Fox News Distorts CBO Report: Health Care Reform ‘Likely Won’t Bring Private Premiums Down’
Fox News Distorts CBO Report: Health Care Reform ‘Likely Won’t Bring Private Premiums Down’
This morning, Fox News ran a chyron alleging that the new Congressional Budget Office report on premiums concluded that the Senate health care bill won’t lower health care premiums:
The report actually concluded the opposite — that, on average, premiums would substantially decrease for the majority of Americans purchasing coverage in the individual market and maintain or lower premiums in the small and large employer markets. In fact, almost all of the leads in today’s newspapers get it right:
– “As the Senate opened debate Monday on a landmark plan to overhaul the nation’s health-care system, congressional budget analysts said the measure would leave premiums unchanged or slightly lower for the vast majority of Americans, contradicting assertions by the insurance industry that the average family’s coverage would rise by thousands of dollars if the proposal became law.” [WP, 11/30/2009]
– “The Congressional Budget Office said Monday that the Senate health bill could significantly reduce costs for many people who buy health insurance on their own…” [NYT, 11/30/2009]
– “On average, 134 million Americans insured through large employers will see no rise in premiums and may pay 3 percent less than they would if Congress failed to pass a health-care overhaul plan, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said yesterday. Subsidies also will lower costs as much as 59 percent for 18 million people buying their own insurance.” [Bloomberg, 12/1/2009]
Of course, the unchanged or slightly-reduced premiums come “in addition to the higher quality benefits that those in the exchange will receive.”
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Without a public option or single payer system, DUH.
Faux prides itself in detailing the sublime.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:52 amFOX News distorts…?
Shocker.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:52 amToday’s ignore list:
OSTL
Tracy__5
STORM
Today, let’s honor World AIDS Day through our own way–-by ignoring the trolls.
Trolls Igno(RED)
December 1st, 2009 at 10:53 amBill Hemmer likely doesn’t have a functioning cerebrum.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:54 amI’m stunned that they didn’t list the CBO with a (D) behind it.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:55 amBill Hemmer likely doesn’t have a functioning cerebrum.
His prefrontal cortex also seems disabled.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:56 amThat’s not a distortion, that’s an outright lie.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:56 amHow long can Fox keep their viewership uninformed until they wake up.
At a certain point, don’t people get mad when lied to over and over?
December 1st, 2009 at 10:57 amSo, when are they going to fire the dude who lied?
December 1st, 2009 at 10:57 amAnother fired employee at FOX, no doubt. They’ll singlehandedly end the recovery by creating all this unemployment. Even the stimulus can’t save them!
/snark off.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:57 amFox News ran a chyron alleging that the new Congressional Budget Office report on premiums concluded that the Senate health care bill won’t lower health care premiums
– - According to Fox’s new zero-tolerance policy for screwups like this, whose head is gonna roll? Can I pick Steve Doocy’s, just cuz.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:57 amWhy am I not surprised by this?
December 1st, 2009 at 10:59 amand, i keep hearing, but not seeing much about, a study/report from those slackers at MIT… saying rates will be lower…
December 1st, 2009 at 11:01 amwhat’s THAT about???
So ‘free market’ philosophy doesn’t work: competition doesn’t reduce cost. That means we need real reform, and the current reform proposed isn’t enough.
December 1st, 2009 at 11:04 amFox News was distorting facts before the health care bill and they will be doing the same after the health care bill is done. The only question is how far the MSM is going to let them get away with this type of “journalism” if you can call it that.
December 1st, 2009 at 11:08 amUh-oh… another factual error in a Faux News chyron… heads are gonna roll…
– what? No heads will roll?
“… Forget it Jake, it’s Faux News…”
December 1st, 2009 at 11:14 amBob, the proposed reform will increase benefits and reduce premiums by at least 25%.
It will stop the pre-existing conditions loophole and dropping people who are costing too much.
I don’t know about you but it sounds like an improvement over what we have and can then be expaned on.
December 1st, 2009 at 11:16 amWar is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
At Faux news, if it’s news, it’s news to us!
December 1st, 2009 at 11:17 amFOX News:
You report, We lie…
December 1st, 2009 at 11:22 ammike from Arlington says:
How long can Fox keep their viewership uninformed until they wake up.
At a certain point, don’t people get mad when lied to over and over?
December 1st, 2009 at 11:28 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Oops, the idiots who watch Fox never watch anything else so they don’t know they’re being lied to. Or they believe all the other news outlets are lying liberals. It’s self-perpetuating stupidity.
December 1st, 2009 at 11:30 amThey fired the guy right?
December 1st, 2009 at 11:31 amZero tolerance for errors means “Fu(k you!” in Fox Newspeak.
December 1st, 2009 at 11:33 amThere is plenty of evidence to back it up with right wingers.
Have you been asleep for 10 or 20 years?
Right wingers seem to be proud of thier wackyness.
December 1st, 2009 at 11:33 amjees, trishaking78 is a spammer
December 1st, 2009 at 11:36 amFaux lies and distorts??? I’m shocked, shocked I tell ya !!
December 1st, 2009 at 11:37 amOT
stocks are booming today -
DOW +1.22% NASDAQ +1.39% S&P 500 +1.19%
Though I’m not fond of ‘trickle down’ economics.. It still has to be a good sign.. afterall, the stock market is where this mess all began.
December 1st, 2009 at 11:40 amI guess the drones at FOx talk, but reading may not be a strong point. I didn’t even read the report for more than 5 or 6 pages, and I saw at least 3 instances where it clearly states premiums WILL be lower. Faux is retarded.
