Democratic Groups Make False Claims About Sexual Assault

In an attempt to salvage the remnants of the rapidly failing Obamacare law, Democratic advocacy groups are lying to the American people.

By claiming that rape and domestic violence are now considered a ‘pre-existing condition’ under the American Health Care Act, they are taking advantage of victims of violence with factually unsubstantiated and misleading information.

It’s shameful that Democratic groups would knowingly lie about such a serious issue.

Via Washington Post:

AHCA specifically addresses states’ abilities to get a waiver so that “health status” is no longer protected from underwriting, according to a House Energy and Commerce aide. But other protections remain in place — including for mental conditions and conditions relating to acts of domestic violence — and are still protected from being incorporated into insurance underwriting, according to the aide.

States and the Secretary of Health and Human Services would decide how to interpret “health status.” State waivers must be approved by the federal government. Opponents of AHCA say that because “health status” is up for interpretation, there is no control in the bill to prevent rising costs for survivors of rape and sexual assault.

The AHCA does not specifically address or classify rape or sexual assault as a pre-existing condition. It also would not deny coverage to anyone because of a pre-existing condition.

But there is another wrinkle which makes this scenario highly unlikely: Virtually every state already has a law prohibiting insurance discrimination based on sexual assault and/or domestic violence.

At least 45 states have laws prohibiting health insurance companies from using a woman’s status as a domestic violence survivor to deny coverage, according to the National Women’s Law Center.

The Pinocchio Test

The notion that AHCA classifies rape or sexual assault as a preexisting condition, or that survivors would be denied coverage, is false.

At least 45 states prohibit insurance discrimination like this. Then, it takes several leaps of imagination to assume that survivors of rape and sexual assault will face higher premiums as a result of conditions relating to their abuse. A person would need to be in the individual or small-group market (most Americans under 65 are on employer-provided plans), in a state that sought waivers, and in one of two to five states that did not prohibit insurance-company discrimination against survivors of sexual abuse.

In other words, this claim relies on so many factors — including unknown decisions by a handful of states and insurance companies — that this talking point becomes almost meaningless.

We always say at The Fact Checker that the more complicated the topic, the more susceptible it is to spin. Both media coverage and hyperbole among advocates are at fault for creating a misleading representation of the House GOP health bill. We wavered between Three and Four Pinocchios, but the out-of-control rhetoric and the numerous assumptions pushed us to Four Pinocchios.