ProgressOhio

Instead of building honest consensus around reform, Rep. John Boehner is choosing to be a leading peddler of health reform lies.

He's claimed that reform would result in a government takeover of health care, cuts in Medicare benefits, and federal funding of abortion -- even though his lies have been debunked by non-partisan fact checks, and his own party has voted to gut Medicare.

Enough. We're calling him out.

Watch It:

RHETORIC: Boehner Claims That Health Reform Bill Would Be a “Government Takeover” of Current System. “I don't think we need to, to throw the current system out the window and replace it with this big, government run program.” [Univision, 9/20/09]

REALITY: Independent Organizations Found that Under the Obama Plan, No One Would Be Forced From Their Plan and Private Insurance Would Not Go Out of Business.

FactCheck.org: Under Obama’s Health Care Plan, “Nobody Would Be Forced To Drop His Or Her Current Insurance.” “Obama has long said he would allow individuals or small businesses to buy insurance through a public plan – like the one now available to members of Congress. But nobody would be forced to drop his or her current insurance, and private plans would exist as they do now. This was the health care plan he promoted as a presidential candidate.” [FactCheck.org, 5/1/09] AMA President-Elect Reassured: Physicians And Patients Don’t Need To Fear The Rise Of A Monolithic Health System With No Choice From President Obama. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported that “American Medical Association president-elect Dr. James Rohack told Mississippi doctors Friday…Physicians and patients don't need to fear the rise of a monolithic health system with no choice, because it's not something the American people would accept, Rohack said. The president didn't advocate a single-payer system for the United States at the meeting, Rohack said. Obama said he believes in access to health care for all with a system that is a mix of public and private sources with patients still able to see the physicians of their choice.” [Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 5/30/09]

RHETORIC: Boehner Claims That Health Reform Bill Would Cut $500 Billion in Medicare and Medicaid Benefits. “Why don't we take out the five hundred billion dollars for the cuts to Medicare and Medicaid? That's another big step in the right direction.” [Univision, 9/20/09]

REALITY: Republicans Introduced Similar Legislation to Eliminate Waste and Fraud in Medicare Advantage This Year, and the 2009 GOP Budget Proposal Gutted Medicare…

The Baucus Bill Would Reduce The Difference In Costs Between Medicare And Medicare Advantage Through A Competitive Bidding System. “Federal subsidies to private Medicare plans average about 14 percent higher than those involved in fee-for-service coverage. The health care bills pending in Congress would reduce or eliminate the difference in part by introducing a competitive bidding system to pay the plans. ‘Health insurance reform will strengthen Medicare for seniors, not diminish it,’ said White House spokesman Reid Cherlin. ‘Even under the competitive bidding proposal in the legislation, Medicare Advantage plans will still be paid more than traditional Medicare plans. Yes, they'll need to compete, and they'll need to be more efficient, but they'll still have more money to work with than traditional Medicare.’” [AP, 9/22/09]

The Patients' Choice Act Includes Competitive Bidding For Medicare Advantage. "Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander of Tennessee joined the sponsors of the bill, including Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, at a news conference announcing that he would cosponsor the measure. ... In the House, similar legislation is backed by Republicans Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin and Devin Nunes of California. ... The bill borrows a page from President Obama in its treatment of Medicare Advantage, in which private insurers provide seniors benefits in place of the government. The sponsors propose implementing a competitive bidding program for Medicare Advantage plans, aimed at reducing the subsidies the government pays them. Obama proposed the same idea in February." [CQ Today, 5/20/09]

Senate Republicans Introduced Patients Choice Act that Included Similar Provisions to the Finance Committee Bill to Introduce Competitive Bidding into Medicare Advantage to Eliminate Inefficiencies; Reps. Paul Ryan And Devin Nunes Introduced Companion Bill In House. Senate Republicans introduced a bill that would include competitive bidding in Medicare Advantage to eliminate inefficiencies and increasing choice. The bill was sponsored by Senator Coburn, and co-sponsored by Senators Alexander, Bunning, Burr, Chambliss, Graham, Inhofe and Isakson. The House version sponsored by Rep. Paul Ryan was co-sponsored by Reps. Ken Calvert, John Campbell, Steven LaTourette, John Linder, Kenny Marchant, Tom McClintock, Devin Nunes, Pete Sessions, John Shimkus and Mark Souder. [S. 1099, Introduced 5/20/09, Title V, Subtitle A.; HR 2520, introduced 5/20/09, Section 1860C-2]

4/5 Of House Republicans Voted For The Republican Budget Substitute. 137 Republicans voted for the Rep. Ryan budget substitute amendment [H Con Res 85, Vote 191, 4/2/09]

AP: The Republican Budget Would "End Medicare As It Is Presently Known." "For their part, House Republicans are offering an alternative that eventually would end Medicare as it is presently known." [AP, 4/1/09]

The GOP Budget Would Gut Medicare And Replace The Benefit With A Reduced Health Care Subsidy. According to the AP, "On Medicare, workers under the age of 55 would enroll in private plans and receive premium subsidies equal to the average Medicare benefit when they retire. Benefits would not be changed for people in the program or people 55 or older." According to Rep. Paul Ryan, "We preserve the existing Medicare program for all those 55 or older; and then, to make the program sustainable and dependable, those 54 and younger will enter a Medicare program reformed to work like the health plan members of Congress and federal employees now enjoy. Starting in 2021, seniors would receive a premium support payment equal to 100% of the Medicare benefit on average. This would be income related, so low-income seniors receive extra support, and high-income seniors receive support relative to their incomes -- along the same lines as the president's Medicare Part D proposal." [AP, 4/1/09; Rep. Paul Ryan op-ed, WSJ, 4/1/09]

RHETORIC: Boehner claims the House Bill Explicitly allows for taxpayer funded abortions. “He says, ‘No,’ but the house bill that they've been moving through the house explicitly allows for taxpayer funded abortions. And so, that's not what the bill says.” [Univision, 9/20/09]

REALITY: Independent Fact Checkers Have Rated the Claim that Insurance Reform Would Provide Taxpayer Funded Abortions “FALSE.”

Politifact: There Is Nothing To Support The Claim That Taxpayers Would Subsidize Abortion And The Statement Is "False." "The word 'abortion' was never mentioned in the initial health care plans released by the House and Senate. The decision of whether to offer abortion coverage in the proposed public plan, then, would be left up to the health and human services secretary. Abortion opponents said that would allow Democrats to slip abortion into the plan as part of the standard coverage. In an op-ed piece on July 23, House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio repeated the concerns of many who oppose abortion that the Democratic-backed health care reform plan 'will require (Americans) to subsidize abortion with their hard-earned tax dollars.' ... Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United, which opposes abortion, said his group doesn't want to see an important health care plan derailed by a 'misleading campaign' that claims the health care plan would mean taxpayer-subsidized abortions. 'The goal should be to maintain the current policies,' Korzen said. 'That Capps Amendment accomplishes just that. It specifically prohibits taxpayers funding of abortions. It disappoints me that there are people who are still making that claim.' ... In fact, in a key version of the bill- the one passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee - members went to great pains to include an amendment to ensure that federal money is not used for abortion coverage. Again, things could change as the health reform package works its way through Congress, but for now, we don't see anything to support Boehner's claim that taxpayers would subsidize abortions. And so we rule his statement False." [Politifact]