Interesting interview yesterday on Fox News Sunday. Chris Wallace was interviewing the architect of Obamacare, Zeke Emanuel, watch the exchange below:
Wallace asked: “President Obama famously promised, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. Doesn’t that turn out to be just as false, just as misleading, as his promise about if you like your plan, you can keep your plan? Isn’t it a fact, sir, that a number, most, in fact, of the Obamacare health plans that are being offered on the exchanges exclude a number of doctors and hospitals to lower costs?”
Emanuel responded: “The president never said you were going to have unlimited choice of any doctor in the country you want to go to.”
Wallace: “No. He asked a question. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. Did he not say that, sir?”
Emanuel: “He didn’t say you could have unlimited choice.”
Wallace: “It’s a simple yes or no question. Did he say if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor?”
Emanuel: “Yes. But look, if you want to pay more for an insurance company that covers your doctor, you can do that. This is a matter of choice. We know in all sorts of places you pay more for certain — for a wider range of choices or wider range of benefits.The issue isn’t the selective networks. People keep saying, ‘Oh, the problem is you’re going to have a selective network–”
Wallace: “Well, if you lose your doctor or lose your hospital–”
Emanuel: “Let me just say something. People are going to have a choice as to whether they want to pay a certain amount for a selective network or pay more for a broader network.”
Wallace: “Which will mean your premiums will probably go up.”
Emanuel: “They get that choice. That’s a choice they always made.”
Wallace: “Which means your premium may go up over what you were paying so that, in other words —
Emanuel: No one guaranteed you that your premium wouldn’t increase. Premiums have been going up.”
Wallace: “The president guaranteed me I could keep my doctor.”
Emanuel: “And if you want to, you can pay for it,”