My findings:
Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure!
Actual text:
(2) COMPLIANCE EXAMINATION AND AUDITS-
2
(A) IN GENERAL- The commissioner shall, in coordination with States, conduct audits of qualified health benefits plan compliance with Federal requirements. Such audits may include random compliance audits and targeted audits in response to complaints or other suspected non-compliance.
1
(B) RECOUPMENT OF COSTS IN CONNECTION WITH EXAMINATION AND AUDITS- The Commissioner is authorized to recoup from qualified health benefits plans reimbursement for the costs of such examinations and audit of such QHBP offering entities.
Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed!
The word “ration” does not appear in the document.
Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process)
There is nothing about any committee on that page of the document at all.
Page 42: The "Health Choices Commissioner" will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None.
Actual text:
SEC. 142. DUTIES AND AUTHORITY OF COMMISSIONER.
(a) Duties- The Commissioner is responsible for carrying out the following functions under this division:
(1) QUALIFIED PLAN STANDARDS- The establishment of qualified health benefits plan standards under this title, including the enforcement of such standards in coordination with State insurance regulators and the Secretaries of Labor and the Treasury.
(2) HEALTH INSURANCE EXCHANGE- The establishment and operation of a Health Insurance Exchange under subtitle A of title II.
(3) INDIVIDUAL AFFORDABILITY CREDITS- The administration of individual affordability credits under subtitle C of title II, including determination of eligibility for such credits.
(4) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS- Such additional functions as may be specified in this division.
Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free
healthcare services.
The word “citizen” does not appear in the first 66 pages, not anywhere.
Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard.
The only place that the word “card” or the word “identification” appears at all is on page 36. It reads as follows:
‘(D) enable the real-time (or near real-time) determination of an individual’s financial responsibility at the point of service and, to the extent possible, prior to service, including whether the individual is eligible for a specific service with a specific physician at a specific facility, which may include utilization of a machine-readable health plan beneficiary identification card;
Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer.
The only place that the words “bank” or “account” appear at all in the first 74 pages is as follows:
(B) SPECIAL ENROLLMENT- The Commissioner shall also provide for special enrollment periods to take into account special circumstances of individuals and employers, such as an individual who--
Obviously, that has nothing to do with bank accounts of individuals.
Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community organizer health plans (example: SEIU, UAW and ACORN)
None of the words union, SEIU, UAW or ACORN appear at all in the first 74 pages.
Further, ACORN is not a union.
Conclusion:
The first 74 pages of the document contain nothing even similar to the claims made for that portion of the bill.
It is most unlikely that any other claim made has any validity at all. These claims are nothing short of outright lies and distortions, no doubt being spread around to generate fear and stop the debate about health care reform.
Unless someone else can come up with text from the bill that bears some resemblance to the claims, I’ll stick to that conclusion.
