Rep. Miller misinformation on Obamacare -- the public deserves better

Here’s the latest saga of Candy vs. Sandy – Rep. Miller against Rep. Levin – in the increasingly bizarre congressional debate over Obamacare.

Miller, a Harrison Township Republican, told the crowd of 650 partisans at Monday’s Macomb GOP Lincoln Dinner that she is on guard to protect them from Obamacare. She didn’t mention that the Affordable Care Act will presumably affect virtually no one in that audience, except in a selective, positive way.

Instead, the congresswoman stuck to the party talking points.
 
“A bill I co-sponsored would get the IRS out of the business of enforcing Obamacare,” she told the crowd. “We … need to put an end to the IRS getting your personal health information. I mean, some of this stuff is just crazy.”

One problem: Miller’s assertions were false.

The IRS will determine what level of tax  subsidy each uninsured American is eligible for when they purchase a private health care policy on the Obama exchanges – no different than the corporate and individual requirements for countless other tax breaks.

 
Beyond the stringent HIPAA law that provides widespread privacy of individuals’ medical information, Miller should have known that Obamacare did not engage in a radical rearrangement of confidentiality rules between patient and doctor.

In contrast, Levin, the ranking Democrat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, issued an opening statement at today’s committee meeting that blasted the GOP for spreading misinformation about the ACA health care reforms and attempting to block its implementation every step of the way.

 
“At every turn, Republicans have chosen the path of disruption. And as is so vividly on display this week, at every turn, Republicans have sought to deny the Obama administration funding needed to implement the Affordable Care Act.
“If Republicans were really interested in the implementation of Obamacare, they might know that in the 13 states that have already published preliminary premiums for marketplace coverage, Americans will be able to purchase insurance at a price that is on average 20 percent below what the Congressional Budget Office estimated.

"In New York, insurance rates in the marketplace are set to be half the price of what is currently available.  And that is without taking the tax credits into account, which will further lower the effective premium for many families.”

Imagine that: The introduction of free-market competition in the health insurance marketplace, combined with tax cuts for individuals, has led to affordable rates.

“If Republicans were truly interested in the Affordable Care Act’s implementation,” continued Levin, a Royal Oak Democrat who represents most of Macomb County, “they would inform their constituents that a simple three-page application awaits single Americans purchasing insurance on the exchange. And that neither the Internal Revenue Service nor the Department of Health and Human Services will have access to medical records or other personal health history.

"Instead, we see scare tactics and other misguided efforts to convince constituents that applying for health coverage will be time-consuming and cumbersome.

“But we have long known that Republicans have no interest in ensuring that Americans understand what even Speaker Boehner himself has acknowledged is ‘the law of the land.’ Their only interest is to misinform, misconstrue and mislead the American public about the Affordable Care Act.”

Norm Ornstein, a political analyst who has earned a reputation over decades as an objective bipartisan observer of Capitol Hill, wrote this week that the maniacal GOP attempts to obstruct Obamacare, a hyperpartisan effort that includes the top Republican leadership, is unprecedented and spinning out of control. To read his historical perspective, click here.

UPDATE: The tax-writing Ways and Means Committee is one of the most powerful panels on Capitol Hill. Comprehensive tax reform, if it goes anywhere, will get started at Ways and Means.
So, in response to the House GOP plan to hold a 40th vote today to repeal Obamacare, the House Dems came up with a chart.

The graphic indicates that the Ways and Means Republicans have held more committee hearings on the Affordable Care Act in the last month than the total number of bills they have taken up for consideration during the first seven months of 2013.