Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) said on Tuesday that a recent study on the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on health insurance costs is proof that the law needs to be fully repealed.
A study conducted by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research found that ACA led to an average increase of 49 percent in the cost of individually purchased health insurance plans.
Graves, the chairman of the House Small Business Committee, said the report disproved President Obama’s claim throughout the healthcare debate that the law would lead to lower premiums.
Buchanan County, Mo., saw an increase of 271 percent in individually purchased health insurance plans among men, higher than any other county in the country, according to the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.
“Aside from Obamacare’s ongoing dysfunction and delay, the added costs and burdens being forced on Missourians are a major cause for alarm,” Graves said. “What we are seeing in Buchanan County and the greater Kansas City area are some of the biggest premium increases in the country. The president even promised that Obamacare would lower premiums for the middle class.”
Graves said the pattern of broken promises has created public confusion and distrust.
“The only way to truly prevent more skyrocketing premiums and dropped coverage is to fully repeal a law that is far too flawed to stand as law of the land,” Graves said.