Yes, Jonathan Gruber Is An Obamacare “Architect”
The health law’s allies are trying to distance themselves from the economist’s remarks about the deception involved in passing the law. But they’re only proving him right.
Peter Suderman | November 18, 2014
In the space of a week, Jonathan Gruber has become a non-person in Washington. Until last Monday, the MIT health economist was widely and uncontroversially cited as an “architect” of the Affordable Care Act, a go-toexpert regarding the law’s politics and mechanics. But after multiple videos surfaced in which Gruber said or implied that the bill’s backers relied on deception and an assumption of voter stupidity in order to pass it, Obamacare’s backers moved swiftly to distance themselves from Gruber and downplay his role in the creation of the law.
Asked about Gruber’s videotaped declaration that “lack of transparency” provided “a huge political advantage,” Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi responded dismissively. “I don’t know who he is,” she said. “He didn’t help write our bill.” A Wall Street Journal item by Neera Tanden, the president of the liberal Center for American Progress and a former administration staffer, opened by insisting that Gruber “did not make policy, nor did he work for the White House, HHS, or any congressional committee.” Jay Angoff, the former overseer of the health law’s implementation at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), told Politico that Gruber was neither a legislator nor a staffer. “He’s like 300 million other Americans who can have their opinion.”
Even the president himself weighed in. Responding over the weekend to questions about Gruber’s statements, President Obama pushed back on Gruber’s role, labeling him “some adviser who was never on our staff.” Gruber’s remarks, Obama said, were “not a reflection on the actual process that was run” when crafting and passing Obamacare.
https://reason.com/archives/2014/11/18/yes-jonathan-gruber-is-an-obamacare-arch