Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and House Speaker Paul Ryan engaged in partisan spin in talking about the Republican health care bill that was passed by the House last week.
Republican Health Care Spin
Issues: Affordable Care Act
Is Congress Exempt from GOP Health Bill?
Q: Does the new GOP health care bill apply to members of Congress and their families?
A: For procedural reasons, the bill passed by House Republicans exempted lawmakers from some of its effects. But a stand-alone bill passed unanimously would do away with that exemption if the legislation becomes law.
The Preexisting Conditions Debate
Democrats and Republicans have made competing claims on whether the latest version of the GOP health care bill maintains protections for people with preexisting medical conditions. We’ll go through what the legislation now proposes on this issue.
100 Days of Whoppers
Donald Trump, the candidate we dubbed the ‘King of Whoppers’ in 2015, has held true to form as president.
Medicaid’s Doctor Participation Rates
It’s a common criticism of the Medicaid program — that the doctor participation rate is lower than the rate for Medicare or private insurance. The implication is that Medicaid patients cannot access care, and it has gotten worse under the ACA. But experts say that’s misleading.
GOP’s Obamacare Obituary: Premature
Republicans repeatedly claim that Obamacare is in a “death spiral,” collapsing of its own weight. This is wishful thinking on their part, with little evidence to support it.
Physician Numbers Up Under Obamacare
President Donald Trump said that “many of our best and brightest are leaving the medical profession entirely because of Obamacare.” But the number of physicians has increased since 2010, when the Affordable Care Act became law.
Trump’s Tennessee Tale
In making his case to replace the Affordable Care Act, President Trump falsely claimed that in Tennessee “half of the state has no insurance company” on the ACA marketplace. In fact, all eight of the state’s rating areas have at least one carrier and three of them have two carriers.
Price’s Grand Pronouncement
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price claimed that under the GOP health care plan, “I firmly believe that nobody will be worse off financially.” But there are plenty of reasons to doubt that.
Spinning the CBO Report
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the Republican health care bill has been released — so let the spinning begin.