Donald Trump is in Ohio today, repeating more of the same debunked lies about health care. What he won’t mention is that the health care repeal that Republicans just advanced breaks nearly every promise he made to Ohioans. The fact remains that this bill will have a devastating impact on Ohioans and Americans across the country. Rather than peddling a plan that would cause millions of people to lose their health coverage, Trump and Republicans, like Senator Rob Portman, should work with Democrats on a publicly available bill that improves our health care system and lowers premiums.

TRUMP FALSELY CLAIMED THAT THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM WAS COLLAPSING & USED A FLAWED REPORT TO EXAGGERATE PREMIUM INCREASES UNDER THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

TRUMP:

“The deductibles are so high; you don’t want to use it anyway. If you need it, you’ll never get to use it because the deductibles have gotten so high. It’s a horror show. We’re going to repeal it and replace it.” – Trump at a campaign rally in Cleveland, OH, 10/22/16

“In Alaska, they’ve gone up 207 percent on Obamacare. You know, I used to mention only Arizona because they were up 116 percent in Arizona.” – Trump remarks at lunch with members of Congress, 6/13/17

REALITY:

“The White House and President Trump used a flawed report to claim the Affordable Care Act led to premiums’ doubling and tripling. … Mr. Trump compares two fundamentally different universes of plans: all the plans on the individual market in 2013 and those only on the federal exchange in 2017 ” – The New York Times

“Fact Check: Obamacare is not in A ‘death spiral’” – CBS News

“Death spiral? Obamacare insurers may be having ‘best year’ yet under ACA.” – McClatchy

“Under the health care law, the nation’s uninsured rate has fallen to a historic low of about 9 percent, with some 20 million people gaining coverage since its passage in 2010.” – Associated Press

“Claims that Obamacare is in a ‘death spiral’ are misleading. The latest studies show that the government regulated insurance market has stabilized as carriers raised rates to cover costs while federal subsidies prevented people from feeling the brunt of premium increases.” – Politifact

“Contrary to the ‘death-spiral’ narrative, the CMS report found that the mix of healthy and sick people buying insurance on the Obamacare marketplaces in 2016 was surprisingly similar to those who enrolled in 2015.” – FiveThirtyEight

“The latest data shows enrollment is increasing slightly and younger (typically healthier) people are signing up at the same rate as last year. And while premiums are increasing, that isn’t affecting the cost to most consumers due to built-in subsidies.” – PolitiFact

TRUMP PROMISED OHIOANS THAT HE WOULD ‘TAKE CARE OF’ EVERYONE WHO COULD NOT AFFORD HEALTH CARE, BUT THE GOP REPEAL WOULD FORCE OHIOANS TO PAY MORE FOR LESS COVERAGE

TRUMP:

“We’re going to have a great plan, we’re getting rid of the boundaries, we’re going to have great private competition, and you’re going to have plans now that we can’t even talk about because these companies will come up with plans. And it’s going to be so much less expensive and so much better. And for the people that can’t afford that, we’re going to take care of them…We've going to take care of people. We can't have people dying in the streets.” – Trump at a campaign rally in Columbus, OH, 8/1/16

REALITY:

“A revised Republican health care bill would drive up the number of uninsured Americans by 22 million by 2026, the Congressional Budget Office estimated…” – Associated Press

“The [ACA] law also required insurers to cover a wider range of benefits than before. These included annual doctor’s visits, preventive screenings, prescription benefits and mental-health care – often without charge.” – The Guardian

TRUMP CLAIMED THE REPUBLICAN HEALTH REPEAL BILL WOULD HELP FIGHT THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC, BUT IT WOULD ACTUALLY EXACERBATE THE CRISIS

TRUMP:

“We’re going to take all of these kids—and people, not just kids—that are totally addicted and they can’t break it. We’re going to work with them, we’re going to spend the money, we’re gonna get that habit broken.” – Trump at a campaign rally in Columbus, OH, 8/1/16

REALITY:

“Medicaid expansion under Obamacare opened up treatment options in many states experiencing high rates of opioid deaths and addiction… Advocates and experts say that $45 billion is a tiny fraction of the money that would be needed to make up for Medicaid cuts and that targeted funding is a poor substitute for guaranteeing that addiction treatment is covered.” – FiveThirtyEight

