Inside the Fox News lie machine: Sean Hannity on Obamacare

[J.E.D]

I fact-checked Sean Hannity on Obamacare

I happened to turn on the Hannity show on Fox News last Friday evening. “Average Americans are feeling the pain of Obamacare and the healthcare overhaul train wreck,” Hannity announced, “and six of them are here tonight to tell us their stories.”

Nothing these folks were saying jibed with the basic facts of the Affordable Care Act as I understand them. I understand them fairly well; I have worked as a senior adviser to a governor and helped him deal with the new federal rules.

I decided to hit the pavement. I tracked down Hannity’s guests, one by one, and did my own telephone interviews with them.

Couple#1

First I spoke with Paul Cox of Leicester, N.C. He and his wife Michelle had lamented to Hannity that because of Obamacare, they can’t grow their construction business and they have kept their employees below a certain number of hours, so that they are part-timers.

Obamacare has no effect on businesses with 49 employees or less. But in our brief conversation on the phone, Paul revealed that he has only four employees. Why the cutback on his workforce? “Well,” he said, “I haven’t been forced to do so, it’s just that I’ve chosen to do so. I have to deal with increased costs.” What costs? And how, I asked him, is any of it due to Obamacare? There was a long pause, after which he said he’d call me back. He never did.

 

[J.E.D]

Couple#2

Next I called Allison Denijs. She’d told Hannity that she pays over $13,000 a year in premiums. Like the other guests, she said she had recently gotten a letter from Blue Cross saying that her policy was being terminated and a new, ACA-compliant policy would take its place. She says this shows that Obama lied when he promised Americans that we could keep our existing policies.

Allison’s husband left his job a few years ago, one with benefits at a big company, to start his own business. Since then they’ve been buying insurance on the open market, and are now paying around $1,100 a month for a policy with a $2,500 deductible per family member, with hefty annual premium hikes. One of their two children is not covered under the policy. She has a preexisting condition that would require purchasing additional coverage for $600 a month, which would bring the family’s grand total to around $20,000 a year.

I asked Allison if she’d shopped on the exchange, to see what a plan might cost under the new law. She said she hadn’t done so because she’d heard the website was not working. Would she try it out when it’s up and running? Perhaps, she said. She told me she has long opposed Obamacare, and that the president should have focused on tort reform as a solution to bringing down the price of healthcare.

I tried an experiment and shopped on the exchange for Allison and Kurt. Assuming they don’t smoke and have a household income too high to be eligible for subsidies, I found that they would be able to get a plan for around $7,600, which would include coverage for their uninsured daughter. This would be about a 60 percent reduction from what they would have to pay on the pre-Obamacare market.

 

[J.E.D]

Couple #3

Finally, I called Robbie and Tina Robison from Franklin, Tenn. Robbie is self-employed as a Christian youth motivational speaker. (You can see his work here.) On Hannity, the couple said that they, too, were recently notified that their Blue Cross policy would be expiring for lack of ACA compliance. They told Hannity that the replacement plans Blue Cross was offering would come with a rate increase of 50 percent or even 75 percent, and that the new offerings would contain all sorts of benefits they don’t need, like maternity care, pediatric care, prenatal care and so forth. Their kids are grown and moved out, so why should they be forced to pay extra for a health plan with superfluous features?

When I spoke to Robbie, he said he and Tina have been paying a little over $800 a month for their plan, about $10,000 a year. And the ACA-compliant policy that will cost 50-75 percent more? They said this information was related to them by their insurance agent.

Had they shopped on the exchange yet, I asked? No, Tina said, nor would they. They oppose Obamacare and want nothing to do with it. Fair enough, but they should know that I found a plan for them for, at most, $3,700 a year, 63 percent less than their current bill. It might cover things that they don’t need, but so does every insurance policy.

 

[Warrior102]

Who gives a fuck?

 

[OriginalShroom]

A lot of "assumptions" on your part being used to call people liars...

One can only "assume" that you are the liar since you admit you don't know the facts.

 

[J.E.D]

Who gives a fuck?

Well, of course the USMB Wingnut Brigade doesn't give a fuck; because, they don't want to hear the truth. They just want Obamacare to fail and rely on liars like Hannity to keep them in the dark about how the law truly works.

 

[J.E.D]

A lot of "assumptions" on your part being used to call people liars...

One can only "assume" that you are the liar since you admit you don't know the facts.

First of all, I didn't personally fact-check the claims of these people. But the author of the article - someone who understands the law very well - did.

Second, All three couples admitted that they had not even tried to shop for ins plans on the exchanges; so, they can't honestly claim that Obamacare has made their premiums rise.

And as the author easily deduced, if they had actually bothered to shop on the exchanges, their premiums would be reduced.

