept. 6 and 9, compared with 14 percent who said they supported "Obamacare."
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