White House says rise in health costs slower, Obamacare a factor

By Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama's signature health law has helped spur stronger economic growth by contributing to slower increases in healthcare prices and spending, the White House said on Wednesday. The White House's assertion of the economic benefits of the law commonly called Obamacare runs counter to the views of many critics, who say it is raising insurance premiums and chilling job creation. A report by the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), an office within the White House, said that healthcare spending grew at an estimated average 1.3 percent rate per capita over the three years since 2010, the lowest rate on record for any three-year period.