“With one hand, they giveth $45 billion to fund the fight against the national opioid epidemic. with the other, they taketh away $800 billion from Medicaid, a quarter of which's funds are used to provide opioid-related care to millions of Americans.” – NBC News

TRUMP PROMISED TO “PUT PATIENTS FIRST” WHILE VERSIONS OF THE REPUBLICAN REPEAL WOULD WEAKEN PROTECTIONS FOR THOSE WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS

TRUMP:

“We're going to replace government run Obamacare with reforms that put patients first. These reforms include expanding access to popular healthcare savings accounts, empowering Americans to shop for their insurance so that they can really have great choice right across straight lines, and to block granting and really important Medicaid to the states so they can design innovative solutions to the best. It's going to be solutions, folks, that best serve you, your families, your children, the whole things, best serve you.” – Trump at a campaign rally in Toledo, OH, 9/21/16

REALITY:

“[The Senate bill] includes a modified version of a proposal by conservative Senators Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Mike Lee, R-Utah, that would allow insurers to sell plans that do not meet Obamacare’s regulations. That means they don’t have to not cover ‘essential health benefits,’ which include everything from hospitalization to maternity care.” – NBC News

“But it allows states to apply for waivers to change essential health benefits, a set of services insurers now must provide.” – New York Times

TRUMP PROMISED TO PROTECT MEDICAID AND THAT THE GOP BILL WOULD GIVE STATES MORE FLEXIBILITY, BUT IT WOULD ACTUALLY SLASH STATE FUNDING AND REQUIRE STATES LIKE OHIO TO DIG INTO THEIR BUDGETS OR SCALE BACK MEDICAID PROGRAMS

TRUMP:

“The bill provides ‘more flexibility for states to administer Medicaid to better serve their poorest citizens’…”  – Trump remarks on health care, 7/24/17

REALITY:

“Either way, many federal rules would disappear, and states would gain the flexibility to spend Medicaid dollars as they see fit, as Trump said.” – Politifact

“Governors indeed would have more flexibility, but they’d also have to dig deeper into their state budgets to make up missing money from Washington or scale back the program.” – Associated Press

“James Waltimire, a police officer on unpaid medical leave, has been going to the hospital in this small city twice a week for physical therapy after leg surgery, all of it paid for by Medicaid.  Mr. Waltimire, 54, was able to sign up for the government health insurance program last year because Ohio expanded it to cover more than 700,000 low-income adults under the Affordable Care Act. He voted for President Trump — in part because of Mr. Trump’s support for law enforcement — but is now worried about the Republican plan to effectively end the Medicaid expansion through legislation to repeal the health care law.” – New York Times

“‘Originally the president said he wasn’t going to do nothing to Medicaid,’ Mr. Waltimire said the other day after a rehab session. ‘Now they say he wants to take $880 billion out of Medicaid. That’s going to affect a lot of people who can’t afford to get insurance.’” – New York Times

“Additionally, although both the House and Senate health reform bills would roll back Medicaid expansion and cut Medicaid spending, 32 percent of respondents want to increase Medicaid funding in Ohio, 47 percent want it to remain unchanged, and only 14 percent want it decreased.” – American Medical Association

TRUMP PROMISED OHIOANS HE WOULD SAVE JOBS BY REPEALING OBAMACARE BUT REPUBLICAN ATTEMPTS TO REPEAL OBAMACARE THREATEN JOBS IN OHIO’S CRUCIAL HEALTH CARE SECTOR

TRUMP:

“We are going to repeal and replace Obamacare, saving another 2 million jobs over the next decade alone.” – Trump campaign speech in Akron, OH, 8/22/16

“We’re talking about wages where some of you in this audience, hardworking incredible Americans were making more money 20 years ago than you are making today and today you’re older and you are working harder. And in many cases you have two jobs. Some of that is because of Obamacare and by the way, we are repealing and replacing Obamacare. We can reverse the stagnation and usher in a period of true opportunity and growth.” – Trump ‘Thank You Tour’ rally in Cincinnati, OH, 12/1/16

REALITY:

“1 in 4 private sector jobs in the county are now in health care. The region’s biggest employer by far is the local hospital. Trinity Health System provides about 1,500 full-time jobs and close to 500 part-time jobs, more than Jefferson County’s top 10 manufacturing companies combined… And health care leaders worry that the Republican proposals to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act could take many health care jobs away.” – NPR