THE MANY FACES OF

EXTREMISM
Lawmakers opposing the Affordable Care Act have espoused positions that, if enacted, would have
devastating consequences for the people they represent. This report exposes the reality of their
rhetoric and extreme consequences of repealing the new health care law.
 Meet the New Kids

Part 1

Meet the New Kids

With a new wave of inexperienced legislators and governors rolling into
office, the Health Information Campaign presents examples of extreme
statements and positions from newly elected officials.

Meet the new lawmakers and opponents of health reform elected in the
2010 cycle. Some of them misrepresent the facts, some are out of touch, and
some of them just don‟t like the health care reform law. Either way, their
ideas about repealing the Affordable Care Act would have a negative impact
on their constituents and are too extreme for America.

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 Meet the New Kids

Meet Rand Paul...

…He says seniors „need to be paying more‟ for health care

Sen.-elect Rand Paul (R-KY) called “for a $2,000 deductible on Medicare payments”

Paul Fact: Kentucky‟s new Senator wants a $2,000 deductible for Medicare.

During a September 2009 town hall meeting on health care, Rand Paul advocated for higher-
deductibles, saying:
“A $2,000 Medicare deductible would solve a huge amount of problems.” [Lexington
Herald Leader, 10/6/10]

Paul reiterated his belief that people were not paying enough for health care during a later
interview.
"It sounds funny, but you need to be paying more for your health care." [Details, 8/2010]

Too Extreme for Kentucky: 1 in 6 state residents are enrolled in Medicare and
Kentucky‟s seniors are the fourth-poorest in the nation.
Apparently, Paul thinks Kentucky‟s 752,776 Medicare enrollees [Kaiser 11/4/10] should pay a
$2,000 deductible. Never mind that Kentucky‟s seniors are the fourth-poorest in the nation. Never
mind that nearly 30 percent of Kentucky‟s Medicare enrollees fall in the Medicare Part D donut
hole and already have to pay the full cost of the prescriptions a portion of the year [AARP, 2009].
Paul thinks they need to pay more.

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 Meet the New Kids

Meet Andy Harris...

…He is outraged he has to wait for his government health care

The first question Rep.-elect Andy Harris (R-MD 01) asked at new member orientation was:
When do I collect my government health care?

Harris Fact: Politicians are „tone-deaf,‟ so vote for me, a tone-deaf doctor.

As an anesthesiologist for Johns Hopkins, Andy Harris campaigned against health care and
promised to vote for repeal. Throughout his campaign, Harris frequently noted he was a doctor in
order to position himself as an expert on health reform.

An excerpt from Harris‟ op-ed on health care reform:

“Politicians are usually tone-deaf to those who know the most about the issue: patients and their
health care providers. What's going on now is no exception: No one appears to be listening to
what people are asking for in health care reform.” [Harris, 9/17/09]

Extremely Out of Touch: Harris asks, „Where‟s my government health care?‟

New members of Congress, including Harris, will be sworn in January 5, but the insurance
provided to them through the federal government is effective February 1. Harris was surprised and
upset at the very idea that his new health insurance did not start immediately.
“This is the only employer I‟ve ever worked for where you don‟t get coverage the first day
you are employed.” [Politico, 11/15/10]

Harris asked “„what he would do without 28 days of health care,‟ said a congressional staffer
who saw the exchange.” [Politico, 11/15/10]

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 Meet the New Kids

A self-proclaimed health care expert, Dr. Harris is completely out of touch with the real life health
care issues Americans face. The reaction above demonstrates tone-deafness to the three out of four
covered workers who waited an average of 2.2 months for their employer‟s coverage to kick in
[Kaiser Family Foundation, 9/10]; or the 59 million Americans who were uninsured at some point
in 2010, according to the CDC. [CBS, 11/10/10]

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 Meet the New Kids

Meet Renee Ellmers...

