Politics

Gruber: I Knew People Were Going To Lose Their Health Plans

Patrick Howley Political Reporter
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Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber admitted he knew people were going to lose their existing health insurance plans when he was writing the health care reform law, and he told officials in the Obama administration exactly that.

“I believed that the law would not affect the vast majority of Americans,” Gruber said when asked at Tuesday’s House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing whether he knew people would lose their plans. Gruber then repeated his statement.

“It is true that some people would have to upgrade their plans,” Gruber finally admitted under tough questioning from Rep. Tim Walberg.

Walberg then asked Gruber why President Barack Obama told people that if they liked their plans they could keep them when even his own expert told him otherwise.

“I’m not a political adviser and I have no answer to that question,” Gruber said.

“That was part of the calculation” Gruber later said. “We did model that some individuals would lose their existing plans and move to new forms of coverage. … I don’t know the national estimate for how many people lost health insurance, so I don’t know how it compares to what I projected.”

Gruber confirmed that he told administration officials at meetings that people would lose their plans.

“I was present for discussion of those numbers and interpretation of what they meant in terms of how the law would affect individuals,” Gruber said.

Obama previously threw Gruber under the bus, calling him “some adviser who never worked on our staff” after Gruber’s comments calling the American people “stupid” and detailing various Obamacare deceptions came to light.

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