A Reality Check for ObamaCare's White House Fact Check Page

88 million will see their coverage disappear
Despite claims from the White House that it’s “disinformation,” the Lewin Group — a health econometrics firm that has been cited by think tanks and lawmakers across the ideological spectrum -- forecasts more than 88 million Americans could see their current employer-based health coverage disappear under the House drafted bill that includes a new public plan. Part of the shift would be the result of employers making the economic decision to drop their current plans in response to financial incentives built into the bill.

Plus, a health plan modeled after Medicare won’t necessarily be more efficient. American taxpayers could end up subsidizing a health plan that would have an unfair advantage in the marketplace, driving many insurers out of the marketplace and limiting patients’ choices.

Medicaid has a long history of rationing
The creation of a publicly run health insurance option is no laughing matter. Government-run health care programs like Medicaid have a history of low-quality care. By reducing payments to doctors and hospitals, Americans on these programs have a harder time finding a doctor who will accept them as a patient, thus rationing their access to care. The White House might accuse insurers of rationing care, but research shows patients with Medicaid and SCHIP end up in emergency rooms more often than the privately insured and even the uninsured.

Medicare won't be safe if history is a guide
“Nobody is talking about reducing Medicare benefits,” except the lawmakers on Capitol Hill who have proposed to cut roughly $150 billion from the highly popular Medicare Advantage program, which now enrolls about one out of five senior citizens. These plans in this program provide Medicare patients with richer and more varied benefits than those in traditional Medicare. There are a lot of options the government can do to reign in spending for Medicare, which currently is $38 trillion in the red. But any savings need to go toward lowering Medicare’s long-term cost -- not creating a new government-run health care program.

Obama's plan will hurt small businesses
Proposed solutions to pay for a new public health care program have included taxing the wealthy. In reality, this will impact thousands of small business owners who are creating the jobs and wages for most Americans. These taxes will hurt small businesses by keeping them from expanding and adding new jobs. It will hurt workers by stagnating wage growth or even eliminating jobs. New research from Heritage’s Center for Data Analysis reveals these new taxes could mean 400,000 employees could lose their job each year. Spending and new taxes will not be the way to bend the health care cost-curve downward. It will only exacerbate the problems businesses already face.

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