President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that Obamacare is “dead,” but recently he has been making a misleading boast about low insurance premium growth for 2019 marketplace plans.
Trump’s Misleading Boast on Premiums
Issues: health insurance
Obama Cherry-Picks Uninsured Figure
Former President Barack Obama claimed that Republicans’ “sabotage of the Affordable Care Act has already cost more than 3 million Americans their health insurance.” That’s according to one estimate, but another found no significant change in the rate or the number of uninsured from 2016 to 2017.
Trump Jumps the Gun (Again) on Health Plans
President Donald Trump touted “record business” for new health insurance plans under a federal rule that hasn’t yet gone into effect. In fact, since at least December 2017, he has periodically, and prematurely, boasted that “millions” of people are already signing up for these association health plans.
Trump’s Numbers (Second Quarterly Update)
Statistical measures of how things have changed since the president took office.
Kavanaugh and the Preexisting Conditions Debate
An ad from a Democratic group warned that the president’s Supreme Court nominee could eliminate preexisting condition protections under the Affordable Care Act, a move that “would take us back to a time when insurance companies could deny you coverage.” But that depends on who “you” are.
Trump’s Numbers (First Quarterly Update)
Statistical measures of how things have changed since the president took office.
Trump on Health Insurance Costs
President Donald Trump boasted that “we’re having tremendous plans coming out now — health care plans — at a fraction of the cost that are much better than Obamacare.” No such cheap plans have come out yet, though the administration has proposed rules that would expand the sale of less expensive insurance with fewer benefits.
Trump’s Numbers
Statistical measures of the president’s term to date.
Cotton’s False Insurance Assurance
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton falsely claimed that the amended Senate tax bill eliminating the penalty for not buying health insurance would have “no impact on anyone” who buys coverage through the exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act.
Trump Misleads on Insurer Profits
President Donald Trump has claimed that under the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies have “taken advantage of this country” and “made a fortune,” which he “stopped” by ending payments for cost-sharing subsidies on the ACA marketplaces. That’s misleading, at best, for several reasons.