On Thursday’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) argued that the need for tax credits in order to keep health insurance premiums from going through the roof doesn’t show that Obamacare is a failure because it hasn’t held down costs and stated that “Republicans are raising healthcare costs, and we need them to come to the table with a concrete path forward for avoiding that.”
Co-host Steve Inskeep asked, [relevant exchange begins around 3:50] “I want to ask one follow-up, though, about these tax credits. Republicans have made an interesting point. They’ve said the tax credits are necessary for people to be able to afford health insurance because health insurance costs keep going up and up, because, they say, Obamacare is a failure. It failed to hold down costs, which is one of the goals. In about 30 seconds, is that a failure?”
Coons responded, “I don’t think it is a failure. I do think there [are] bipartisan things we could do to reduce healthcare costs, for example, PBR reform. But we need to work together, and we can’t do that only after Democrats agree to keep moving forward. Republicans are raising healthcare costs, and we need them to come to the table with a concrete path forward for avoiding that.”
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