Americans’ fears about health insurance under the Affordable Care Act are lost on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who declared Wednesday that all Obamacare “horror stories” are patently false.
Speaking on the Senate floor, Reid blatantly ignored instances of dropped insurance policies, skyrocketing premiums and out-of-network long-time doctors and claimed such anecdotes are “untrue.”
“There’s plenty of horror stories being told. All are untrue, but they’re being told all over America,” Reid said.
The Senate Majority Leader then went on to detail several “horror stories” portrayed in advertisements — specifically one broadcast in Michigan by Americans for Prosperity, a group backed by Charles and David Koch.
“Mr. President, that’s an ad being paid for by two billionaire brothers,” Reid said. “It’s absolutely false.”
The ad Reid referred to tells the story of Julie Boonstra, who was diagnosed with leukemia five years ago and lost her health insurance because of the Affordable Care Act. Paid for by Americans for Prosperity, the advertisement criticized Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) for voting to pass Obamacare.
Reid, attempting to shame such stories as falsehoods, then went on to detail other “tales” of Obamacare falsehoods, including one from a woman whose premium increased $700 per month.
“We heard about the evils of Obamacare, about the lives it’s ruining in Republican stump speeches, in ads paid for by oil magnates, the Koch brothers,” Reid continued. “But in those tales, it turned out to be just that: tales. Stories made up from whole cloth, lies, distorted by the Republicans to grab headlines or make political advertisements.”
Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips slammed Reid for his comments, saying they were yet another way for Democrats to divert attention away from Obamacare’s many failures.
“Senator Harry Reid stood on the Senate floor today and attacked the character and integrity of every American who had the courage to share how they’re being hurt by the President’s health care law – some of whom are battling serious, life-threatening illnesses” Phillips said in a statement.
While the Senate Majority Leader asserted that all who have negative experiences with Obamacare are bought by Republicans, he ignored anecdotes identified by the mainstream media and flagged by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) office.
The New York Times identified a Los Angeles woman who was forced to pay more than $600 for an ultrasound because her new insurance company couldn’t prove she had coverage through them.
A Nebraska news station, KMTV, reported an Omaha family saw their premiums increase from more than $400 per month to more than $700 per month under Obamacare.
Additionally, the website MyCancellation.com, a project launched by Independent Women’s Voice, has amassed thousands of letters from consumers who lost their insurance policies. The website includes photos of cancellation notices from a host of companies.
Koch spokesman Philip Ellender called Reid’s remarks “disgraceful.”
“While Charles Koch and David Koch were not responsible for the advertisement in question, we believe it is disgraceful that Senator Reid and his fellow Democrats are attacking a cancer victim as part of their campaign against Charles Koch and David Koch,” he said in a statement.
Watch Reid’s floor speech below.
This piece has been updated to include new information.
