Jay Carney Pressed to Concede Obamacare Will Have ‘Winners and Losers’
During Monday afternoon’s White House Press Briefing, NBC reporter Peter Alexander pressed Jay Carney to concede on behalf of the administration that the Affordable Care Act will have its share of “winners and losers.”
The question came about after Fox reporter Ed Henry mentioned the case of Dianne Barrette, a 56-year-old woman who tearfully told CBS News how under Obamacare her healthcare costs will increase at least ten times. To her case, Carney said he could not address the policy on an “individual case-by-case” basis asserting that millions of Americans will now have insurance they previously did not have.
NBC reporter Alexander jumped in to ask how many individuals on the market will lose their plan or have to change their plans as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Carney responded by suggesting that some people will have to switch from insurance coverage that does not meet the minimum standards set forth by law.
“So does the White House concede that there are winners and losers in this plan?” Alexander asked. “Including an individual we [at NBC] spoke to in North Carolina whose family… will pay 430% more than their present plan.”
Carney once again said he cannot answer about individual cases, but Alexander pushed: “Are there winners and losers?” The press secretary then reiterated his earlier point that “millions of Americans will now have insurance they previously did not have,” before saying it’s an “unfair comparison” to bring up bare-minimum insurance plans and the ones provided under the ACA.
Watch below, via C-SPAN:
