Joe HonickJoe Honick

I don’t know one thing about the Affordable Care Act, derisively called Obamacare, but I do know something about hypocrisy and obvious misstatements, otherwise known as lies.

Obamacare has been one of the heaviest sales targets of the Republican presidential campaign and certainly a daily, if not hourly claim by Donald Trump to be a “total disaster that needs to be repealed.” 

Of course, candidate Trump never claimed a substitute plan if the repeal was accomplished. But Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan certainly did claim to have the replacement plan.

On June 22, 2016 at noon EDT, Ryan released their (Republicans’) long-awaited replacement plan for ObamaCare, drawing a contrast with Democrats and setting off a new round of fighting over healthcare policy.

As Twitter-elect Trump declared in his press conference, once more loudly proclaiming his charge of the ObamaCare “disaster,” he said (yelled) the Secretary (yet to be confirmed) would produce a “Repeal and Refine” plan almost within hours of moving into office.

Problem: Once more it was revealed the details had not been worked, despite the Ryan claims to have the real deal all the way back in June.

Problem: Not only has it been admitted by the Republicans leading the effort that it could take many weeks to work through the technical details required for any bill, perhaps even months, but going back to the Trump “presser,” he tried to minimize all that by saying “2017 will be the tough year” to justify the need for time for change and without even referring to the yet to be explained Ryan plan.

Problem: It is already reported that more than a few Republicans are getting “cold feet” worrying about constituents who have seen the weak explanation of what any changes might be and how they would impact consumers.

Huge Problem: The Center for Responsive Politics reported that the health-care industry spent over $243 million lobbying on health care issues through the first six months of 2013. No other industry sector spent more lobbying Congress and the federal government. The industry is on-pace to match its 2012 lobbying of around $500 million.

This lobbying is likely to increase.

Even if conservatives win their fight in Congress to defund the ObamaCare law, large portions of it are funded by mandatory spending not subject to Congressional appropriations. These would continue, regardless of how Congress decides the funding issue.

Over 2,400 individuals are registered as lobbyists just for the health-care sector. It is important to note, however, that this number, and the total spent, is likely a fraction of what the industry is spending to influence the government on ObamaCare.

Direct lobbying only covers a portion of activities companies and associations employ to influence government. Elizabeth Fowler, who directs health policy for Johnson & Johnson and was a chief architect of the law, isn’t required to register as a lobbyist, for example, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

All this documented carefully, the Tweeter-in-Chief continues to act, totally contradicting his own Speaker of the House’s assertion that a plan already exists.

In even the most charitable interpretation, someone is either delusional or simply lying.

Your pick!

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Joseph J. Honick is president of GMA International in Bainbridge Island, Wash.