In the 9 a.m. ET hour on Friday, NBC's Today provided only 26 seconds to another major change to ObamaCare that news anchor Natalie Morales acknowledged "may end up costing you thousands of dollars out of pocket." Neither ABC's Good Morning America nor CBS This Morning bothered to mention the development, which was reported overnight by the Associated Press.
Morales explained: "The Obama administration has given the go-ahead for a new cost-control strategy, it's called reference pricing. It lets insurers and employers put a dollar limit on what health plans pay for some expensive procedures such as knee and hip replacements. Some experts worry that undercuts financial protections in the new health care law." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
Here is a full transcript of the May 16 news brief:
9:23 AM ET
NATALIE MORALES: Health insurance customers, you're going to want to listen up. New rules may end up costing you thousands of dollars out of pocket.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Reference Pricing; Employers Can Put Dollar Limit On Payouts]
The Obama administration has given the go-ahead for a new cost-control strategy, it's called reference pricing. It lets insurers and employers put a dollar limit on what health plans pay for some expensive procedures such as knee and hip replacements. Some experts worry that undercuts financial protections in the new health care law.
