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Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Sebelius Goes from 'Will Get Covered' to 'Can' to 'May'

    Tuesday morning, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius announced on Twitter:
    However, while Sebelius's claim sounds like a sure thing ("will" get covered,) the accompanying graphic is somewhat less unequivocal, employing the phrase "can"get covered.  But the truth is even one additional step removed.  The HHS press release, which Sebelius refers to but does not link to, reads as follows [emphasis added]:
A new report released today by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shows that 56 percent, or nearly six in ten of the people who don’t have health insurance today may be able to get coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace for less than $100 per month.
    Sebelius's words recall President Obama's confident pledge that Americans will be able to keep their doctors under Obamacare, a pledge that infamously changed to "may" on the HealthCare.gov website just this summer as first reported by THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
    The authors of the new report released today are careful to point out that they are not making any claims about rates, but are only drawing conclusions about what the uninsured are likely to pay out of pocket towards new insurance premiums after taxpayer subsidies.


Note: A version of this article first appeared at The Weekly Standard.

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