Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell unveiled the revised version of the GOP health care bill on Thursday, which added provisions meant to entice both the conservative and left-leaning members of the Republican Party. And despite the fact that the Congressional Budget Office had yet to release their report on the revisions, the Big Three Networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) wasted no time in tearing it down with the usual fake news of massive cuts to Medicaid.
During ABC’s World News Night, Anchor David Muir acted as though he was sounding the alarm for the American people. “In the meantime, to major developments of Capitol Hill tonight. The new Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, but how would it affect seniors in the country, people with preexisting conditions, and Medicaid, which covers millions of Americans,” he anxiously warned.
“But critics worry Americans that need the most care, like people with pre-existing conditions could end up paying a lot more. Under this bill, so could seniors,” ABC’s Mary Bruce declared. “It also leaves in place those deep cuts to Medicaid, initially projected to be nearly $800 billion.”
The newest version of the bill added a proposal by Senator Ted Cruz, dubbed “the Consumer Freedom Amendment,” which allows insurers to offer cheaper plans that cover extreme emergencies for those who choose to purchase it.
Bruce appeared to be put off by the idea of consumer choice in purchases health care that suited their needs. “To appease conservatives, the new version would allow insurers to offer cheaper bare bones plans that don't cover essential health benefits,” she said in a dismissive tone.
On CBS Evening News, Correspondent Nancy Cordes defending the ObamaCare tax hikes that the bill left in place, which conservatives hated. “But it does not reverse the first bill's deep cuts to Medicaid, the big sticking point for moderates like Ohio's Rob Portman,” she added as a way to cut down the bill.
The network ran a second segment about the bill, where reporter Omar Villafranca traveled to Kentucky to assert that McConnell’s bill would hurt his constituents. He spoke with one resident who was “on a fixed income and uses Medicaid to help pay her mounting healthcare bills,” which cost her $945,000 last year.
“Nothing that we've advocated so far would cause anybody currently on Medicaid to be taken off of Medicaid,” McConnell said in a clip Villafranca played. But the CBS journalist tried to discredit him by falsely claiming that “right now the bill calls for significant cuts in federal funding of state Medicaid programs.”
“I'm sure Mitch McConnell don't have to worry about his medical bills or Governor Bevin’s, but real people have to,” the woman told Villafranca. He explained that she was scared of losing her insurance. Of course, she’s afraid, every liberal journalist has been falsely claiming deep cuts to Medicaid.
NBC’s Kasie Hunt appeared on NBC Nightly News and made that same accusation of purported Medicaid cuts. “The new bill doesn't restore any of the deep Medicaid cuts,” she stated. “And it includes a conservative proposal allowing people to buy cheap catastrophic insurance without required ObamaCare benefits like maternity and mental health services.”
But shockingly, Hunt actually talked with a small business owner who was feeling the pain of ObamaCare. “There has got to be a better way to provide insurance for everybody but to also level the playing field so that small businesses aren't at a disadvantage,” they said. Hunt also noted how the business owner’s “insurance deductibles for her 19 employees have quadrupled under ObamaCare.” Too bad NBC and the other networks ignore their plight most of the time.
The Media Research Center has exposed the Big Three Networks’ bold-faced lies of cuts of to Medicaid time and time again. They keep insisting there were cuts to Medicaid despite the fact that the Congressional Budget Office’s own report on the bill says otherwise. CBS had even attacked Senate Republicans claiming the blood of innocent people would be on their hands. Their accusations are truly deplorable and #FakeNews.
Transcripts below:
ABC
World News Tonight
July 13, 2017
6:37:33 PM EasternDAVID MUIR: In the meantime, to major developments of Capitol Hill tonight. The new Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, but how would it affect seniors in the country, people with preexisting conditions, and Medicaid, which covers millions of Americans? ABC's Mary Bruce tonight with how many Republican Senators who have already said no.
(…)
MARY BRUCE: Senate Republicans have been getting an earful for weeks. And tonight, a new healthcare bill. But the same old problem, can it get the votes to pass? To appease conservatives, the new version would allow insurers to offer cheaper bare bones plans that don't cover essential health benefits. It could bring down costs, for some.
