I feel like a little sunshine myself today. Let’s take a look at Representative Rehberg’s claim that no private insurance policies will be allowed under the bill. He writes:
"Prohibits the sale of private individual health insurance policies, beginning in 2013, forcing individuals to purchase coverage through the federal government." In 2013, after the 2012 presidential election. In 2013, there is no private insurance allowed. The sale of it will be prohibited.
Oops. That was Limbaugh. Here’s Rehberg:
Page 94 prohibits sale of private individual health insurance policies forcing you to go through fed government
The obtuseness of this misreading is astonishing. The purpose of this section of the bill, which anyone with an 8th grade reading level could easily discern, is to ensure that private insurance plans can be grandfathered in and that they meet certain minimum requirements after the bill’s passage.
What insurance companies hate about the bill is that they will be forced to compete in a free and open market under the Health Insurance Exchange.
Demagoguery. Pure and simple.
Article by Don Pogreba
Don has written 1332 posts for us. He is an English and debate teacher in Helena, MT. When not writing here or working on debate handbooks, he is writing about educational issues at Prairie Pedagogue.
