On Tuesday night, the major English and Spanish broadcast networks ignored news that health insurance premiums under ObamaCare are expected to go up in the next year with many topping out in the double digits following claims that the health care law would bring them down.
In addition, the networks punted on a poll indicating that support for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is continuing to tumble while CBS again neglected to take note of the latest CBS News/New York Times poll that showed more Americans disapprove of President Obama’s handling of foreign policy than those that support him.
Concerning ObamaCare, the blackout comes despite a story that appeared on the front-page of The New York Times’s business section that explained the move by health insurers to raise rates and was billed as “a sign of tumult in the health insurance industry under the Affordable Care Act.”
The story also saw the light of the day on the Fox News Channel (FNC) with a full report on Tuesday’s Special Report. Host Bret Baier urged viewers at the onset to recall “what President Obama said about bringing health premiums down” and how, instead, there are now “millions of ObamaCare subscribers [who] are actually seeing an incredibly rapid upward climb in their premiums.”
Correspondent Rich Edson then continued on that theme during his report:
The Obama administration has revealed how much insurance companies propose raising premiums next year. In many cases, it's a lot. In Texas, Bluecross and Blue Shield said it lost about $400 million last year selling individual insurance plans. Next year, it proposes raising premiums by nearly 20 percent. Aetna in New Jersey is requesting 30 percent hike. Wellmark of South Dakota wants a nearly 43 percent increase.
As for the polling, the latest CNN/ORC poll spelled out some troubling news for Clinton. According to an article about the poll’s findings:
A growing number of people say she is not honest and trustworthy (57%, up from 49% in March), less than half feel she cares about people like them (47%, down from 53% last July) and more now feel she does not inspire confidence (50%, up from 42% last March).
In head-to-head match-ups against top Republicans, her margin is tighter than it has been at any point in CNN/ORC's polling on the contest.
The lack of coverage that CBS has devoted to its own poll comes as little to no surprise. The CBS News/New York Times poll saw a brief mention on Tuesday’s CBS This Morning, but it was only to spotlight its questions on money politics and the conclusion by co-host Gayle King that “Americans believe there is too much cash in politics.”
In an example from a previous poll, CBS neglected to cover its May poll and how it found that a majority of Americans backed religious freedom for business owners.
The relevant portions of the transcript from FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier on June 2 can be found below.
FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier
June 2, 2015
6:17 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: Premiums Skyrocketing]
BRET BAIER: Remember what President Obama said about bringing health premiums down? Well, in recent days, millions of ObamaCare subscribers are actually seeing an incredibly rapid upward climb in their premiums. Correspondent Rich Edson tells us just how bad it might get.
RICH EDSON: The Obama administration has revealed how much insurance companies propose raising premiums next year. In many cases, it's a lot. In Texas, Bluecross and Blue Shield said it lost about $400 million last year selling individual insurance plans. Next year, it proposes raising premiums by nearly 20 percent. Aetna in New Jersey is requesting 30 percent hike. Wellmark of South Dakota wants a nearly 43 percent increase.
HEALTH POLICY & STRATEGY ASSOCIATE’s ROBERT LASZEWSKI: These big rate increases mean that ObamaCare insurance policies will cost a lot more.
EDSON: The administration contends these projections are only initial estimates. The White House says, thanks to ObamaCare, these increases are now transparent and negotiable.
(....)
EDSON: The administration has only released information on plans with proposed increases of at least 10 percent and says insurers project most will enroll in plans with premium hikes of less than 10 percent, though critics say these estimates from insurance companies show a fundamental weakness in the health care law.
LASZEWSKI: They’re not having confidence that more healthy people are coming into the pool and they are starting to take their rate actions a year earlier than we really expected.
EDSON: The administration says it will publish the final rate increases by November. This, while there are questions as to how much the government can help Americans pay for their ObamaCare insurance. If the Supreme Court decides against the administration in a ruling expected this month, citizens in up to 34 states could lose their government health subsidies.
