This morning, Donald Trump promoted a report from Fox News that he seemed not to realize blamed him for “huge premium hikes on Obamacare plans.”
As Raw Story noted, Trump “shared a tweet from his favorite morning show, Fox & Friends, that warned Obamacare premiums would be rising.”
Insurers seeking huge premium hikes on ObamaCare plans https://t.co/YrUwvMKlyb
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) August 3, 2017
Trump probably thought the report bolstered his “Let Obamacare fail” chest thumping with acknowledgment that the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) is in a death spiral (it isn’t).
But what Trump didn’t seem to understand is that the report put much of the blame on him for the premium hikes. Yes, even Fox News said so.
Of course, Fox tried to put the Trump-friendliest face on the news. Its article, which is based on reporting by The Wall Street Journal, seemed to validate Trump in its opening paragraphs:
Top health insurance companies in numerous states are looking to hike premiums by double-digits – some by roughly 30 percent or more – for ObamaCare plans in 2018, according to newly released figures that could light a fire under stalled efforts on Capitol Hill to fix the program.
“A lot of us have lost focus on the fact that the system we have doesn’t work,” White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday, referring to the proposed premium hikes.
But the article concludes:
However, while the premium hikes could energize GOP efforts to upend the Affordable Care Act, they also could fuel Democrats’ criticism over how Republicans are handling to repeal/replace debate.
The Journal reported that insurers are concerned about Trump’s threat to halt payments to the industry that in turn help bring down costs, as well as whether Republicans will continue to enforce the individual mandate to buy insurance.
According to the Journal, one insurer in Montana linked the bulk of its proposed 23 percent increase to those two concerns.
In other words, rather than validating Trump, the article depicts him as hurting consumers and potentially helping Democrats in the process.
Did Trump not bother to read the article before he promoted it? Or did he not understand it? And which is worse?
Donald Trump graphic by DonkeyHotey via Creative Commons license.