The release of the House GOP budget by Rep. Paul Ryan has sparked a resurgence of false and misleading claims about the Affordable Care Act, which the budget seeks to largely repeal. On the Sunday talk shows, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the head of the Democratic National Committee, and Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, each distorted the facts regarding revenues raised in the health care law. And Ryan wrongly said the law would take money away from Medicare and ration benefits for seniors.
- Johnson said there’s “$1 trillion in middle-income tax increases … in Obamacare.” But the new revenue generated by the Affordable Care Act falls mostly on high-income taxpayers, employers who fail to provide health care to their employees, and health care companies, such as drug manufacturers, medical device manufacturers and insurance providers.
- Wasserman Schultz said “there are not $1 trillion in taxes in Obamacare,” calling Johnson’s claim “completely untrue.” That’s wrong. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says repealing the law will “reduce revenues by $1 trillion between 2013 and 2022,” meaning it will cost taxpayers that much if the law remains on the books.
- Ryan said the law’s reductions in the growth of Medicare spending amounted to “money that was taken from Medicare.” But the Treasury has to give Medicare the money credited to its trust fund — the money can’t be taken away.
- Ryan also repeated a popular talking point when he said that a 15-member “rationing” board would “determine what kind of benefits people get.” But the board, tasked with recommending ways to slow the growth of Medicare spending, can’t restrict benefits, according to the Affordable Care Act.
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