December 1st, 2009 at 11:41 amActually that chyron is correct. Faux News is obviously not referring to the Congressional Budget Office but to the Brazilian national Orienteering Association, the Confederação Brasileira de Orientação (CBO)
December 1st, 2009 at 11:43 amNotice lux how little notice the MSM gives the booming stock market. If it was failing they’d be blaming President Obama for sure. I believe the reason Democrats were behind the bailout is that everybody who has a pension plan would have been devastated with a complete market collapse including current retirees who would immediately stopped getting pension checks. That would surely have led to a full scale depression.
December 1st, 2009 at 11:46 amUSNclerk, you still give them too much credit. It is intentional.
December 1st, 2009 at 11:46 amOh sure, Fred, I’m all for it. I agree with you, it’s a good start, much better than nothing.
fox seems to have the attitude of ‘the grass will grow more anyway so why mow it’ or they could be saying it’s not enough, we need tougher reform now. If it’s the latter, the end is surely near.
December 1st, 2009 at 11:50 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Better yet…
‘You Report, We Distort’
December 1st, 2009 at 12:00 pmThe very first time I saw Bill Hemmer on CNN, I thought, “this kid is a dick. He belongs on FOX.”
FOX is the perfect place for him. Would you even buy a used car from him? No way.
December 1st, 2009 at 12:04 pmLOL, like anyone with an ounce of common sense would believe anything on Fox news!
RT
December 1st, 2009 at 12:09 pmhttp://www.web-anonymity.de.tc
Taos mourns. maybe john will move to Somolia where he might be happy.
December 1st, 2009 at 12:10 pm.
FOXPRAVDA distorts…?
… SHOCKED. I.Tell.Ya! SHOCKED!!!
.
December 1st, 2009 at 12:17 pmIt`s a good thing Fox has no journalistic credibilty…..and no real journalist…..these guys and gals will shill,lie,fear monger and distort the facts for anyone who pays them enough$$$$$$,in this case the health insurance lobby along with Murdochs contributions.
December 1st, 2009 at 12:18 pmFox News:
We Deceive.
You Believe.
December 1st, 2009 at 12:18 pmCan we add the spammers (trishakingthenbaking and assbean)to the ignore list today? Vote Down / Flag and move on
December 1st, 2009 at 12:21 pmThere will come a time when Murdoch sells Fox or when he dies, his conglomerates will be broken up and sold. When that happens, there will be a lot of Fox News people who are going to find it difficult to get a job in any other news organization.
December 1st, 2009 at 12:25 pmProbably not, APA, since self-promotion trolls are different.
But I’ll be sure to put TacosJohn on the list.
December 1st, 2009 at 12:37 pmMeh. I sort of hate to say this, but based on my reading of the CBO document TP links to, this is “Fox-y” but not actually misleading, mainly because the legislation covers so many different things, and how you read the report depends upon whether you focus on the all-important “on average.” I want to see the legislation passed, but I also want to be honest about it.
The report specifically says that some individuals and families will experience premium increases (2nd bullet point on page 3) [emphasis added]:
It also says (p. 4), that the effects of the legislation differ across the 3 categories of insurance enrollees (non-group, small group, large group). For the non-group enrollee, “average premium per person covered…would be about 10 percent to 13 percent higher than the [current] average premium for nongroup coverage.” (This is supposed to be offset by subsidies, though subsidy will vary by income.)
For people who get health care from their employers (5/6 of the total market), the report estimates a range of effects (p. 7) — a per premium average decrease of 2 percent to a per premium average increase of 1 percent.
Or a net impact, Fox-y though it is, of roughly 0.5 percent.
I think “not likely,” though clearly spun for the FNC viewer, is a more-or-less fair way of putting it.
Prof B (http://splungblog.blogspot.com)
December 1st, 2009 at 1:05 pmLet me add one thing — I still think the legislation is “worth it,” even with the very modest average decrease for people like me, who get health care (and, to my employer’s credit, very good health care) at work. Because my understanding of the original (i.e., “ClintonCare”) goal of health care reform was to get coverage to uninsured and under-insured Americans. I’m content to continue paying the same if people who can’t get health care are then able to.
December 1st, 2009 at 1:08 pmProfessor B, let’s not obfuscate the issue by reading paragraphs out of context. If there is a real exchange, even one without a strong public option, premiums would have to go down or everything “capitalists” have been saying about markets for years is wrong. An exchange provides competition. Competition will lower premiums.
December 1st, 2009 at 2:16 pmI’m sorry, this is a serious lie. Can we do anything about this? I know its all Fox ‘news’ lies lol shocker, but come the f#$% on.
December 1st, 2009 at 2:21 pmIsn’t it more ‘LIKELY’ . .
That no one at faux has actually read the CBO report!!
December 1st, 2009 at 3:32 pmJust like FOX. If the truth doesn’t fit your story, then change it. The truth, not the story.
December 1st, 2009 at 3:35 pm@NinerFan — I don’t disagree with your point, though I do disagree with your characterization of “obfuscation” and cherry-picking paragraphs “out of context” — those are all taken from the report’s Key Findings (and, having been in government for many years, I can tell you that’s as much as 99.9% of legislators will read, if that much). The CBO report is very careful to set out just what is and what is not supportable by the data. Frankly I think that’s a good thing — the Right has for decades dominated political discourses by reducing everything to simple and simplistic formulations. Better, I think, simply to say, “Look, most folks’ premiums are hardly going to be affected, but at least millions of Americans who do without will be better off — that’s what “society” means” than to say “Everyone will be made better off,” which is clearly not a supportable conclusion on the basis of the data provided by CBO.
December 1st, 2009 at 4:56 pmFox News Comedy Hour
December 1st, 2009 at 9:13 pmFalsified News Service
Fox News Inversion Press
Fox New Theatre
Fox News Reality Prevention Organization
Fox “we foster ignorance” Noise Surfeit