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.
Trump Didn’t Ignore Disabled Child
Issues: Affordable Care Act
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.”
Pelosi’s Partisan Pick on Jobs Analysis
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi cites research from two partisan groups to claim that the Republican health care bill would result in the loss of 1.8 million jobs by 2022. But a recent independent study put the expected job loss at 413,000 by that year.
Pence Misleads on Premiums
Vice President Mike Pence went too far in claiming that a new report showed that “the average premium across this country has actually doubled under Obamacare.”
Republican Health Care Spin
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and House Speaker Paul Ryan engaged in partisan spin in talking about the Republican health care bill that was passed by the House last week.
Is Congress Exempt from GOP Health Bill?
Q: Does the new GOP health care bill apply to members of Congress and their families?
A: For procedural reasons, the bill passed by House Republicans exempted lawmakers from some of its effects. But a stand-alone bill passed unanimously would do away with that exemption if the legislation becomes law.