(…)
BRUCE: But critics worry Americans that need the most care, like people with pre-existing conditions could end up paying a lot more. Under this bill, so could seniors. It also leaves in place those deep cuts to Medicaid, initially projected to be nearly $800 billion.
(…)
BRUCE: To try and sway other moderates the new version keeps two Obamacare taxes on the wealthy, includes $70 billion that could be used to help reduce premiums and adds $45 billion to fight the opioid epidemic. But right now, two Republicans say they're voting no. Just one more no vote would sink the bill and President Trump is warning that can't happen.
(…)
MUIR: Mary Bruce with us live from the Hill tonight, and Mary, this new plan still hasn't been scored as they say in Washington, meaning, we don't know how many more Americans could be uninsured under this bill or its impact on their premiums. What's the timeline for the scoring?
(…)
...
CBS Evening News
July 13, 2017
6:41:57 PM Eastern(…)
NANCY CORDES: Do you think the new version is better than the old version?
RAND PAUL: No, I think it's worse. The old version repealed most of the ObamaCare taxes. This repeals about half the ObamaCare taxes.
CORDES: The new bill reinstates those taxes to help pay for $45 billion in new opioid funding. But it does not reverse the first bill's deep cuts to Medicaid, the big sticking point for moderates like Ohio's Rob Portman.
ROB PORTMAN: We're still working on ways to ensure that folks who are currently getting coverage under expanded Medicaid have options.
(...)
6:43:07 PM Eastern
ANTHONY MASON: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s state is expected to be hard hit by the proposed cuts in Medicaid. Omar Villafranca went to Kentucky coal country.
(…)
OMAR VILLAFRANCA: Every day Kathy Collins has to take 27 pills in her fight against an autoimmune disease lupus. 50-year-old Collins lives in rural Kentucky with her sister Carol Maggard. Collins is on a fixed income and uses Medicaid to help pay her mounting healthcare bills. What would your medical bills look like without Medicaid?
KATHY COLLINS: Last year they were $945,000.
MITCH MCCONNELL: Nothing that we've advocated so far would cause anybody currently on Medicaid to be taken off of Medicaid.
VILLAFRANCA: That was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, trying to calm fears about the future of Medicaid. Under Obamacare, Kentucky expanded Medicaid and cut the uninsured rate from 14 percent to almost 6 percent. But right now the bill calls for significant cuts in federal funding of state Medicaid programs. To make up for the loss, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin has proposed changing the state requirements to qualify for Medicaid, which could cause people to lose coverage.
(…)
VILLAFRANCA: Collins, a Republican who voted for both Senator McConnell and Governor Bevin, is now truly worried about losing her coverage.
COLLINS: I'm sure Mitch McConnell don't have to worry about his medical bills or Governor Bevin’s, but real people have to.
VILLAFRANCA: Omar Villafranca, CBS News, Jenkins Kentucky.
...
NBC Nightly News
July 13, 2017
7:06:59 PM Eastern(…)
KASIE HUNT: To try and win over moderates still on the fence, the new bill includes $45 billion to fight the opioid epidemic, $70 billion more to stabilize insurance markets and help lower income Americans pay for care and it keeps some of Obamacare's taxes on wealthy Americans.
(…)
HUNT: But the new bill doesn't restore any of the deep Medicaid cuts. And it includes a conservative proposal allowing people to buy cheap catastrophic insurance without required ObamaCare benefits like maternity and mental health services.
TED CRUZ: I have always believed the Consumer Freedom Amendment is the key to getting the 50.
HUNT: McConnell huddling in his office today with holdouts, trying to convince them they can't walk away from their promise to repeal ObamaCare. Because of Americans like Loretta Thompson who owns a small equipment repair business outside Seattle. Insurance deductibles for her 19 employees have quadrupled under ObamaCare.
LORETTA THOMPSON: There has got to be a better way to provide insurance for everybody but to also level the playing field so that small businesses aren't at a disadvantage.
(…)
