Republican War on Obamacare Reaching Absurd New Heights

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We all know that Republicans are hellbent on sabotaging Obamacare any way they can. But the lengths they’re going to are pretty astonishing. A few weeks ago The Hill reported that some Republican congressional offices, which routinely help constituents navigate the federal government, plan to turn away callers with Obamacare questions. “We know how to forward a phone call,” said the always charming Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah).

Yesterday brought yet another wheeze as the state of Indiana released the projected cost of insurance on its Obamacare exchanges. The usual standard of comparison is for silver-level plans, but Indiana didn’t release that separately because then it would have been clear that Indiana’s costs were about the same as everyone else’s. Instead they munged together the bronze, silver, gold, and platinum plans in some unspecified way, and did it for no apparent reason except that it allowed them to trumpet a supposed 72 percent increase in the cost of health insurance.

Who do they think they’re fooling? Nobody, I suppose, but it provides fodder for Fox hosts and right-wing radio talkers who don’t really care whether the numbers have been deliberately cooked. All they care about is having an outrageous number to bellow about on the air, and Indiana gave them one.

Sarah Kliff breaks down the con job here, if you want more details.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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