The Affordable Care Act – Obamacare to some – is a perennial target of Republicans. But at the GOP presidential debate in Milwaukee, Carly Fiorina made a particularly strong statement about the law’s ineffectiveness.
“I understand that you cannot allow families to go bankrupt if they truly need help,” she said. “But, I also understand that Obamacare isn’t helping anyone.” Reasonable arguments can be made against the law and its many provisions. But is no one at all getting any actual help from the law?
Americans currently enrolled in policies bought on the ACA’s online exchange: 9.5 million, of which roughly 8 million are receiving subsidies under the law. Another 2.5 million were enrolled in such policies during 2015 but have since dropped their coverage.
Net number of Americans added to Medicaid due to the law: 15 million. This includes 10 million added through direct expansion of Medicaid under the law, 4 million new but previously eligible beneficiaries who signed up for Medicaid after the ACA passed, and about 1 million transferred to Medicaid from existing, state-based programs.
Number of young adults age 19 to 26 who have been able to stay on their parents’ insurance due to the law: Possibly 1 million to 3 million, but the numbers change so often it’s hard to get a solid number.
Americans no longer at risk for coverage denial due to pre-existing conditions: As PolitiFact has previously reported, between 19 percent and 50 percent of Americans fall into this category, or between 60 million and 160 million people.
Americans no longer at risk of being kicked off policies for developing expensive medical conditions: Smaller than the previous categories, but unknown.
Medicare Part D beneficiaries, who are getting better prescription drug coverage: 39 million Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in the program. These and other Medicare beneficiaries are also getting such new benefits as free preventive screenings and an annual wellness checkup.
Americans with private insurance who now have access to preventive services at no charge: Unknown, but likely in the millions.
Another way to look at it holistically is to gauge the net impact on national uninsurance rates. They have fallen sharply since the law has been put into practice. In 2010, the share of uninsured was 18.2 percent. In 2015 the rate will be 10.7 percent. Politifact rates Fiorina’s claim “Pants of Fire.”
Climate change = terrorism? Hmm
Sen. Bernie Sanders went too far with his debate claim that “climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism.”
The Sanders campaign pointed to a 2003 Pentagon report that warned climate change “could contribute materially to an increasingly disorderly and potentially violent world.” Similar sentiments have been expressed by the White House, the director of national intelligence and various military leaders.
Sanders has broad support for his claim that climate change is a factor in the terrorism equation, that it can contribute to and worsen tensions in some regions and lead to instability that poses security threats. But there is a complex web of causal factors behind the Syrian conflict and the Islamic State terrorism that has emerged from it. A study concluded that global warming “increased the probability” of a severe drought, a drought which contributed to displacement and mass migration, which contributed to instability, which may have contributed to violent conflict. But increasing the probability of a possible factor in a conflict isn’t the same as being a “directly related” cause for terrorism. The evidence so far does not support Sanders’ claim.
Chip Tuthill is a longtime Mancos resident. Websites used for this column: www.factcheck.org and www.politifact.com