At a campaign rally in Nashville, President Donald Trump repeated a bushelful of false and misleading claims, and added a few new ones.
FactChecking Trump’s Nashville Rally
Issues: Affordable Care Act
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 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.
Flawed Attack on Jeff Flake
A campaign ad attacking Republican Sen. Jeff Flake falsely says that he hasn’t worked with President Donald Trump to “repeal Obamacare.”
Trump Didn’t Ignore Disabled Child
Q: Did President Donald Trump ignore a disabled child who tried to shake his hand?
A: No. A viral video clip omitted Trump’s earlier interaction with the boy.
Subsidies, Not Bailouts
President Donald Trump said “bailouts for insurance companies” would “end very soon” if Congress didn’t pass a new health care bill. Sen. Susan Collins said the payments aren’t a bailout, “but rather help people who are very low-income afford their out-of-pocket costs.” Trump distorts the facts.
Senate Bill: Do Premiums Go Up or Down?
The GOP’s Better Care Reconciliation Act would affect premiums on the individual market in different ways, depending on individual circumstances.
GOP Medicaid Spin
Republicans are spinning their health care bills’ impact on Medicaid. Sen. Pat Toomey made the questionable claim that under the Senate bill “no one loses coverage” gained under the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion. White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway claimed there “are not cuts to Medicaid” in the bills that reduce future Medicaid spending by hundreds of billions.
Spinning the CBO Insurance Estimate
The Congressional Budget Office projects that the Senate health care bill would increase the number of uninsured Americans by 22 million in 2026 — a figure that both sides in the debate are distorting.
Rand Paul’s Subsidies Twist
Sen. Rand Paul, who opposes the Senate health care bill, says subsidies “are actually greater under the Republican bill than they are under the current Obamacare law.” But the CBO says the average subsidy under the bill would be “significantly lower than the average subsidy under current law.”