 

[OriginalShroom]

 

[Papageorgio]

Who gives a fuck?

Well, of course the USMB Wingnut Brigade doesn't give a fuck; because, they don't want to hear the truth. They just want Obamacare to fail and rely on liars like Hannity to keep them in the dark about how the law truly works.

Jeddy you are humorous, using Salon to prove Hannity a liar, do you realize how stupid that is? I can't think of bigger liars than the Salon group. I believe Hannity is a level above Salon, but not by much.

So you are using liars to prove liars are lying. You are really f'd up.

 

[Papageorgio]

A lot of "assumptions" on your part being used to call people liars...

One can only "assume" that you are the liar since you admit you don't know the facts.

First of all, I didn't personally fact-check the claims of these people. But the author of the article - someone who understands the law very well - did.

Second, All three couples admitted that they had not even tried to shop for ins plans on the exchanges; so, they can't honestly claim that Obamacare has made their premiums rise.

And as the author easily deduced, if they had actually bothered to shop on the exchanges, their premiums would be reduced.

Mine are going up, not down, up. Mine will not be offered after January 1st, since it does not fit the ObamaCare criteria. So, I have to change plans, which will cost me more.

 

[J.E.D]

Who gives a fuck?

Well, of course the USMB Wingnut Brigade doesn't give a fuck; because, they don't want to hear the truth. They just want Obamacare to fail and rely on liars like Hannity to keep them in the dark about how the law truly works.

Jeddy you are humorous, using Salon to prove Hannity a liar, do you realize how stupid that is? I can't think of bigger liars than the Salon group. I believe Hannity is a level above Salon, but not by much.

So you are using liars to prove liars are lying. You are really f'd up.

Wow, thanks for your input, Papa. Very informative.

 

[J.E.D]

A lot of "assumptions" on your part being used to call people liars...

One can only "assume" that you are the liar since you admit you don't know the facts.

First of all, I didn't personally fact-check the claims of these people. But the author of the article - someone who understands the law very well - did.

Second, All three couples admitted that they had not even tried to shop for ins plans on the exchanges; so, they can't honestly claim that Obamacare has made their premiums rise.

And as the author easily deduced, if they had actually bothered to shop on the exchanges, their premiums would be reduced.

Mine are going up, not down, up.

Then you have a shitty plan. Shop around.

 

[OriginalShroom]

A lot of "assumptions" on your part being used to call people liars...

One can only "assume" that you are the liar since you admit you don't know the facts.

First of all, I didn't personally fact-check the claims of these people. But the author of the article - someone who understands the law very well - did.

Second, All three couples admitted that they had not even tried to shop for ins plans on the exchanges; so, they can't honestly claim that Obamacare has made their premiums rise.

And as the author easily deduced, if they had actually bothered to shop on the exchanges, their premiums would be reduced.

No one has been able to shop on the exchanges. Their program keeps crashing.

 

[OriginalShroom]

First of all, I didn't personally fact-check the claims of these people. But the author of the article - someone who understands the law very well - did.

Second, All three couples admitted that they had not even tried to shop for ins plans on the exchanges; so, they can't honestly claim that Obamacare has made their premiums rise.

And as the author easily deduced, if they had actually bothered to shop on the exchanges, their premiums would be reduced.

Mine are going up, not down, up.

Then you have a shitty plan. Shop around.

Only 5 States have a reduction in price... The rest are all increases. BTW, my family plan went up $180 a month. That's not a guess or forecast. I have the bill to prove it.

 

[J.E.D]

Mine are going up, not down, up.

Then you have a shitty plan. Shop around.

Only 5 States have a reduction in price... The rest are all increases.

According to your chart. Provided by the Heritage Foundation.......

 

[Papageorgio]

Well, of course the USMB Wingnut Brigade doesn't give a fuck; because, they don't want to hear the truth. They just want Obamacare to fail and rely on liars like Hannity to keep them in the dark about how the law truly works.

Jeddy you are humorous, using Salon to prove Hannity a liar, do you realize how stupid that is? I can't think of bigger liars than the Salon group. I believe Hannity is a level above Salon, but not by much.

So you are using liars to prove liars are lying. You are really f'd up.

Wow, thanks for your input, Papa. Very informative.

More informative than your bullshit article. They guy proves nothing, did he shop apples to apples with these people, no he did not, he even said so. So, he is distorting the facts, just like Hannity distorts. The bottom line is similar policies will go up in cost, not down. You are just not smart enough to understand it.

 

[J.E.D]

Jeddy you are humorous, using Salon to prove Hannity a liar, do you realize how stupid that is? I can't think of bigger liars than the Salon group. I believe Hannity is a level above Salon, but not by much.

So you are using liars to prove liars are lying. You are really f'd up.

