White House legislative affairs director Marc Short could not explain how Americans with pre-existing conditions would be protected in the Graham-Cassidy bill.
September 24, 2017

Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace cornered Trump's WH Legislative Affairs Director after he repeatedly lied to him by claiming that Graham-Cassidy bill does cover preexisting conditions and told him outright, "No, it doesn’t."

Marc Short joined Chris Wallace to try to defend the new Trumpcare bill and got skewered by the FNS host for his troubles. If he thought he would get the Kellyanne Conway treatment from Fox and Friends, he'd be wrong.

By the way, do all of Trump's legislative people seem related to the creepy Stephen Miller? Just saying.

Anyway, Short tried to scam Wallace by using their typical weasel words talking points to make believe Graham-Cassidy forces states to give affordable healthcare coverage to all people with pre-existing conditions.

Wallace was prepared and refuted every lie he tried to tell.

Short began by promoting the falsehood that Obamacare selectively chose states to receive more money than others and said their bill would equally send federal funds to all the states.

Wallace shot that down, "It wasn’t that the Obamacare law chose winners and losers. It was that the states chose. They decided whether to go with Medicaid expansion or not."

But then Wallace got to the pre-existing conditions aspect of the bill and outlined the lies it perpetrates by purposefully not being specific.

Wallace said, "And then in the very next page, the Graham-Cassidy bill says that, yes, states can increase premiums for people with pre-existing conditions."

"That’s a loophole big enough to drive a tank through," Wallace said.

Short got frazzled and made the weird case that it's better for some people to have the states decide what rates to choose because the feds must be evil, right?

Short said, "Do you want Washington, D.C., choosing the rates all across the nation for all sorts of factors? That’s a different question that guarantees pre-existing conditions. The bill guarantees pre-existing conditions."

Wallace wouldn't allow him to lie to his face about what the bill contains, shooting back, "No, it doesn’t."

Wallace was peeved, "It just says that they have to -- forgive me, sir -- it says that all they have to do is get a federal waiver that they have adequate and affordable coverage without ever explaining what adequate and affordable coverage is. That’s not a guarantee."

Short's response was to re-quote the language in the bill, "Adequate and affordable coverage will be guaranteed to every one of those states that apply.

Wallace replied, "What’s the definition of adequate and affordable and what does it mean when a state can raise premiums?"

Short used the states right's argument, I think, "States -- that is -- again, that is a separate question. And do you want Washington, D.C., dictating across the country what those rates are for everybody regardless of condition -- "

Huh? WTF does he mean when he says "regardless of condition?" He's justifying raising rates on people with health problems.

Wallace, "What good is insurance coverage if you can’t afford to -- "

Short said the states will get additional funding to help with the costs.

Wallace then shot back, "There is no statement as to how much that’s going to be and, in fact, it says states can raise premiums for coverage -- for pre-existing conditions without any guidelines. There’s no question it’s going to be higher in some states than it is under Obamacare."

Short had no real answer to give to justify this obvious loophole written so that states can raise rates at their whim and was forced to admit it.

"There’s going to be some states higher, some states lower, Chris. Do you want Washington, D.C. -- "

Sen. Cassidy promised Jimmy Kimmel that rates would not be higher for people with pre-existing conditions, Marc. He lied.

Wallace, "So, if you’re a pre-existing condition in a state where it’s higher, you're out of luck?"

Short replied, "No, you’re not out of luck, Chris. You’re going to make sure that there are vast majority of Americans are going to benefit from having lower cost."

"It doesn’t mean every single individual have a lower premium, because that is not what we want Washington, D.C. doing. We want states to have a flexibility to term that to their own people," Short said.

Marc Short admitted that their Graham-Cassidy bill, or Trumpcare, will grant states the power to do whatever they want when it comes to covering health care for their constituents.

Wallace gave a lesson on how to question certain lies being told by Trump officials and their surrogates.

Maybe all those Republicans defending this bill, including its authors, don't really understand what's in the bill after all.

And Jimmy Kimmel is more of an expert on what the bill does than they are.

Can you help us out?

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