Appearing on CNBC yesterday, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) decried the Democrats’ plans to cover tens of millions of uninsured Americans by “mandat[ing] that people have to buy a government insurance policy.”
Actually, no.
The proposed individual mandate, which doesn’t apply to everyone, would require most Americans to buy private insurance on government-backed marketplaces, called exchanges. The government insurance policy Hatch refers to — commonly known as the public option — wasn’t included in the Senate-passed bill and it wasn’t a part of the White House proposal unveiled earlier this week.
Hatch, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, knows this, but evidently doesn’t see a problem with publicly misrepresenting the nature of the proposed reforms. It’s not as irresponsible as death panel claims, but it’s disingenuous nonetheless.
It’s no wonder that there’s so much opposition to health care reform – until folks are told what’s in the bills.