Subject: As Rubio falsely disparages Obamacare, he reaps its benefits
From: DNC Press <[email-masked]>
To: DNC Press <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2015 16:21:50 +0000

<http://factivists.democrats.org/as-rubio-falsely-disparages-obamacare-he-reaps-its-benefits/>

Marco Rubio's at it again- fibbing the truth in order to justify his out-of-touch policy positions that hurt our nation's middle class. In Rubio's desperation to undermine Obamacare, he added a provision to the spending bill last year dealing with risk corridors-which could actually cost tax payers money<http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-no-marco-rubio-didn-t-score-20151210-column.html>.

Numerous fact checks and reports have shown that his provisions have done nothing short of harm hardworking Americans and their families; but while Rubio has been parading around disparaging the Affordable Care Act, his family has been insured under the D.C. exchange since 2013<http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/obamacare-foe-marco-rubio-insured-under-affordable-care-act-n478156>. Thanks Obama!

Obamacare Foe Marco Rubio Insured Under Affordable Care Act<http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/obamacare-foe-marco-rubio-insured-under-affordable-care-act-n478156>
NBC NEWS // ALEX JAFFE

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio boasts of being the only Republican presidential candidate to have dealt a blow to Obamacare - but he's also insured under the law.

Rubio's campaign confirmed to NBC News that the GOP presidential candidate and his family remain insured under the law, through the D.C. exchange. He first signed up in 2013, at which point spokeswoman Brooke Sammon told the Tampa Bay Times that Rubio "spent time looking at all the options and decided to enroll through the D.C. exchange for coverage for him and his family."

Rubio's Boast Of Stopping Obamacare 'Bailout' Omits Some Crucial Facts<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/marco-rubio-obamacare-bailout_5668a2dfe4b0f290e521e056>
HUFFINGTON POST // JONATHAN COHN

What [Marco Rubio] doesn't mention is that, because of his efforts, some people are likely to face higher premiums for their health coverage and insurance markets on the whole are less stable.
...

Politifact<http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2015/dec/07/marco-rubio/rubio-says-he-prevented-25-billion-obamacare-bailo/> has rated Rubio's claim as "mostly false." Even some conservatives, like Scott Gottlieb<https://www.aei.org/scholar/scott-gottlieb/>, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, have said that calling the risk corridors a bailout is wrong<http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottgottlieb/2014/01/20/the-scheme-that-obamacare-critics-call-a-bailout-of-insurers-is-really-a-deliberate-and-veiled-subsidy-of-them-why-the-distinction-matters/>. The numbers also put Rubio's boast into perspective, since $2.5 billion is tiny given the size of Obamacare -- and the health care law is, by all accounts, costing significantly less than even its promoters expected.

Rubio and his allies might argue that they oppose risk corridors on sheer principle, that government simply has no business insulating insurers from losses (or sharing in their profits). But if that's the case, the Affordable Care Act shouldn't be the only government insurance program on their target lists. Medicare Part D<http://ccf.georgetown.edu/all/how-the-three-rs-contributed-to-the-success-of-medicare-part-d/> should be too. Part D, which a Republican Congress designed and a Republican president signed into law in 2003<http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/12/08/elec04.medicare/>, provides prescription drug benefits to seniors and the disabled through private insurance companies. It has a risk corridor program that operates almost exactly like the one in the Affordable Care Act. The only substantive difference is that Part D's program is permanent. Yet neither Rubio nor any other conservative is yelling about that.

No, Marco Rubio didn't score a blow against Obamacare -- he merely hurt patients<http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-no-marco-rubio-didn-t-score-20151210-column.html>
LA TIMES // MICHAEL HILTZIK

Sen. Marco Rubio's presidential campaign has been crowing lately about the blow he supposedly scored against the Affordable Care Act. "Only one candidate has actually done significant damage to Obamacare," boasts his campaign website<https://marcorubio.com/news/marco-rubio-dismantle-obamacare/>.
...

These claims are a little overheated, wholly misleading and spectacularly cynical. Let's set the record straight.
            ...

As Bagley states, "Marco Rubio hasn't killed Obamacare and he hasn't saved taxpayers any money. All he's done is throw a wrench in the works."
            ...

Rubio has shown that if you want to punch a hole in the Affordable Care Act, you can do so. But we knew that; Republican governors and legislators in the 20 states that have refused to expand Medicaid to serve their constituents under the ACA already showed it. But who's hurt by such stunts? People are. Wasn't Marco Rubio elected to serve them? If so, what exactly is he bragging about?

Rubio says he prevented a $2.5 billion taxpayer bailout for Obamacare<http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2015/dec/07/marco-rubio/rubio-says-he-prevented-25-billion-obamacare-bailo/>
POLITIFACT // JOSHUA GILLIN
            ...
Rubio said, "Last year, I stopped an Obamacare bailout and saved taxpayers $2.5 billion."
...
But experts said calling the program a bailout is not accurate. They also noted CMS has said they want the risk corridors to pay for themselves through fees from insurers.

Most importantly, experts also said Rubio did not necessarily save that money in the long run. His best argument is he temporarily limited one way CMS could have tried to pay for insurance companies' losses. The program has two more years to cover its expenses. If any bills are due after that time, CMS or Congress will have to find a way to pay them because they are obligated to do so.

Rubio oversimplified a complex process that is still largely unresolved. We rate his statement Mostly False.

View this post on our Factivists site here<http://factivists.democrats.org/as-rubio-falsely-disparages-obamacare-he-reaps-its-benefits/>.