With a non-stop geyser of news hitting digital media every day, a lot of material tends to slip through the cracks. For example, we somehow missed an op/ed from several days ago that’s packed wall-to-wall with lies and misinformation about Obamacare. Naturally, it was co-authored by a prominent tea party Republican along with a senatorial candidate from Nebraska, and published in the very dubious Washington Examiner.
The article, titled “Republicans can’t beat Obamacare without effective health care solutions of their own,” written by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), who’s Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) toady and co-filibusterer, and Midland University’s president Ben Sasse, who also happens to be running for Senate, was billed as a prescriptive, strategic item for the benefit of GOP midterm candidates. It wasn’t. Instead, it was another syllabus of unsourced myths and nonsense about the healthcare law.
So here we go again.
MYTH: Regarding the enrollment numbers announced by the administration, Lee and Sasse wrote, “Americans are smart to be skeptical about these assertions.”
REALITY: Americans should only be skeptical insofar as the actual enrollment numbers are significantly higher. As we reported earlier in the week, the independent RAND American Life Panel found that 9.3 million people enrolled through both the exchanges and employer-sponsored insurance between September and mid-March. An additional 5.9 million Americans enrolled through the expansion of Medicaid. 3 million young people were insured due to the expanded age limit for staying on their parents’ policy. And a further 9 million Americans signed up for policies directly through insurance providers, outside of the marketplaces.
Again, this isn’t the Obama administration reporting these numbers. This is an outside survey from a very reliable source. Once again, numbers don’t lie. But clearly the tea party does.
MYTH: “[Obama] has ignored the economic damage done to individuals who have lost their jobs…as a result of his signature achievement in office.”
REALITY: Wrong. The CBO’s director, Doug Elmendorf, testified to Congress that Obamacare “spurs employment and would reduce unemployment over the next few years.”
MYTH: Obamacare will “Force people on to government-approved plans and limit their health care options.”
REALITY: Limited options? Really? The marketplaces offer literally dozens of options from multiple insurance companies and with numerous tiers of coverage from each provider. For example, Kaiser-Permanente offers Bronze, Silver and Gold plans, but within each tier there are multiple policies with different options. KP’s various Silver plans range from Silver III, Silver II and Silver I with subsets of their own. I’d be happier with the law if there had been a government-run public option, but my marketplace experience was by no means limited. Furthermore, who the hell wants a plan that’s not approved by the government? Would you take a pill that wasn’t approved by the FDA? Would you buy a slab of meat that wasn’t inspected by the USDA? I suppose if you’re insane you would, but most of us want to know that we’re not being screwed or poisoned.
MYTH: Obamacare will “Require millions of people to pay for services they’ll never use, such as seniors with adult children paying for maternity care.”
REALITY: First of all, seniors are generally defined as being 65 and older, so they’re not buying Obamacare. They’re covered by “government-approved” Medicare. Duh… READ MORE