Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Letters To Constituents Chock Full Of Errors And Mischaracterizations About ACA
The Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare, includes no 鈥淗ealth Choices Commissioner.鈥 Another bill introduced in Congress in 2009 did include such a position, but the bill died 鈥 and besides, the job as outlined in that legislation didn鈥檛 have the powers [Louisiana Sen. Bill] Cassidy ascribed to it. As the debate to repeal the law heats up in Congress, constituents are flooding their representatives with notes of support or concern, and the lawmakers are responding, sometimes with form letters that are misleading. (Ornstein, 3/22)
In letter after letter, Republican lawmakers have reminded their constituents: Obamacare cut Medicare. Implied, and sometimes stated outright, was that the GOP鈥檚 own plan should instead bolster the program. 鈥淎ny reforms must protect Medicare,鈥 Congressman Ted Poe, a Texas Republican who represents a district in the Houston area, wrote in a letter last month to one of his constituents about the Affordable Care Act鈥檚 failures and his party鈥檚 own plans. ... But the bill now working its way through Congress does not reverse those cuts. (Scott, 3/22)