Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Letters To Constituents Chock Full Of Errors And Mischaracterizations About ACA
ProPublica: We Fact-Checked Lawmakers’ Letters To Constituents On Health Care
The Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare, includes no “Health Choices Commissioner.” Another bill introduced in Congress in 2009 did include such a position, but the bill died — and besides, the job as outlined in that legislation didn’t have the powers [Louisiana Sen. Bill] Cassidy ascribed to it. As the debate to repeal the law heats up in Congress, constituents are flooding their representatives with notes of support or concern, and the lawmakers are responding, sometimes with form letters that are misleading. (Ornstein, 3/22)
Stat: GOP Bill Doubles Down On Loathed Part Of Obamacare
In letter after letter, Republican lawmakers have reminded their constituents: Obamacare cut Medicare. Implied, and sometimes stated outright, was that the GOP’s own plan should instead bolster the program. “Any reforms must protect Medicare,” Congressman Ted Poe, a Texas Republican who represents a district in the Houston area, wrote in a letter last month to one of his constituents about the Affordable Care Act’s failures and his party’s own plans. ... But the bill now working its way through Congress does not reverse those cuts. (Scott, 3/22)
