Got this recently, regarding the recently-past health care reform legislation. It’s an attempt to clear up the misinformation spread by those opposed to the law.

Dear Brad:

Over the last few months I have received countless calls and emails from people across the Kansas City area eager to share their opinions on health care reform. Unfortunately, this issue has been polarized so much that it is hardly recognizable. Misinformation on the health care bill is abundant. To help clear up some of the confusion that currently exists about the health care bill, H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, I have provided the following information:

Myth: The cost of health care reform will add to the deficit.

Reality: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) report has found that the bill will reduce the deficit by $143 billion over the first ten years, and $1.2 trillion in the second ten. The bill accomplishes these great savings by eliminating systemic waste and ultimately lowering the cost of health care.

Myth: The bill institutes socialized Government run health care.

Reality: The health care reform bill increases competition by expanding private health insurance. Claims that the bill has a single payer system, similar to the health care system in Canada are inaccurate. The bill does not have single payer, nor does it include a public option.

Myth: The bill will be paid for by raising taxes on the middle class.

Reality: For the vast majority of Americans, taxes will not increase. A new tax will be levied on families making over $250,000 a year. However, the bill provides affordability credits for families at 400% of the poverty level. For example, a family at 275% of the poverty level ($60,640 income) would save 47% on premiums compared to current law. Further, a family with an income of $38,590 would see an 85% premium reduction.

Myth: The bill will hurt small businesses.

Reality: Without reform, small businesses will continue to experience increasing insurance costs, as they have by 129 percent since 2000 according to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Less than half of small businesses can currently afford to offer health care benefits. This bill includes $50 billion in tax credits to help small business provide assistance to employers and to provide coverage and the quality of care that larger businesses do. Further, the vast majority of small businesses, 96% will be exempt from the shared responsibility requirement.

Myth: Premiums will rise as a result of reform.

Reality: The CBO actually estimates that premiums for current health insurance plans will go down. Given the new array of options brought on by competition, one might chose a new, more comprehensive insurance plan and pay slightly higher premiums for that extra coverage.

Myth: The bill publically funds and encourages abortions.

Reality: The bill includes specific provisions to ensure a strict separation between public funds and private premiums. Abortion funding will never be required in health care plans, and states will retain final authority over abortion policies within their exchange program.

Myth: You will not be able to keep your existing insurance.

Reality: If you are happy with your current insurance, you will be able to keep it. This reform bill aims to provide more affordable options with a higher quality of care and will not eliminate your existing insurance plan.

Thank you again for taking the time to educate yourself about what health care reform really means. I encourage you to view the bill and its summary online, at http://thomas.loc.gov and the CBO cost estimate at http://www.cbo.gov/. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I may be of further assistance. Also, I encourage you to visit my website at http://www.house.gov/cleaver, where you can sign up for my electronic newsletter and receive updates on my latest activities as your Representative.

Sincerely,

Emanuel Cleaver, II
Member of Congress

Lie #1: President Obama wants to euthanize your grandma!

The truth: These accusations—of “death panels” and forced euthanasia—are, of course, flatly untrue. As an article from the Associated Press puts it: “No ‘death panel’ in health care bill.”⁴ What’s the real deal? Reform legislation includes a provision, supported by the AARP, to offer senior citizens access to a professional medical counselor who will provide them with information on preparing a living will and other issues facing older Americans.⁵

Lie #2: Democrats are going to outlaw private insurance and force you into a government plan!

The truth: With reform, choices will increase, not decrease. Obama’s reform plans will create a health insurance exchange, a one-stop shopping marketplace for affordable, high-quality insurance options.⁶Included in the exchange is the public health insurance option—a nationwide plan with a broad network of providers—that will operate alongside private insurance companies, injecting competition into the market to drive quality up and costs down.⁷

If you’re happy with your coverage and doctors, you can keep them.⁸ But the new public plan will expand choices to millions of businesses or individuals who choose to opt into it, including many who simply can’t afford health care now.

Lie #3: President Obama wants to implement Soviet-style rationing!

The truth: Health care reform will expand access to high-quality health insurance, and give individuals, families, and businesses more choices for coverage. Right now, big corporations decide whether to give you coverage, what doctors you get to see, and whether a particular procedure or medicine is covered—that is rationed care. And a big part of reform is to stop that.

