Is there anything Donald Trump says that isn't a lie? At least a handful of those lies (that come at a rate of one every 3.25 minutes) has been devoted to premium hikes in Obamacare and a new conspiracy theory about how President Obama is going to delay open enrollment until after the election. This gives him another four Pinocchios to add on the the skyrocketing pile.
Here's what he's said:
“On November 1, just before the election on November 8, new numbers are coming out which will show 40, 50, 60 percent increases. They want to delay it until after the election, because it’s election. It’s a disaster.”— Donald Trump, campaign rally, Sept. 16, 2016
“The big increase is now going to come on November 1st. And they’re trying to delay it ’till after the election because it is catastrophic. It is going to be an increase like never before.” — Trump, campaign rally, Aug. 10, 2016
“In Texas, going through Blue Cross Blue Shield, they just announced a 60 percent increase. On November 1st, you’re going to have new numbers come out for Obamacare, having to do with increases. President Obama is trying to get it moved to December. Because it is election-defying. It is going to be a massive number, the biggest number ever in our country’s history for health care.” — Trump, news conference, July 27, 2016
As Michelle Ye Hee Lee points out, none of it is true. "Trump is cherry-picking from the highest proposed increases in the insurance marketplace," and it has been debunked "repeatedly" since June 2015, when he first started peddling it. The premiums for the lowest-cost silver plans—the benchmark to calculate government subsides—will increase by an average of 9 percent, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. There are highs of 71 percent in Oklahoma and lows of 1.3 percent in Rhode Island (per Charles Gaba) with an average increase in 21 approved states at 25.5 percent. So, yeah, insurance premiums are increasing. Like they always do. And the 80 or so percent of people with Obamacare won't be facing those hikes because they get subsidies that smooth them out.
When the fact-checkers asked the Trump campaign where he got the idea about Obama delaying open enrollment, they said "some rates are still pending approval." And that's because it's state insurance departments evaluating the rates, and the rates will be approved and public by Nov. 1. When open enrollment begins, per federal regulations released in March. Which the Obama administration has made no effort to change, and isn't going to, because they'd have had to start a public process to do that months ago. So, yeah. Not happening. Which the Department of Health and Human Services confirms: "They won't be moved."
All of which makes this "a classic Trump claim. He cherrypicks the most extreme examples, applies them to the general population, then ascribes nefarious motives that can’t actually come to fruition." A hint that the fact checkers are getting just a little tired of spending all their time with Trump comes at the end of the article: "If you’re running for the presidency, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to learn how federal regulations work. And since you claim you want to repeal Obamacare, you might want to learn how it works, too."
Hard to argue with, except Trump learning? Really?