Responses to debunk false claims about HR 3200

[YewNork]

Pg 22 of HC Bill - MANDATES the Gov’t will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure!
False: Section 113 of the bill requires the Health Choices commissioner to conduct a study to make sure health reform does not unintentionally create incentives for businesses to self-insure or create adverse selection in the risk pools of insured plans. There is no mandated audit.

Pg 29 Lines 4-16 - YOUR HEALTHCARE IS RATIONED! You can only get so much "care" per year.
False: Section 122 outlines broad categories of benefits that must be included in an essential benefits package. It prohibits cost-sharing (deductibles and co-payments) for preventive care and limits annual out-of-pocket spending to $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for a family, indexed for inflation. It says nothing about rationing or limiting treatment.

Pg 30 Sec 123 - THERE WILL BE A GOV’T COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get.
Barely True: Section 123 establishes a Health Benefits Advisory Committee that makes recommendations on what types of health insurance coverage will be defined as basic, enhanced or premium. The committee will be chaired by the surgeon general, with members appointed by the president, the comptroller general, and representatives of federal agencies. This committee makes recommendations on insurance regulations, so in that sense it does set standards for benefits. But it does not make decisions about treatments for individuals.

Pg 42 - The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC Benefits for you. You have no choice!
Pants on Fire!: Section 142 outlines the duties of the Health Choices commissioner, who is charged with regulating insurers. The commissioner should seek insurers to offer different types of insurance, including basic, enhanced and premium. Individuals will be able to choose among competing insurers who are regulated via the exchange.

PG 50 Section 152 - HC will be provided to ALL non US citizens, illegal or otherwise.
Pants on Fire! Section 152 includes a generic nondiscrimination clause, which says insurers may not discriminate with regard to "personal characteristics extraneous to the provision of high quality health care or related services." It says nothing about "non-US citizens" or immigrants, legal or otherwise. In fact, the legislation specifically states that undocumented aliens will not be eligible for credits to help them buy health insurance, in Section 246 on page 143.

Pg 58 - Gov’t will have real-time access to individuals finances & a National ID HealthCard will be issued!
Barely True: Section 163 sets out goals for electronic health records. It says one goal should be real-time confirmation of which services a person qualifies for and how much they will have to pay. That could be achieved by machine-readable beneficiary cards, according to the legislative language. But the legislation does not require the cards.

Pg 59 Lines 21-24 - Gov’t will have direct access to your bank accts for elective funds transfer.
False: This section is "to adopt standards for typical transactions" between insurance companies and health care providers. The legislation generically describes typical electronic banking transactions and does not outline any special access privileges to any individual bank accounts.

PG 65 Sec 164 - Is a payoff subsidize d plan for retirees and their families in Unions & community orgs (ACORN).
Pants on Fire! Section 164 creates a temporary reinsurance program to help employers or employee associations pay for coverage for workers ages 55 to 64. It does not mention labor unions or community organizer groups, though presumably they could qualify for subsidies like any other employee association that previously offered health insurance. The section's point, however, is to offer subsidies to employer-based insurance programs, not unions or community organizers.

Pg 72 Lines 8-14 - Gov’t is creating an HC Exchange to bring private HC plans under Gov’t control.
Barely true. Yes, a health care exchange is being created where people will have the choice of going, to purchase insurance. But, insurers will also still be able to sell insurance outside of the exchange. Individual plans sold on the exchange will have to offer an exact specified set of benefits, and there will be several types of plans sold on the exchange. This will allow consumers to compare plans by price as each type of plan will offer the same benefits. People will choose their plan based on price, and on the level of service that the insurer provides. At the same time, insurance will still be sold outside of the exchange, and those policies can be customized to what the consumer wishes to pay for, as long as it includes at least the minimum level of specified benefits.

PG 84 Sec 203 - Gov’t mandates ALL benefit packages for private HC plans in the Exchange.
On the exchange there will be four types of plans sold - basic, enhanced, premium and premium-plus. Each type will have an exact level of benefits to allow the consumer to compare one provider's price with another provider's price and to allow that, plus the quality of service that the provider offers to determine whose plan to purchase . Plus, as stated, this only applies to insurance sold on the exchange. Insurance sold outside the exchange can be customized.

PG 85 Line 7 - Specs for Benefit Levels for Plans = The Gov’t will ration your Healthcare! AARP members - your Health care WILL be rationed.
False: This section establishes that there will be four levels of plans sold on the exchange, basic, enhanced, premium, and premium-plus. It does not affect insurance sold outside of the exchange or indicate what each level will provide. It does say that the basic plan shall offer the essential benefits package required for a qualified health benefits plan, an enhanced plan shall offer, in addition to the level of benefits under the basic plan, a lower level of deductibles and co-payments than the basic plan, a premium plan shall offer, in addition to the level of benefits under the basic plan, a lower level of cost-sharing than the enhanced plan, and a premium-plus plan is a premium plan that also provides additional benefits, such as adult oral health and vision care.


PG 91 Lines 4-7 - Gov’t mandates linguistic appropriate services..... Example - Translation for illegal aliens.
Half True. Section 204 outlines more regulations for health insurance plans in the exchange. One of the requirements is that they provide "culturally and linguistically appropriate communication and health services." Another part of the bill mentions that this includes "effective methods for communicating in plain language." There is no mention of citizenship status, and as stated earlier, Section 246 on page 143 specifically excludes people who are unlawfully present in the US from receiving credits toward coverage.
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Pg 95 Lines 8-18 - The Gov’t will use groups i.e. ACORN & AmeriCorps to sign up individually for Gov’t HC plan.
False. Section 205 says the Health Choices commissioner is charged with publicizing the options on the health care exchange. The legislation says the commissioner "may work with other appropriate entities to facilitate the dissemination of information." The bill does not mention ACORN or Americorps. The bill also says that the commissioner must publicize the "Exchange-participating health benefits plan options," which would include private insurance plans.

PG 102 Lines 12-18 - Medicaid Eligible Individuals will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. No choice.
False. This page describes people who would qualify for Medicaid, a government insurance program for people with very low incomes. It says that individuals will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid only if they have "not elected to enroll in an Exchange-participating health benefits plan." So the auto-enrollment only happens if they have not chosen another plan.

Pg 124 Lines 24-25 - No company can sue GOV’T on price fixing. No "judicial review" against Gov’t Monopcoly.
Barely True. Section 223 discusses how the government will pay doctors under the public option health insurance; they will pay 5 percent more than Medicare pays. It's true that this section does not set out any sort of judicial review, but it specifically states that health care providers do not have to accept patients under the public option. The bill also says that the Health Choices commissioner has the authority "to correct for payments that are excessive or deficient," taking into account "amounts paid for similar health care providers and services under other Exchange-participating health benefits plans." There may be a broader case to be made that the government can outcompete private insurers through the public option, but this section of the plan doesn't have to do with lawsuits or judicial review.