Politifact: Sanders claim on helping write ACA: Mostly false

[sufrommich]

As our friends at the Washington Post Fact Checker have noted, Sanders pushed hard for a more liberal version of health care reform -- the American Health Security Act of 2009, which would have implemented a national single-payer system. (Under a single-payer system, the government, rather than private health insurers, pays all medical bills, along the lines of Medicare.)

Sanders backed down after Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., used a procedural move to force a full reading of Sanders’ bill, a move that would have taken hours of floor time and imperiled passage of a more moderate bill backed by Obama and his allies......


Sanders said he "helped write" the Affordable Care Act. He deserves credit for one provision of it -- worth a not-insignificant $11 billion. But overall, he was hardly an inside crafter of the bill. Until his effort was blocked by a GOP procedural move, Sanders supported a more aggressive single-payer system, and multiple news articles quoted him as being undecided about supporting the main Democratic bill until late in the process.

Sanders’ statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. That meets our definition of Mostly False.




http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jan/18/bernie-s/fact-checking-bernie-sanders-claim-he-helped-write/

[itsrobert]

1. I was expecting better of Bernie

He is looking like just another politician willing to say anything to get elected.

[Agschmid]

2. Yup just a politician, been one for 40 years or so...

What do you expect?

[Gothmog]

3. Thanks for posting this

[Quixote1818]

4. If he helped write one provision then he helped write it, end of story. nt

[HerbChestnut]

6. Yeah, there's really no room for interpretation here

Even the article admits he wrote part of it.

[oasis]

8. I feel the same way about Bernie's call for a primary of Obama. (eom)

[oasis]

5. Sad because we thought we knew Bernie. (eom)

[LuvLoogie]

7. So why didn't Bernie read it into the record? It was less than 200 pages.

the American Health Security Act of 2009