Ted Cruz: "I rise today in opposition to Obamacare. I rise today in an effort to speak for 26 million Texans and for 300 million Americans. All across this country Americans are suffering because of Obamacare. Obamacare isn't working."
Status of Mr. Cruz's claim: FALSE
Ted Cruz: "I understand why many supported Obamacare in the beginning. But if you look at the facts, if you look at the evidence, if you look at what is happening when the American people have tried it, it is not working."
Status of Mr. Cruz's claim: FALSE
Ted Cruz: Obamacare "is driving up health care costs."
Status of Mr. Cruz's claim: FALSE
Ted Cruz: "It is the government that decides who gets health care and who doesn't. And you know what? Americans overwhelmingly don't want that."
This kind of inflammatory rhetoric doesn't reflect the reality of what Obamacare is designed to do. While most the discussion about the Affordable Care Act involves the reform of insurance coverage to eliminate things like the exclusion of those with pre-existing conditions and the use of tax credits to make that insurance available to those with low incomes, the ACA also links hospital reimbursements for Medicare to quality of outcomes, supports new efforts to prevent chronic disease, promote public health and increase the supply of health-care workers – and, of course, expands Medicaid in states that agree, insuring millions more Americans.
Janet Golden, a Rutgers University history professor, specializes in the histories of medicine, childhood and women. Michael Yudell is an associate professor at Drexel University School of Public Health.
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