Lori Robertson, Author at FactCheck.org

No End to ‘End Medicare’ Claim

July 6, 2012

Democrats are still hammering an old, and since replaced, GOP proposal, claiming it would “end Medicare,” and cost seniors $6,000 more a year for their health care. The newest Republican budget, proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, keeps traditional Medicare — unlike his plan from 2011 — and the increased cost claim is no longer applicable to it.
The latest string of “end Medicare” claims comes from the liberal Patriot Majority, a 501(c)(4), a nonprofit advocacy group,

Post-Supreme Court Spin

July 5, 2012

Shortly after the Supreme Court upheld the federal health care law’s constitutionality on June 28, presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney wrongly said the law “puts the federal government between you and your doctor.” The law doesn’t create a government-run medical system.
Read more about Romney’s and President Obama’s false and misleading claims made after the high court’s ruling in our June 28 article, “Romney, Obama Uphold Health Care Falsehoods.”

Taxes on ‘Sick Puppies’?

July 5, 2012

The National Republican Congressional Committee claims the federal health care law taxes “sick puppies,” but that’s a big stretch. No puppies are taxed by the law. Instead, the reference is to a tax on medical devices.
For more, see our June 19 story, “NRCC: ‘Obamacare’ Taxes Sick Puppies.”

Romney, Obama Uphold Health Care Falsehoods

June 28, 2012

With the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act on June 28, voters are guaranteed to continue hearing the same old false claims about the law from politicians. And President Barack Obama and presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney wasted little time …

No Dialysis Under Health Care Law?

June 20, 2012

A viral email wrongly claims the federal health care law caused a Tennessee hospital to deny dialysis to Medicare patients, and that anyone over 75 would be denied care starting in 2013. The anonymous author fabricated the account.
Read our April 20 Ask FactCheck, ” ‘Death Panels’ Redux,” for more on this viral falsehood.

At It Again

June 15, 2012

The conservative 60 Plus Association is attacking Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida and Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio by dredging up old exaggerations we’ve seen plenty of times before. The claims about the health care law are starting to sound like a broken record: The group claims it’s a “health care takeover” (false) and that it “cuts $500 billion from Medicare” (misleading). This also isn’t the first time the group has gone after Brown with misleading material.

Premium Hype

June 8, 2012

Both Republicans and the Obama administration have pushed misleading claims on what impact the federal health care law has on insurance premiums.
For more on this issue, see “Misleading on Premiums” from March 26.

‘Life of Julia’ Not So Realistic

May 31, 2012

The Obama campaign’s fictitious portrayal of a woman’s life under the president’s policies versus those of Mitt Romney exaggerates the impact of the federal health care law.
Read about other claims in the “Julia” slide show in our May 8 article, “ ‘The Life of Julia,’ Corrected.”

Kids and Preexisting Conditions

May 31, 2012

An Obama campaign video wrongly implies that 17 million kids with preexisting conditions were being denied health insurance before the federal law was passed.
Read more about the Obama administration’s claim in our March 21 article, “Obama ‘Road’ Film Takes Some Detours.”

More Government Takeover Spin

May 31, 2012

Mitt Romney counts both public and private health care spending to come up with the exaggeration that government will make up “almost 50 percent” of the U.S. economy once the federal health care is fully in effect.
See our May 10 article, “Romney’s ‘Gross’ Exaggeration on ‘Obamacare,’ ” for more.