The numbers on Congress’ health care reform bill are in, and I can honestly say I’m shocked — in a good way. In what may be the first time in recent memory that Congress hasn’t totally screwed the pooch on a Big Issue, it appears as though Obama’s push to reform our dysfunctional health care system is yielding huge dividends for lower and middle-income Americans.

Here’s the scoop from a press release; we hope you’re sitting down (which you probably are, unless you surf the internet like a horse):

According to a new analysis by MIT Professor and CBO health advisor Dr. Jonathan Gruber, the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) will lower premiums and improve coverage for individuals and families purchasing in the non-group market.  The MIT study estimates that an individual and a family of four would save from $470 and from $1,260, respectively, in health insurance premiums, even without subsidies.  The savings would be even greater for low- and middle- income individuals and families who qualify for affordability credits that can amount to thousands of dollars per year.

“This analysis confirms that the House Democratic health care legislation will lower premiums for individuals and families who purchase insurance in the Exchange,” said Chairman Henry A. Waxman, Chairman Charles B. Rangel, and Chairman George Miller.  “The individual health care market is the part of the health care system that is most dysfunctional today.  The Affordable Health Care for America Act will reform that market in a way that will reduce premiums.”

The MIT estimates are based on an analysis of the bill and the CBO report released yesterday which found that the premiums in the Exchange would be significantly lower than the premiums in the non-group market.  The analysis noted that the savings are in addition to the more generous benefits that individuals and families will receive through the Exchange compared to the non-group market.  Dr. Gruber also noted that the lower premiums are “in addition to all the other benefits that this legislation will deliver to those consumers — in particular the guarantee, unavailable in most states, that prices would not be raised or the policy revoked if they became ill.” [A Press Release; bold emphasis mine]