Has anybody looked into whether these semi-anonymous horror stories from www.gop.gov/5-years-of-broken-promises-canceled-plans are actually true?
1. “Our policy was canceled. The new comparable one from Cover California doubled our monthly premium from $650 to $1300; our deductible increased by over $1000; office copays increased by $15; and our meds increased 10%. Our health care costs were affordable until ACA came along, the increase in coats [sic] put a serious hurt on our budget.”
— Stewart D. from Cottonwood, CA
2. “I became disabled and hadn’t received my social security payment yet. My employer in Kentucky canceled my health insurance, and it took me several months to find a new plan that worked for my budget. ObamaCare has been a disaster for me.“
— Tammy B. from Lexington, IN
3. “I am a 62 year old widow and only make $8.79 an hour. I have lost my insurance coverage and cannot afford to pay for this.“
— Sandra P. from Augusta, GA
4. “I received a letter last week telling me that my Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) insurance will be canceled.”
— Robert S. from Durham, NC
5. “My family’s health coverage in Pennsylvania was canceled, as was my son-in-law’s in California. My new health care premiums increased by 85% last year thanks to Obamacare.”
— Ronnie P. from Saegertown, PA
Now of course, you can easily debunk some of these stories on general grounds:
www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/27/1373795/-Republican-Congresswoman-doesn-t-back-down-on-Obamacare-horror-stories-Just-one-little-problem
As Daily Kos user jfromga points out, Obamacare hasn't failed "Sandra P."—her Republican governor and legislature have failed her by refusing to expand Medicaid.
But I'm wondering about more specific rebuttals. I wouldn't put it past them to use highly dubious stories, like they did with
"Bette from Spokane". Heck, I wouldn't put it past them to simply make up these people out of thin air. Sure would be sweet to bust them on this. Wouldn't be hard to investigate some of them.
For example, Saegertown has a population of 1,071. How many Ronnie P's with a CA son-in-law can there be there? If he exists, how likely would he be to turn down the chance to complain about Obamacare on record? If I had the money, I'd offer him $50 or $100 to go public with his story, and see if it stood up to scrutiny.
And how about Tammy B. from Lexington, IN, who's disabled and on SS, but also has an employer who provides her health insurance? Isn't that against the rules to work and receive disability $$ at the same time? Seems fishy to me (though maybe she meant "ex-employer").
Lexington is an unincorporated area and probably doesn't have too large a population. Cottonwood has only 3,316. Augusta and Durham are both over 100,000, probably too big to find Sandra P. and Robert S.
Anybody live in or near these towns and want to do some digging? Anyone know any newspapers in the area likely to investigate?