Buffett’s Call to Scrap Obamacare is from 2010

A website called Money Morning published some quotes from investor Warren Buffett suggesting it was time to scrap Obamacare and start over. The story is undated but Google indicates it was published last Friday, Sep. 13th.

“What we have now is untenable over time,” Buffett is quoted as saying. He adds “the American public is not behind this bill.” It certainly sounds as if Buffett is joining the movement to repeal Obamacare. A number of sites have quoted the Money Morning story as if it were fresh reporting.

While the article itself does not cite a date for the statements, all of the Buffett quotes come from a Politico story published March 1, 2010, roughly three weeks before the Affordable Care Act was signed into law. 

At the time, Buffett was encouraging Obama to refocus the bill on cost cutting rather than pushing for expanded coverage. But Democrats did not heed his advice. The bill made it through both chambers of Congress and on March 23, 2010 the President signed it into law.

In February of this year Buffett did agree that Obamacare would increase health care costs, which is consistent with his earlier statements. Buffett also agreed the law was a drag on the U.S. recovery.