HEALTH COACH - NPR Fact-Checks GOP Health Bill's Republican Claim: Shots

HEALTH COACH -

 NPR Fact-Checks GOP Health Bill's Republican Claim: Shots  









The people who attend the bishopric of Representative Rod Blum in Dubuque, Iowa, assured this week of red paper to show their disagreement with what the Republican MP said and green to show that they Were in agreement. The GOP health care bill was a major concern for many.



Scott Olson / Getty Images


  hide the legend  




  tipping the legend  




Scott Olson / Getty Images





 



 People attending the bishop 's bishop' s meeting in Dubuque, Iowa, this week published red sheets to show their disagreement with what the Republican MP said and green to show that " They agreed. The GOP health care bill was a major concern of many. 


Scott Olson / Getty Images





 The town hall meetings have been strong for some Republican congressional members this week as they have defended the passage of the US Health Care Act by the House of Representatives. The constituents asked a lot of questions and we verified the answers given by some leading GOP legislators. 
 
  "Reform is not repealed"  
  Tom Reed, RN.Y., during a meeting of the town hall in his district By that Act. " 
 
  Reed responds to a constituency that was worried about the " A child with severe allergies: "His co-payments and deductibles will be through the roof," said the parent to Reed, "because he's going to be in a high-risk group - Because it has a pre-existing condition. 
 
 "[No] No, no," Reed said the parent. 
 
 The bill  contains  a wording that insurers can not refuse the 
 
 However, the GOP bill also has a huge gap in this regard. The plan allows states to make an application Exemption to the federal government that eliminates many of the regulations set up under the Affordable Care Act - including one that prohibits insurance companies from charging people with pre-existing conditions more for a health plan A waiver would allow insurance companies to examine a person 's health status when determining what to charge for coverage. Although some one with A pre-existing condition that lives in a state that gets a waiver should be offered a policy, it could be very expensive. 



 
  Steve Scalise, R-La., On Fox News this week  
 
 "No matter what type of plan you have today, Scalise to Fox News, "If you have a pre-existing condition, under our bill you can not be denied coverage and you may not be charged more than anyone." 
 
  Facts: not exactly true  
 
 Scalise, like Reed, indicates the language of the bill that retains the Obamacare rules that prohibit insurers from imposing on individuals costly medical conditions More than their neighbors of the same age for an insurance policy. 
 
 But state exemptions allow insurers to bypass this guarantee. 










 Before the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies declined coverage or billed more if the person who wanted insurance had a long list of conditions - including arthritis, diabetes, Heart disease, muscular dystrophy, obesity and sleep apnea, according to a list compiled by the Kaiser Family Foundation from the underwriting guidelines of insurers. 
 
 Insurers may also refuse to cover many drugs, including drugs that treat cancer, diabetes, AIDS or arthritis, according to Kaiser. 
 
 If you have cancer and buy insurance that does not pay for your cancer treatment, your pre-existing condition is effectively excluded. 
 
  "If you receive your insurance through the collective healthcare market - your employer - Nothing changes "Blum told the voters this week. "If you receive your health insurance through Medicare, nothing will change. If you are currently receiving your Medicaid health insurance, nothing will change. "
 
  Fact check: partially false  
 
 Blum's statement refers to some great things - Employer coverage and Medicaid. 
 
 With regard to employer coverage, if your insurance changes under the GOP invoice depends on whether your business is based and buys its insurance in a state that waives. 
 
 In the "waiver states", employers' insurance policies may no longer be subject to Obamacare's regulations around so-called essential health benefits - the minimum benefits that must Be included in a policy. 
 
 They may also no longer be subject to restrictions on annual and lifetime spending limits. 
 
 This means that in these states, your employer sponsored health insurance policy may deny coverage for certain categories of care, such as mental health care or maternity coverage . And the health plan could impose annual or lifetime limits on insurance benefits. Thus, workers with very expensive conditions or members of their families having such conditions could see their costs accumulate, even if they have medical coverage by work. 
 
 Prior to Obamacare, about 60 percent of employers had lifetime limits on their health plans. 
 
 Blum's second statement - that about Medicaid - is false. The GOP Health Bill makes major changes to Medicaid, first by reversing the expansion of the program over time. 
 
 Bill allows people to keep their Medicaid expanded so long as they remain eligible. But people with or near the poverty level often see their income fluctuate, making them temporarily ineligible for the health care program. Under the GOP bill, once they left the cogs of Medicaid, they could not return even if their income decreased. 
 
 In addition, the bill fundamentally changes the way the US government finances Medicaid. States would receive a fixed amount of money from the federal government for each beneficiary, rather than an amount that varies depending on the number of Medicaid beneficiaries and their health care needs. 
 
 Most analysts say that over time the level of services that Medicaid could provide would decrease if the GOP health bill becomes a law and that states should reduce services. This forecast is confirmed by the Congress Budget Bureau, which said the changes to Medicaid would reduce program costs by $ 880 billion over 10 years. 
 
 Many services provided by Medicaid today, including home health care and services for the disabled, are considered "optional" as part of the GOP health bill . It is also the services that take people out of hospitals and nursing homes.