One of the most contentious issues in the 2016 presidential election is the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Both Republicans and Democrats discuss it on the campaign trail.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton falls in to that category.
During the January 17th Democratic presidential debate in South Carolina, Clinton said “We now have driven (health care) costs down to the lowest they’ve been in 50 years.”
PolitiFact Florida heard the statement. After researching it, the claim received a FALSE rating on the Truth-O-Meter.
PolitiFact writer Joshua Gillin says the most recent data doesn’t support Clinton’s statement.
“The latest data we saw showed that it actually has been bumping up recently in 2014. That’s the latest we could find by one measure,” Gillin said.
Gillin went on to say the way in which Clinton worded her statement added to its inaccuracy. For that reason, it received a FALSE rating.
SOURCES:
- WhiteHouse.gov, "Trends in Health Care Cost Growth and the Role of the Affordable Care Act," November 2013, accessed Jan. 17, 2016
- Health Affairs, "National Health Expenditure Projections, 2014-2024: Spending Growth Faster Than Recent Trends," published online July 2015, accessed Jan. 17, 2016.
- Associated Press, "2014 US health spending grew at fastest rate of Obama years," Dec. 2, 2015
- PolitiFact, "Obama said health premiums in the last two years went up slower than any time in the past five decades," Oct. 4, 2012
- Email, Nick Merrill, spokesman, Hillary Clinton campaign, Jan. 17, 2016