As if to prove the point of this article about the main lies Republican congressmen are telling about the American Health Care Act, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise throws a new one into contention for most brazen.
Under #AHCA, nobody can be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition. pic.twitter.com/MkgOdb4GXM
— Rep. Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) May 8, 2017
The whole statement is deceptive, but the truly mendacious part is actually the unhighlighted claim that “nobody can be charged more than anybody else” under the Republican plan. That is the complete inverse of the truth—not tendentious spin with a kernel of truth to it, but a piss-down-your-back, tell-you-it’s-raining lie. Not only would AHCA allow states to waive the provision of the Affordable Care Act that requires insurers to charge the sick and the healthy the same price for the same plan, experts suggest the design of the bill would compel many, many states to seek the waiver—increasing the number of people subjected to underwriting, and the incidence of price gouging of people with pre-existing conditions.
Via Kaiser Health News:
Few, if any, states would be able to fund subsidies on their own. To keep insurers in the market and bring costs down, state leaders might feel compelled to seek exemptions from rules that require health plans to provide 10 “essential health benefits” and prohibit them from charging higher rates for sicker consumers. The new GOP health care bill would allow such waivers.
“With the skimpier subsidies, states are going to be under enormous pressure to apply for these waivers,” said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms.
These opt-out provisions could accelerate the unraveling of Obamacare, even in places that fully embraced the landmark law.
So when Scalise says “nobody can be charged more than anybody else,” what he means is “get bent.”