Fifteen Out-Right Lies About Obamacare

American political discourse has seldom been a model of honesty and civility, but a lot of the rumors going around about Obamacare are just plain wrong. Here are 15 of the more egregious misrepresentations of the Affordable Care Act that are designed to scare and outrage people — with falsehoods.

Affordable Care Act Myth #1. Obamacare will institute "death panels."

This was a particularly vicious rumor that Sarah Palin started on her Facebook page in August of 2009. Actually, what was under discussion at the time was for Medicare, not Obamacare, and it only involved paying for visits to doctors to discuss end-of-life requests, do-not-resuscitate orders, and living wills. Only people who asked for the appointments would have them, as is routinely the case in almost all European countries, and the matter was actually dropped in 2009. 

Affordable Care Act Myth #2. Muslims are exempt from having to buy health insurance.

Actually, it would be more likely to be Mennonites, Amish, and Christian Scientists who would choose to exercise the "conscience exemption" in the new healthcare law. Just as there are groups who can choose not to be covered by Social Security, there are groups of people, including religious groups, who can choose not to be covered by Obamacare. Muslims are as eligible as anyone else to make declarations of conscience, but they don't get a free pass.

Affordable Care Act Myth #3. The Affordable Care Act refers to "dhimmitude."

If you get a PDF file of the Affordable Care Act — the actual document, not "fake news" reporting about it — and do a search for "dhimmitude," a made up word referring to a Muslim theological doctrine, you won't find it there. That's because it isn't there. Nor or there any other references to Islam (or Christianity or Judaism or Hinduism or Buddhism or atheism or the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or any other religion) in the Act — which would have been found unconstitutional.

Affordable Care Act Myth #4. The Affordable Care act will create a "huge national database" of personal information to be managed by the IRS.

This was a rumor started by Congress member Michelle Bachman in May of 2013. As it turns out, the IRS isn't even checking the income of people who claim a tax credit on the basis of low income this year. Medical information will be managed by doctors, hospitals, and the insurance companies, as it is now, but the IRS will not be involved in any kind of medical record keeping.

Affordable Care Act Myth #5. Congress is exempt under the new healthcare law.

Notoriously, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who recently tried to stop funding for call centers, is one of the members of Congress who won't be signing up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act. That's because his wife, a Goldman Sachs executive, has a $40,000 a year policy that covers both of them. However, other members of Congress who don't get coverage through their spouses have to sign up through the exchanges for their states, just like everyone else.

Affordable Care Act Myth #6. Under Obamacare, people will have to change doctors, even if they have been going to them for years.

A few people actually will change doctors when they receive medical coverage under the Affordable Care Act, unless they make sure they choose a plan that their doctors accept. But it's not a requirement of the act.

Affordable Care Act Myth #7. Obamacare will ration health care, like Canada or the UK.

Canada and Great Britain have a single-payer health insurance system, and the government can make people wait for certain procedures, such as access to assistive reproductive technology, depending on demand, supply, and the urgency of the situation. The US, however, will not have a single-payer health insurance system under the Affordable Care Act, and insurance companies make the decisions about which procedures are covered. More procedures are guaranteed to be covered than under the existing system, however.

More Myths About Obamacare

Affordable Care Act Myth #8. Obamacare will require forced home inspections.

The South Carolina legislature is the source of this rumor. The Affordable Care Act will pay for home health nurses and midwives to pregnant women in their homes so they won't have to come to the doctor's office, however.

Affordable Care Act Myth #9. Obamacare will question your sex life.

There will be no government-run databases of people's sex lives or other aspects of their health. However, doctors are encouraged to use electronic records rather than paper notes, and these doctor's notes may occasionally mention sex life it is relevant to treatment. While breaches in electronic medical data are absolutely possible, and have already occurred, Obamacare is not their cause. Our modern digital lifestyle is.

Affordable Care Act Myth #10. A hidden provision in the Affordable Care act taxes guns and sporting equipment.

A not-at-all-hidden provision in the Affordable Care Act taxes medical devices, such as pacemakers, defibrillators, insulin pumps, and so on, at a rate of 2.3%. There are no references to sporting goods, rifles, or other firearms in the act.

Affordable Care Act Myth #11. Obamacare represents the largest tax increase in the history of the world.

Most Americans don't remember that just 50 years ago the top federal income tax rate was 90%. There are tax increases with Obamacare, but as a percentage of the economy they are smaller than those signed into law under Democratic President Bill Clinton and Republican President Ronald Reagan.

Affordable Care Act Myth #12. The Affordable Care Act includes a 3.8% sales tax on real estate transactions.

There are new taxes on investment income, such as the sale of stocks and bonds and derivatives, for high-income taxpayers, but there is no federal sales tax on real estate transactions, certainly not on personal homes.

Affordable Care Act Myth #13. After age 76, Americans will no longer be eligible for cancer treatment.

The website Politifact rated this claim as "Pants On Fire." There is no mention in the Act, or in any Medicare rules, of anything in particular happening at age 76, and there are no rules that would deny anyone cancer treatment. People are still free to make their own decisions regarding treatment of cancer, although doctors will not offer treatments they are sure won't work.

Affordable Care Act Myth #14. 75% of American businesses will fire workers or cut their hours because of the new requirements to offer health insurance.

This was a claim made by Florida senator Marco Rubio. Actually, some businesses will fire workers or cut back hours after January 1. The US Chamber of Commerce estimates the number to be 10%.

Affordable Care Act Myth #15. Because of Obamacare, healthcare premiums have gone up at a slower rate than at any other time in the last 50 years.

This was a statement made by President Obama in one of the presidential debates of the 2012 campaign. Actually, there aren't any figures that go back before 1999. Total expenditures on healthcare have slowed since 2009, but that is in part due to the recession. People simply didn't have money to pay for premiums, so the total paid to insurance companies has been increasing more slowly.

Over 10 years on, the Affordable Care Act has survived — even the Trump administration — and continues to ensure that millions of Americans have access to at least semi-affordable medical insurance.