Heather Haywood, a public information manager with the Arkansas state’s insurance department, elaborated upon the change in an email to The Huffington Post Thursday. “Insurance carriers sent notifications to consumers that coverage under health policies that did not comply with the ACA, would end December 2014,” Haywood wrote. “Pursuant to the March 5 CCIIO Bulletin – extension of transitional policy through October 1, 2016 – Arkansas Insurance Commissioner [Jay] Bradford issued AID Bulletin 6-2014 extending coverage through October 1, 2016.” The total number of Arkansans whose health plans have been canceled as a result of the Affordable Care Act? According to the Wall Street Journal’s tally, the answer is zero. In other words, the premise of this simple attack ad is at odds with reality. Making matters slightly worse is the larger context. Americans for Prosperity is running this misleading commercial, arguing that the health care reform law is leading to Arkansans losing coverage they may like. At the exact same time, as Brian Beutler noted, Americans for Prosperity is urging state policymakers to take away coverage for Arkansans who have coverage they may like. The Koch-backed group has been more relentless in its efforts to block the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion than just about any advocacy organization. And in Arkansas, where this ad is on the air, the group pushed hard for the state to reverse its Medicaid expansion, which would have canceled coverage for the 100,000 people who had already signed up in the state. Brian called this evidence of “incredible chutzpah,” which is putting it mildly. So Koch / ALEC supported claims against the ACA, actually complain about the ZERO number of medical insurance plans cancelled in Arkansas, AND, worse, promote the CANCELLATION of Medicaid approved expansion coverage for 100,000+ Arkansas citizens, most of whom had been going without preventive healthcare coverage!
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 14:40:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015