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Myth: Tax hikes will finance a public option.
Fact check:
The House bill finances it by premiums for administrative costs as well as the cost of enrollee benefits, not taxes.
Myth: The public opposes a public option.
Fact check:
Recent polls showed widespread support. An October 30 - November 1 CNN/Opinion Research one found 55% favor "creating a public health insurance option administered by the federal government that would compete with plans offered by private health insurance companies." Other October polls got similar results of up to 57% public support.
Myth: Health care reform is unconstitutional.
Fact check:
Legal experts, like George Washington University law professor Orin Kerr, explain that Congress has regulatory authority over healthcare in interstate commerce and repeatedly passed laws regarding care and insurance.
Myth: Prominent healthcare reform critics are credible.
Fact check:
Newt Gingrich, for example, has a financial and political stake in opposing reform proposals. He may return to public life, and his Center for Health Transformation gets annual fees from several major health insurance companies. Gingrich, like others on the right, is a notorious liar and flack for corporate interests.
Betsy McCaughey is a former New York Lieutenant Governor (1995 - 1998) and Big Tobacco shill during the 1994 health care debate. In Wall Street Journal and New York Post op-eds (both Rupert Murdoch-owned), she repeatedly lied and misinformed - notably claiming the House bill would "absolutely require" end-of-life counseling "that will tell them how to end their life sooner."
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is a right-wing group promoting controversial medical and health views, including urging doctors to opt out of Medicare. It's against health care reform and endorsed "tea party" opposition to it.
Myth: Obamacare is "socialized medicine."
Fact check:
