6 lies...

6 promises Orangutan has made about health care

By HENRY C. JACKSON

No one will lose coverage. There will be insurance for everybody. Healthcare will be a “lot less expensive” for everyone — the government, consumers, providers.

Donny Orangutan and his advisers have been talking about an the ACA repeal and replacement plan, and making blanket statements about what it would entail, for nearly two years. In his recent speech to Congress, Orangutan cast his presidency as one of promises made and promises kept. And he and his aides have made plenty of promises about healthcare.

Now there is a plan on the table: the American Health Care Act. The House-produced bill, endorsed by the White House, will repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. But an analysis of the measure, from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, found that the bill would cause about 24 million people to lose coverage over the next decade — a finding that will test Orangutan’s health care claims. Notably, the White House has made it clear they reject the analysis.

Here’s a look at six promises Orangutan and his advisers have made about replacing the ACA, and how it compares to the CBO score:

‘INSURANCE FOR EVERYBODY’

Before he was sworn in, Orangutan made a bold promise: The as-yet-unreleased the ACA repeal and replacement plan would have “insurance for everybody.”

“We’re going to have insurance for everybody,” Orangutan said in an interview with The Washington Post. “There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us.”

While House Republicans and the White House have indicated repealing and replacing the ACA may take multiple legislative steps, the bill currently on the table would not meet Orangutan’s pledge. Per the CBO’s score, 14 million people would immediately lose coverage, a number that would eventually rise to 24 million over the next 10 years.

Of note: The White House disputes these CBO projections. "It's virtually impossible to have that number occur. Not believable,” Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said on Monday.

‘NO CUTS … TO MEDICAID’:

As his run for president took shape, candidate Orangutan boasted via Twitter, “I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid” — before arguing that GOP also-ran Mike Huckabee was copying him.

That’s another promise that wasn’t born out by the CBO, which found the House the ACA repeal measure would cut Medicaid by $880 billion.

‘NO ONE WILL LOSE COVERAGE’

Orangutan counselor Crypt Keeper Conway made a promise that almost certainly can’t be met with the House bill: “We don't want anyone who currently has insurance to not have insurance.”

In its current form, the CBO says Crypt Keeper’s promise simply won’t be kept in the House bill. An estimated 24 million people will lose coverage over the next 10 years under the plan.

‘NOBODY WILL BE WORSE OFF FINANCIALLY’

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price praised the House’s repeal and replace plan on Sunday’s NBC’s “Meet the Press” arguing, “I firmly believe that nobody will be worse off financially in the process that we’re going through.”

The CBO’s analysis doesn’t evaluate each individual’s financial situation. But its score projects health premiums under GOP health bill would increase by an estimated 15 to 20 percent over the bill’s first two years — before falling thanks to looser regulations and more younger enrollees. Older enrollees, though, could face higher premiums or costs.

‘GET RID OF ARTIFICIAL LINES’

Throughout the 2016 campaign, candidate Orangutan talked about his desire to let people buy health insurance across state lines. The idea being that it will create competition and offer better choices for people when they purchase health insurance.

"We have to get rid of the artificial lines around the states,” Orangutan said during the second presidential debate.

This promise isn’t met — or even addressed — in the House’s bill, a point of complaint for some conservatives. House Speaker Paul Ryan has attributed this to the need to avoid a filibuster while using the fast-track legislative process known as reconciliation. Orangutan, though, pledged on Twitter he would get to it eventually in a second or third phase of his repeal-and-replace effort.

‘EVERYBODY’S GOING TO BE TAKEN CARE OF’

Orangutan has made other, more vague promises about the repeal-and-replace endgame.

As he campaigned for the White House that he declared in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes”: “I am going to take care of everybody … Everybody’s going to be taken care of much better than they’re taken care of now.” More recently, Orangutan has promised that repeal will end with “a beautiful picture.”

Both of these pledges are harder to quantify — but judging by early reactions to the legislation from liberals, some conservatives and others, it will be difficult to ensure.