This morning Paul Ryan gave a briefing about the progress of Trumpcare, the Affordable Health Care Act (AHCA). He lied to a reporter when asked a question about pricing and Ali Velshi called him out on MSNBC immediately afterward.
Ali Velshi, Paul Ryan’s truth patrol
Paul Ryan did what he did best at a news briefing today, mislead reporters and the American people. Ali Velshi had the numbers to refute him immediately after the briefing. This ensured that the listening audience would not be left with the fallacy that somehow the Ryan/Trump draconian AHCA would reduce health insurance cost in the aggregate.
“I have to say,” Ali Velshi said. “I am not sure why Paul Ryan did what he just did. But he perpetrated another myth. He said, and I quote, the CBO has already shown that this bill will lower premiums. That’s simply not true. The CBO score indicates that for the next few years premiums would be substantially higher than they would have been under Obamacare and by 2026 they would be 10 percent lower than they would have been under Obamacare. Now healthcare premiums are set to rise at, at least 5% a year over the next 10 years. So when you take 5% and you drop that by 10%, you have 4.5%. There is no circumstance under Obamacare, without Obamacare, or with this effort to replace Obamacare in which your health care premiums will be lower. So for Paul Ryan to say that is a little confusing to me because I know he must have read the CBO Report. I certainly did.”
This is what journalists are supposed to do. They are not to allow politicians to mislead, misinform, or lie to the American people.
Donald Trump and Paul Ryan are playing with the lives of every poor and middle-class American. As MSNBC’s Ali Velshi explained, the free market simply does not work for health insurance, period. Chuck Todd recently pointed out that the new plan decimates coverage for all but mostly to the Trump voter.
Learn why Single-Payer/Medicare-For-All is our future.
Call your Senators and Congressional Representatives every day and let them know you do not want the Affordable Care Act repealed. If you do not know how to get in touch with them, click here.