[StBernard] AP Fact Check: Obama's Health Care Claims Adrift?

[Westley Annis]

All - see AP report below fact-checking some of the President's claims
tonight in his primetime news conference.

 

FACT CHECK: Obama's Health Care Claims Adrift?

The Associated Press

Calvin Woodward and Jim Kuhnhenn

 

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's assertion Wednesday that
government will stay out of health care decisions in an overhauled system is
hard to square with the proposals coming out of Congress and with his own
rhetoric.

 

 

Even now, nearly half the costs of health care in the U.S. are paid for by
government at all levels. Federal authority would only grow under any
proposal in play.

 

A look at some of Obama's claims in his prime-time news conference:

 

OBAMA: "We already have rough agreement" on some aspects of what a health
care overhaul should involve, and one is: "It will keep government out of
health care decisions, giving you the option to keep your insurance if
you're happy with it."

 

 

THE FACTS: In House legislation, a commission appointed by the government
would determine what is and isn't covered by insurance plans offered in a
new purchasing pool, including a plan sponsored by the government. The bill
also holds out the possibility that, over time, those standards could be
imposed on all private insurance plans, not just the ones in the pool.

 

Indeed, Obama went on to lay out other principles of reform that plainly
show the government making key decisions in health care. He said insurance
companies would be barred from dropping coverage when someone gets too sick,
limits would be set on out-of-pocket expenses, and preventive care such as
checkups and mammograms would be covered.

 

It's true that people would not be forced to give up a private plan and go
with a public one. The question is whether all of those private plans would
still be in place if the government entered the marketplace in a bigger way.

 

 

OBAMA: "I have also pledged that health insurance reform will not add to our
deficit over the next decade, and I mean it."

 

THE FACTS: The president has said repeatedly that he wants "deficit-neutral"
health care legislation, meaning that every dollar increase in cost is met
with a dollar of new revenue or a dollar of savings. But some things are
more neutral than others. White House Budget Director Peter Orszag told
reporters this week that the promise does not apply to proposed spending of
about $245 billion over the next decade to increase fees for doctors serving
Medicare patients. Democrats and the Obama administration argue that the
extra payment, designed to prevent a scheduled cut of about 21 percent in
doctor fees, already was part of the administration's policy, with or
without a health care overhaul.

 

 

Beyond that, budget experts have warned about various accounting gimmicks
that can mask true burdens on the deficit. The bipartisan Committee for a
Responsible Federal Budget lists a variety of them, including back-loading
the heaviest costs at the end of the 10-year period and beyond.

  

OBAMA: "You haven't seen me out there blaming the Republicans."

 

THE FACTS: Obama did so in his opening statement, saying, "I've heard that
one Republican strategist told his party that even though they may want to
compromise, it's better politics to 'go for the kill.' Another Republican
senator said that defeating health reform is about 'breaking' me."