Health care reform will do away with some of the most nefarious aspects of this rationing: discrimination for pre-existing conditions, insurers that cancel coverage when you get sick, gender discrimination, and lifetime and yearly limits on coverage.⁹ And outside of that, as noted above, reform will increase insurance options, not force anyone into a rationed situation.

Lie #4: Obama is secretly plotting to cut senior citizens’ Medicare benefits!

The truth: Health care reform plans will not reduce Medicare benefits.¹⁰ Reform includes savings from Medicare that are unrelated to patient care—in fact, the savings comes from cutting billions of dollars in overpayments to insurance companies and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.¹¹

Lie #5: Obama’s health care plan will bankrupt America!

The truth: We need health care reform now in order to prevent bankruptcy—to control spiraling costs that affect individuals, families, small businesses, and the American economy.

Right now, we spend more than $2 trillion dollars a year on health care.¹² The average family premium is projected to rise to over $22,000 in the next decade¹³—and each year, nearly a million people face bankruptcy because of medical expenses.¹⁴ Reform, with an affordable, high-quality public option that can spur competition, is necessary to bring down skyrocketing costs. Also, President Obama’s reform plans would be fully paid for over 10 years and not add a penny to the deficit.¹⁵

P.S. Want more? Check out this great new White House “Reality Check” website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/ or this excellent piece from Health Care for America Now on some of the most outrageous lies: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51729&id=16778-3566365-cNUWWix&t=1

Sources:

1. “More ‘Town Halls Gone Wild’: Angry Far Right Protesters Disrupt Events With ‘Incomprehensible’ Yelling,”Think Progress, August 4, 2009.
   http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51733&id=16778-3566365-cNUWWix&t=2
2. “Fight the smears,” Health Care for America NOW, accessed August 10, 2009.
   http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51729&id=16778-3566365-cNUWWix&t=3
3. “Palin Paints Picture of ‘Obama Death Panel’ Giving Thumbs Down to Trig,” ABC News, August 7, 2009.
   http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51728&id=16778-3566365-cNUWWix&t=4
4. “No ‘death panel’ in health care bill,” The Associated Press, August 10, 2009.
   http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51747&id=16778-3566365-cNUWWix&t=5
5. “Stop Distorting the Truth about End of Life Care,” The Huffington Post, July 24, 2009.
   http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51730&id=16778-3566365-cNUWWix&t=6
6. “Reality Check FAQs,” WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 11, 2009.
   http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/faq#i1
7. “Why We Need a Public Health-Care Plan,” The Wall Street Journal, June 24, 2009.
   http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51737&id=16778-3566365-cNUWWix&t=7
8. “Obama: ‘If You Like Your Doctor, You Can Keep Your Doctor,’” The Wall Street Journal, 15, 2009.
   http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51736&id=16778-3566365-cNUWWix&t=8
9. “Reality Check FAQs,” WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.
   http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/faq#r1
10. “Obama: No reduced Medicare benefits in health care reform,” CNN, July 28, 2009.
    http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51748&id=16778-3566365-cNUWWix&t=9
11. “Reality Check FAQs,” WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.
    http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/faq#s1
12. “Reality Check FAQs,” WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.
    http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/faq#c1
13. “Premiums Run Amok,” Center for American Progress, July 24, 2009.
    http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51667&id=16778-3566365-cNUWWix&t=10
14. “Medical bills prompt more than 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies,” CNN, June 5, 2009.
    http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51735&id=16778-3566365-cNUWWix&t=11
15. “Reality Check FAQs,” WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.
    http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/faq#c1

Sources for the Five Lies:

1. “A euthanasia mandate,” The Washington Times, July 29, 2009.
   http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51732&id=16778-3566365-cNUWWix&t=12
2. “It’s Not An Option,” Investor’s Business Daily, July 15, 2009.
   http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51743&id=16778-3566365-cNUWWix&t=13
3. “Rationing Health Care,” The Washington Times, April 21, 2009.
   http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51742&id=16778-3566365-cNUWWix&t=14
4. “60 Plus Ad Is Chock Full Of Misinformation,” Media Matters for America, August 8, 2009.
   http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51734&id=16778-3566365-cNUWWix&t=15
5. “Obama’s ‘Public’ Health Plan Will Bankrupt the Nation,” The National Review, May 13, 2009.
   http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51744&id=16778-3566365-cNUWWix&t=16

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/us/politics/30law.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin