RUSH: How many of you have gone out and tried to buy health insurance lately? Have you been surprised by any of it? Well, I’m asking you out there because there is stunning news — beta 9 just dropped if you want to go — you’ve got it, okay. There’s a story here Investor’s Business Daily. Well, Investors. It used to be Investor’s Business Daily, but they have modernized. “Media Ignore Record Low Increase In Obamacare Premiums.” Anybody want to guess why? I wonder if any of you who have tried to buy health insurance lately have been shocked at how — it’s not inexpensive, but how small the increases from previous years are. “Democrats promised to make President Trump’s efforts to ‘sabotage’ ObamaCare a big election issue this year.”

Where is it? Has anybody seen the Democrats making a big deal out of Trump trying to sabotage Obamacare? Have you seen that? You haven’t, have you? There isn’t any. I haven’t seen any Democrats caterwauling about Trump destroying Obamacare, have you? They were gonna make it a big deal. Why haven’t they? Well, because there isn’t any big deal.

Rate increases for Obamacare premiums started coming in well below expectations, I mean well below expectations. And people said, why isn’t that news? Because it doesn’t help the Democrats. That’s why it’s not news.

“A few months ago, the Washington Post reported that Democrats were ‘centering their campaign to retake Congress … on a staunch defense of the Affordable Care Act.’ Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer declared that ‘We Democrats are going to be relentless in making sure the American people exactly understand who is to blame’ for-sky high rate hikes. News outlets ran story after doomsday story about how efforts to undermine ObamaCare by Republicans and the Trump administration would cause a huge spike in premiums.”

Remember after Trump was elected, what Paul Krugman said? That we were going to be in a permanent economic decline, not temporary, a permanent economic recession. Why does the guy even have a job? He hasn’t been close to right since Trump was elected or two years before it. So another big Democrat issue has just bitten the dust.

Now, let me tell you why they were gonna make a big issue out of it. Obamacare premiums in 2014 increased 25%. In 2015 Obamacare premiums, if you went to the Obamacare website like the law used to mandate that you do, if you went there in 2015, the increase was 14% from the year before. In 2016, election year, the rate increase was 8%. In 2017, Obamacare rate increases were 23%. Remember Trump hadn’t done anything to Obamacare yet, tried but hadn’t done anything. In 2018, the 2018 health insurance premiums were purchased in late 2017, okay? So 37% increase over 2017, which was a 23% increase over 2016.

The increase, if you go buy health insurance now, if you’ve been buying it now or for the rest of the year, the 2019 health insurance rate increase will be 1% or less. It’s what’s called bending the cost curve down. It’s what happens when adults are put in charge of things. This is what happens when a central key element of Obamacare was repealed. Making you buy it, there’s no reason to cut costs if you have to buy it. Why would anybody cut costs? With the mandate gone, there’s competition. It’s stunning. Health insurance increase. They’re sky-high, don’t misunderstand. But the rate increase next year is only gonna be 1% because of action the Trump administration has taken on Obama.