Koch concoctions David and Charles Koch, the immensely rich industrialists, presumably have health insurance, though they don’t really need it. More than 25 million Americans don’t have it and really do need it, however, and the Koch brothers are working hard to make sure the government doesn’t give it to them. The advocacy group backed by the Kochs, Americans for Prosperity, is spending more than $1 million on an advertising campaign to (yet again) discredit President Obama’s health care reform law. It’s already been in effect for three years, but they want to soften it up just as its most important changes (mostly, the insurance mandate) begin to go into effect on Oct. 1. That will benefit Republican lawmakers, gearing up for the 2014 elections, who want to reignite the misguided fury against the law that gave them control of the House in 2010. Naturally, the Kochs can’t give voice to their real concerns: That the law raises taxes on the rich to help pay for health insurance subsidies for the poor. That it expands the role of government in individual lives, as a protection against market forces that most cannot control or understand. That its benefits to society may be so profound that Democrats can use it as a badge of accomplishment for generations, as they have with Social Security and Medicare. So they’ve decided to resort to a well-used tactic on this subject: outright lying. Remember death panels, rated PolitiFact’s “Lie of the Year” for 2009? That proved the effectiveness of deception, so why not keep at it? A.F.P.’s first ad, designed to appeal to women and appearing on the Food Channel and other outlets, features a young mother of two whose child had seizures two years ago and who now has “some questions about Obamacare.” “If we can’t pick our own doctor, how do I know my family’s going to get the care they need?” she asks. “And what am I getting in exchange for higher premiums and a smaller paycheck?” Lie No. 1: The law doesn’t limit the choice of doctors or insurance plans. People can choose any primary-care doctor participating in their plan, just as the vast majority of insured people can now. The law even guarantees that right, for the first time, for people covered under their employer’s plan. Lie No. 2: While some insurers have raised rates, the initial bids from insurance companies competing under the law strongly suggested that most consumers will benefit from the new competition. The law includes limits and protections against unwarranted rate increases, and will make it much easier to get insurance despite pre-existing conditions, like the child’s seizure disorder mentioned in the ad. The Kochs and their Republican allies continue to take advantage of the law’s complexity and public ignorance to spread the worst kind of misinformation, hoping once again to create chaotic town halls and anti-government protests once the mandate goes into effect. Senate Republicans have also tried to stop the Obama administration from telling the truth about the law, cutting off money for publicity and warning sports teams not to join any explanatory ads. Organizing for Action, the advocacy group that supports the White House, has begun running counter-ads, pointing out, for example, that the law ends lifetime caps on benefits. But given the immense firepower being readied by opponents of the law, supporters will have to step up their efforts to disseminate the truth.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 17:10:35 +0000