Several readers have e-mailed us about a report from the Congressional Research Service that they say proves illegal immigrants will have coverage under the proposed House health care plan. In fact, that report says exactly what we concluded yesterday: The bill does not provide coverage for illegal immigrants, but there’s no enforcement mechanism explicitly specified. The newly created Health Choices Commissioner would be responsible for deciding how applicants for the affordability credits... Click to Read the Full Post
Summary President Obama’s prime-time address to Congress and the nation on health care prompted a Republican congressman to shout “you lie!” Did he? Here’s what we’ve found: Obama was correct when he said his plan wouldn’t insure illegal immigrants; the House bill expressly forbids giving subsidies to those who are in the country illegally. Conservative critics complain that the bill lacks an enforcement mechanism, but that hardly makes the president a liar. The... Click to Read the Full Post
Summary So much for a slow news month. August feels like campaign season, with claims on health care coming at us daily. Does the House bill call for mandatory counseling on how to end seniors’ lives sooner? Absolutely not. Will the government be dictating to doctors how to treat their patients? No. Do the bills propose cutting Medicare benefit levels? No on that one, too. But on the other hand, has Congress figured out how to pay for this overhaul? Not yet. Or will it really save families... Click to Read the Full Post
Republicans in Washington seem to be shifting into overdrive to keep a health system overhaul from passing Congress before the August recess. Yesterday, July 22, brought two more deceptive assaults (that we know of) on the pending bills, one from Minority Whip Eric Cantor and the other from the top GOP member of the House Immigration Subcommittee, Steve King of Iowa. Cantor’s is in the form of a video that accuses Obama and the Democrats of being in a “reckless rush” to finalize... Click to Read the Full Post
Summary Former Sen. Fred Thompson said on "Meet the Press" that "the 45 million … figure of uninsured is probably about twice the real number of people who can’t afford insurance or don’t have access to it really." He’s not the only one saying that the number is inflated. We find that many of the numbers cited are accurate, but may need to be seen in context to get a true picture. The Census Bureau estimates that 45.7 million lacked health insurance at... Click to Read the Full Post
Q: Is Oklahoma as defiantly conservative as a chain e-mail says? A: The state is one of the most Republican in the nation, but the message exaggerates Oklahoma’s laws on religion, immigration and guns. Click to Read the Full Post Read More →
Q: Do immigrants and refugees get more in benefits than a retired U.S. citizen gets in Social Security? A: This is nonsense. The claims propagated by a viral e-mail are not even close to the truth. Click to Read the Full Post Read More →
Q: Do illegal immigrants cost $338.3 billion dollars a year? More than the Iraq war? A: A chain e-mail that makes this claim is loaded with errors and misleading assertions. Published studies vary widely but put the cost to government at a small fraction of that total. Click to Read the Full Post Read More →
Q: Will 300,000 illegal immigrants get construction jobs through the stimulus package? A: There’s no way of knowing how many illegal immigrants may or may not end up with a job from stimulus funds. But this inflated estimate comes from conservative groups concerned about the absence of employee verification requirements in the final bill. Click to Read the Full Post Read More →
Q: Is Congress about to give Social Security to illegal immigrants? A: Congress hasn’t voted on any measure to pay benefits to illegal immigrants, and has no plans for any such vote. Click to Read the Full Post Read More →
