Here Are The Three Biggest Lies Democrats Are Telling About The AHCA

Yesterday, House Republicans passed the American Health Care Act which is a partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act. As expected, Democrats are in hysterics over the bill. They’ve been telling some tall tales and falsehoods in order to scare people about the bill.

Before we go into those, it’s important to point out that the AHCA is not a perfect bill. It’s not a full repeal of Obamacare for starters. There are also some questions about the cost of the bill and there are legitimate concerns about coverage, particularly for older people.

Without further ado, here are some lies that Democrats are telling in the wake of the AHCA’s passage in the House.

Lie No. 1: “Thousands, no millions, will die because of it”

Democrats have been telling everyone who will listen that millions will die. Bernie Sanders told CNN “thousands will die” because of the AHCA. Even DNC chairman Tom Perez got into the act saying Republicans “will own every preventable death” because of this bill.

Such rhetoric should be treated as what it is, trying to stop debate on altering any entitlement. Democrats play chicken little every time spending cuts are discussed and this is just more example of it. No one is going to die because of this bill.

Lie No. 2: “Pre-existing conditions won’t be covered”

Democrats and their allies have been claiming that pre-existing conditions won’t be covered in this legislation. Again, that’s just not true.

Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post. Her son has a pre-existing condition and she voted for the AHCA anyway. She wrote about how Maine dealt with preexisting conditions in 2011 and how that is the model for the rest of the country.

Our plan allows states to serve and provide financial support directly to vulnerable populations, including people with preexisting conditions. We’ve seen this system work before — just look at Maine. After the state created an “invisible” high-risk pool (“invisible” because it did not cordon off people with preexisting conditions from the traditional market) and relaxed its premium rating rules in 2011, people with preexisting conditions continued to have access to health care and their premiums were cut in half. Young and healthy people could finally afford to enter the market, and prices stabilized even further. This approach was more personal, reasonable and innovative than anything a bureaucrat in D.C. could have imagined.

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There are concerns about whether or not the Federal government is providing enough support for these high-risk pools. But the only a state could get a waiver from the ACA’s pre-existing conditions mandate is if they set up a pool. Other than that, nothing will change for those with pre-existing conditions.

Lie No. 3: “Rape Is Now A Pre-existing Condition”

Yesterday, the media was full of articles proclaiming that rape is now a pre-existing condition. Once again, that’s false. 44 states bar insurance companies from denying people health insurance or making customers pay more for rape and domestic violence.

In addition, just because insurance companies can do something doesn’t mean they will. A 2009 investigation from Politifact found that insurance companies were not charging domestic violence and rape victims more in the states they could.

Once again Democrats are resorting to their usual scare tactics and lies to try and short-circuit debate on health care reform. They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it.

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