Yesterday, we posted a story about how Barack Obama has not only broken his oft repeated promise of “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it”, he has been knowingly lying about it for three years. We highlighted an NBC article that told the story of George Schwab, who was happy with his health care plan, and is now losing it.
George Schwab, 62, of North Carolina, said he was “perfectly happy” with his plan from Blue Cross Blue Shield, which also insured his wife for a $228 monthly premium. But this past September, he was surprised to receive a letter saying his policy was no longer available. The “comparable” plan the insurance company offered him carried a $1,208 monthly premium and a $5,500 deductible.
And the best option he’s found on the exchange so far offered a 415 percent jump in premium, to $948 a month.
“The deductible is less,” he said, “But the plan doesn’t meet my needs. Its unaffordable.“
Shortly after our post was published, Ohio Democratic Party Deputy Communications Director Brian Hester tried to start spinning Schwab’s story. His tactic? Attack the messenger with a supposed fact check. He claims that NBC was wrong in their article and linked to a Charlotte Observer story about Schultz.
@NBCInvestigates claimed man from NC said his new policy would cost 400% more ON EXCHANGE. Fact check: Nope.
The ODP needs to read the NBC article more carefully, because nothing in the Observer article refutes the NBC article.
One of them is George Schwab of Charlotte, who pays $228 a month for his family’s $10,000 deductible plan from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.
In a Sept. 23 letter, Blue Cross notified him that his current plan doesn’t meet benefit requirements outlined in the Affordable Care Act and suggested a comparable plan for $1,208 a month – $980 more than he now pays.
“I’m 62 and retired,” Schwab said. “This creates a tremendous financial burden for our family.
“The President told the American people numerous times that… ‘If you like your coverage, you can keep it,’” Schwab said. “How can we keep it if it has been eliminated? How can we keep it if the premium has been increased 430 percent in one year?”
Schwab was offered a comparable plan by Blue Cross for $1208 per month. That’s a whopping 530% increase over his current plan. The NBC article also reports that Schwab shopped on the Obamacare exchange for a cheaper option, and the best deal he found there was for $948 per month, which is indeed a 415% increase.
Both articles report that Schwab’s best option is a 415% increase. Derp.
So, with Hester’s “fact check” being a complete fail, he turned his guns on us for reporting that 1.5 million Americans, like Schwab, have already received cancellation letters because their health care plans don’t meet Obamacare’s restrictive regulations. His response to that number?
Hey, 1.5 million is really a small percentage of Americans, you know. Seriously.
1.5 million people losing their plans represent 1.5 million broken promises from Obama. But the ODP spokesman’s response makes that number seem trivial. Worse yet, this is only the tip of the iceberg. The cancellation letters due to Obamacare are just getting started.
Hester’s last retort of the night is just plain puzzling. The ODP mouthpiece actually concluded by placing the blame for the Obamacare mess on John Kasich for not getting Romney elected?
So apparently the reasoning that the Ohio Democratic Party is going with is “Hey, don’t blame us. If Kasich had gotten Obama defeated, we wouldn’t be in this mess!”