Wow, thanks for your input, Papa. Very informative.

More informative than your bullshit article. They guy proves nothing, did he shop apples to apples with these people, no he did not, he even said so. So, he is distorting the facts, just like Hannity distorts. The bottom line is similar policies will go up in cost, not down. You are just not smart enough to understand it.

Similar policies will go up in cost after the pool gets bigger? Bullshit.

 

[tinydancer]

Who gives a fuck?

Well, of course the USMB Wingnut Brigade doesn't give a fuck; because, they don't want to hear the truth. They just want Obamacare to fail and rely on liars like Hannity to keep them in the dark about how the law truly works.

Fuck you back. Your very own says it is going to kill him financially.

Or is Daily Kos now a right wing organization too? This is from Tirge. And yes I know who he is.

The realities of ObamaCare are beginning to set in for even the most radical Obama supporters. On the Daily Kos, a far left, progressive site that exists to influence the Democrat party to swing even further left, a well-known diarist Tirge Caps posted a scathing attack against ObamaCare after being notified by their insurance provider of a doubling of their premiums.

My wife and I just got our updates from Kaiser telling us what our 2014 rates will be. Her monthly has been $168 this year, mine $150. We have a high deductible. We are generally healthy people who don’t go to the doctor often. I barely ever go. The insurance is in case of a major catastrophe.

Well, now, because of Obamacare, my wife’s rate is gong to $302 per month and mine is jumping to $284.

I am canceling insurance for us and I am not paying any fucking penalty. What the hell kind of reform is this?

Oh, ok, if we qualify, we can get some government assistance. Great. So now I have to jump through another hoop to just chisel some of this off. And we don’t qualify, anyway, so what’s the point?

Pretty strong words from a progressive on the left. In fact, when those on the right point out the financial realities of ObamaCare, they are accused of simply being racist against the President. Interestingly enough, Tirge Caps, altered the title of his article after ‘suggestions’ from people. He added ‘according to Kaiser’ to the initial title of “ObamaCare will double my monthly premium.” One of the comments attacked the insurance company as the bad guy indicating that he could probably get a better rate on the exchange.

Lefty ?Daily Kos? Writer Trashes Obamacare: ?What the Hell Kind of Reform is This?? | The Tea Party News Network | TPNN.com

 

[Antares]

Who gives a fuck?

Well, of course the USMB Wingnut Brigade doesn't give a fuck; because, they don't want to hear the truth. They just want Obamacare to fail and rely on liars like Hannity to keep them in the dark about how the law truly works.

Fuck you back. Your very own says it is going to kill him financially.

Or is Daily Kos now a right wing organization too? This is from Tirge. And yes I know who he is.

The realities of ObamaCare are beginning to set in for even the most radical Obama supporters. On the Daily Kos, a far left, progressive site that exists to influence the Democrat party to swing even further left, a well-known diarist Tirge Caps posted a scathing attack against ObamaCare after being notified by their insurance provider of a doubling of their premiums.

My wife and I just got our updates from Kaiser telling us what our 2014 rates will be. Her monthly has been $168 this year, mine $150. We have a high deductible. We are generally healthy people who don’t go to the doctor often. I barely ever go. The insurance is in case of a major catastrophe.

Well, now, because of Obamacare, my wife’s rate is gong to $302 per month and mine is jumping to $284.

I am canceling insurance for us and I am not paying any fucking penalty. What the hell kind of reform is this?

Oh, ok, if we qualify, we can get some government assistance. Great. So now I have to jump through another hoop to just chisel some of this off. And we don’t qualify, anyway, so what’s the point?

Pretty strong words from a progressive on the left. In fact, when those on the right point out the financial realities of ObamaCare, they are accused of simply being racist against the President. Interestingly enough, Tirge Caps, altered the title of his article after ‘suggestions’ from people. He added ‘according to Kaiser’ to the initial title of “ObamaCare will double my monthly premium.” One of the comments attacked the insurance company as the bad guy indicating that he could probably get a better rate on the exchange.

Lefty ?Daily Kos? Writer Trashes Obamacare: ?What the Hell Kind of Reform is This?? | The Tea Party News Network | TPNN.com

JED doesn't want "facts" , he just wants to pontificate about something he knows nothing about.

 

[Papageorgio]

Wow, thanks for your input, Papa. Very informative.

More informative than your bullshit article. They guy proves nothing, did he shop apples to apples with these people, no he did not, he even said so. So, he is distorting the facts, just like Hannity distorts. The bottom line is similar policies will go up in cost, not down. You are just not smart enough to understand it.

Similar policies will go up in cost after the pool gets bigger? Bullshit.

They already have, the pricing has already been set, it already proves similar policies are going up in cost. To claim anything else is wrong.