{"id":11738,"date":"2014-03-20T16:32:25","date_gmt":"2014-03-20T23:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=11738"},"modified":"2014-03-20T16:49:02","modified_gmt":"2014-03-20T23:49:02","slug":"koch-brothers-front-group-caught-in-an-obamacare-lie-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=11738","title":{"rendered":"Koch Brothers Tea Party Front Group Caught In An ObamaCare Lie (Again)"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the past few weeks Americans For Prosperity (AFP), the Koch brothers financed Tea Party propaganda outfit, has produced a couple of anti-ObamaCare ads that featured alleged “victims”<\/em> of the health insurance reform. The campaign ended in embarrassment<\/a> for AFP when the phony “horror stories”<\/em> were revealed to be utterly false. Independent analysis of the insurance coverage available to the subjects of the ads proved that they were better off under ObamaCare than they were without it.<\/p>\n

\"Koch<\/p>\n

Be Sure To \u201cLIKE\u201d News Corpse On Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

So AFP abandoned that strategy and released an ad that consisted of a lone spokeswoman making vague criticisms of ObamaCare in a tone of voice dripping with despondency and a tag line bemoaning that “It just doesn’t work.”<\/em> However, even with this tactic of avoiding any verifiable content that might get them tied up in another counterfactual morass, they still managed to produce a thoroughly dishonest commercial that received a “False”<\/em> rating from PolitiFact<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The principle claim in the new ad was that “millions are paying more and getting less.”<\/em> However, as PolitiFact’s research shows, there is no truth to the claim:<\/p>\n

PolitiFact:<\/strong> Americans are getting more benefits under the law in a number of ways — including, in some cases, being able to buy affordable insurance for the first time.<\/p>\n

In addition, insurance purchased in the individual and small group marketplace must meet 10 essential health benefits. This includes coverage for emergency services and hospitalization, prescription drugs, free preventative coverage for things ranging from basic immunizations to HIV screening, and maternity care.<\/p>\n

The law also caps out-of-pocket costs, providing greater protection from exorbitant hospital bills. The most a person could pay for health care in a year is $6,300; the most a family can pay is $12,600.<\/p>\n

Before the law passed, some insurers capped annual or lifetime benefits, forcing people who thought they were covered to pay large hospital bills once they passed the threshold.<\/p>\n

People with pre-existing conditions are also seeing a lot more benefits, since they previously couldn\u2019t buy a policy at all.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

PolitiFact concludes by saying that “At worst, they\u2019re paying more to get more, though in many cases they\u2019re actually paying less.”<\/em> They also include a chart that shows that, while insurance premiums have risen since ObamaCare became law, the rise is slower than in any of the previous fourteen years. What critics of ObamaCare always seem to forget is that before it came along insurance companies routinely raised premiums, canceled plans, narrowed doctor networks, and declined coverage. They also refused patients with preexisting conditions, terminated patients when they filed claims, and capped benefits at amounts far below realistic costs for care.<\/p>\n

Prior to ObamaCare it was always the insurance company that came between the patient and the doctor. And their motivation was strictly related to increasing profits. ObamaCare’s mandates are aimed at improving health care and medical outcomes, not enriching corporations and their executives.<\/p>\n

As for Americans For Prosperity, the Koch brothers, and their PR division, Fox News, you have to wonder, if ObamaCare is so terrible, then why do they have to repeatedly lie about it to make it look bad? Why can’t they find any real horror stories? Why can’t they tell the truth about the economics of the program? Why do they so feverishly try to frighten people away<\/a>?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the past few weeks Americans For Prosperity (AFP), the Koch brothers financed Tea Party propaganda outfit, has produced a couple of anti-ObamaCare ads that featured alleged “victims” of the health insurance reform. The campaign ended in embarrassment for AFP when the phony “horror stories” were revealed to be utterly false. Independent analysis of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Koch Brothers Front Group Caught In An ObamaCare Lie (Again)","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,361],"tags":[1142,834,1066,908],"class_list":["post-11738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-healthcare","tag-healthcare","tag-koch-brothers","tag-obamacare","tag-politifact"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/koch-bros-fatcat.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-33k","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10774,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=10774","url_meta":{"origin":11738,"position":0},"title":"Fox News Publishes Phony ObamaCare Attacks From Koch Brothers Funded “News” Service","author":"Mark NC","date":"10\/23\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In their three year effort to prevent Americans from getting affordable health care, Fox News has partnered with numerous conservative propagandists in the media, partisans in politics, and professional lobbyists and think tanks. However, recently they have begun incorporating the most extreme right-wing opinions disguised as journalism and originating from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11526,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=11526","url_meta":{"origin":11738,"position":1},"title":"Fox Business Network Debunks Fox News\/Koch Brothers ObamaScare Story","author":"Mark NC","date":"2\/17\/2014","format":false,"excerpt":"From the very first days of the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare) Fox News and other right-wing media have work their butts off trying to frighten people away from it. Their ultimate goal is to sabotage the program by suppressing participation. But with more than three million enrollments, and millions\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fox News","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/fbn-debunks-foxnews.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10267,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=10267","url_meta":{"origin":11738,"position":2},"title":"Stephen Colbert On The Tea Party Burning ObamaCare Cards That Don’t Exist","author":"Mark NC","date":"7\/30\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Tea-publican brain trust is at it again. It's not enough that they campaigned feverishly to prevent the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) from becoming law; followed by an eye-popping 40 useless, symbolic votes in the House of Representatives to repeal the law; followed by Republican-led states refusing to participate in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30968,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=30968","url_meta":{"origin":11738,"position":3},"title":"Is Tea Party Godfather Charles Koch Feeling The Bern?","author":"Mark NC","date":"2\/19\/2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Washington Post (you know, that bastion of the so-called \"liberal\" media) just published an op-ed by Charles Koch of the infamous Koch brothers. The headline declared that \"This is the one issue where Bernie Sanders is right.\" While that's a fairly generous admission, it is hardly representative of Koch's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"Koch Brothers Bernie Sanders","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/koch-brothers-sanders.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/koch-brothers-sanders.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/koch-brothers-sanders.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10580,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=10580","url_meta":{"origin":11738,"position":4},"title":"Fox Nation Promotes Creepy Uncle Sam Video To Discourage ObamaCare Sign-Ups","author":"Mark NC","date":"9\/19\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"As previously reported here, Fox News has been engaged in a coordinated campaign to drive down participation in the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) by preventing eligible citizens from learning about their options under the new law. 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