Seattle Times Columnist Debunks Obamacare ‘Horror’ Story
Huh? WHAT??? You mean talk radio megahost and Republican leader Rush Limbaugh lied to his listeners? Why, he’d never do such a dastardly, deceptive thing… or maybe he would!
A Seattle Times columnist took a closer look at a conservative headline-making health care reform case Friday and discovered that the Rush Limbaugh narrative doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.
In Danny Westneat’s piece “Debunking Obamacare sob story,” the writer checked on the reversal of fortune claimed by Jessica Sanford, a Washington parent of an ADHD-diagnosed child, who had been touted by President Obama last month as an example of the success of the Affordable Care Act because she could obtain insurance for the first time in 15 years.
When Sanford said on a Facebook post that the state had miscalculated her eligibility for a subsidy based on her income and that she was “screwed,” the media pounced, particularly conservative outlets like Fox News and Rush Limbaugh.
However, Westneat’s examination revealed that Sanford’s son qualified for Medicaid coverage at $30 a month, which would have not been available before the ACA. “He has ADHD and, according to Sanford, it costs them $250 a month for prescription drugs alone. Which will now all be covered,” Westneat wrote. While Sanford had originally been quoted for coverage at $169 a month, a bronze-level policy for a 48-year-old woman making $49,000 costs $237 a month, while a silver-level policy costs $313, Westneat added.
“So here’s a family that was totally uninsured for 15 years because it had always cost at least $500 to $600 a month for skimpy policies to cover them both. And what they can get now is full coverage for $30 a month for the son and scantier coverage in the $250 to $300 a month range for the mom. How is that a horror story?”
