Jonathan Gruber, the MIT professor known as the architect of both Massachusetts’ “Romneycare” and the Affordable Care Act, told CNN’s Carol Costello that though ACA rates are increasing by 25 percent for more than one million Americans, the law does not need to be fixed.
“Look at what’s happening now,” Costello posed to Gruber. “Premiums are going to raise 22 percent for some people who are enrolled in Obamacare… Let’s talk about how exactly you can fix Obamacare.”
“I need you to be specific because I think people really want answers,” she continued. “Hillary Clinton says she can fix Obamacare. What would be one fix that would drive premiums down?”
“Look, once again, there’s no,” Gruber began to say before changing course. “The law is working as designed. However, it could work better.”
“Probably the most important things experts would agree on is we need a larger mandate penalty,” he explained. “We have individuals who are essentially free-riding on the system, essentially waiting until they get sick, and then getting health insurance.”
“The whole idea of this plan, the way it was pioneered in Massachusetts, was that the individual mandate penalty would bring those people into the system and have them participate. The penalty right now is probably too low and that’s something i think ideally we would fix.”