…She doesn‟t want to cover maternity care: It‟s „very costly‟

Rep.-elect Renee Ellmers (R-NC 02) wouldn‟t guarantee coverage for pregnant women or those with
pre-existing conditions

Ellmers Fact: Wants to repeal the pre-existing condition provision of the health
care law.
During her campaign, Renee Ellmers told the Clayton News-Star she did not think insurance
companies should be required to accept people with pre-existing conditions.
“„Let the private insurance companies decide how they’re going to handle the pre-existing
conditions situation,‟ she [Ellmers] said.” [Clayton News-Star, 9/29/10]

Ellmers Fact: She doesn‟t think maternity care should be covered.

In the same interview Ellmers was asked whether all insurance customers should have to help pay
for maternity care, as pregnancy is typically considered a pre-existing condition by insurers.
“„Maternity coverage – that‟s another one. … Should you have to pay for someone else’s
[maternity care]? Maybe you‟ve decided you‟ve had your children, or maybe we have a 35-
year-old female who‟s had a hysterectomy. Should she have to pay maternity coverage?
Maternity coverage is very costly,’ Ellmers said.” [Clayton News-Star, 9/29/10]

Ellmers and her husband travelled across the country on the Americans for Prosperity bus tour
protesting the health care law. The group was founded and is financially supported by billionaire
tea-party patron David Koch. [The New Yorker, 8/30/10]

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 Meet the New Kids

Too Extreme for North Carolina: Nearly 2 million Tar Heels have pre-existing
conditions that could preclude them from coverage.
care law.
More than 1.8 million North Carolinians, including 50 percent of those between ages of 55 and 64,
have a pre-existing condition that could prevent them from accessing coverage [FamiliesUSA,
5/10]. Ellmers wants to let insurers figure out how to deal with pre-existing conditions, but they
had their chance and dealt with it by denying coverage. A congressional investigation found that
from 2007 to 2009, the top four insurance companies denied one out of seven applicants‟ coverage
based on conditions such as pregnancy, angina, diabetes and heart disease [CNBC 10/13/10].

Too Extreme for Women: Ellmers takes women‟s health a step back.
Lack of insurance is often cited as a major barrier to quality prenatal care. Before the Affordable
Care Act passed, maternity coverage was an exception, not the rule. Only 14 percent of private
individual plans offered it in 2009 [National Women‟s Law Center, 2009]. More than two women
die every day in the United States from pregnancy and childbirth complications. Quality,
accessible maternity care could prevent approximately half these deaths [Amnesty International,
3/2010].

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 Meet the New Kids

Meet Austin Scott...

…He says „there just aren‟t‟ any good things in the new law
Rep.-elect Austin Scott (R-GA 08) opposes the entire health care law; even the patient protection
provisions supported by 75 percent of Americans.

Scott Fact: He wants repeal…without replace.

During an October 2010 debate, Austin Scott said he did not support any of the provisions of the
new health care law.

MODERATOR: Are they any provisions of the health care bill passed that you support,
that you‟d like to keep?
SCOTT: No, ma‟am, there are not. There just aren‟t. [Think Progress, 10/14/10]

In fact, Scott is opposed to Congress passing any laws regarding the health care system. CNN
reporter T.J. Holmes pressed Scott about his extreme position on repeal. He confronted Scott with
the two provisions most popular with the public: extending dependent coverage to young adults up
to age 26 and banning coverage denial based on pre-existing conditions.

SCOTT: I would like to start over completely. I think those things should be left up to the
individual states. And I think that the states should determine --
HOLMES: But not the federal government? You don't think those are good enough that the
federal government should keep those in place?
SCOTT: I do not believe that the federal government should have control over the health
care system. I think that the states should determine whether or not they want those issues
in their health insurance at a state level. [CNN, 10/20/10]

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 Meet the New Kids

Too Extreme for Georgia: 43,500 Georgia young adults gained access to health
care because of the Affordable Care Act.
Scott does not think Congress should pass any laws „controlling‟ the health care system, even those
that protect patients and extend dependent coverage. Specifically, Scott‟s extreme version of repeal
would eliminate coverage for the estimated 43,500 young adults in Georgia who gained access to
health coverage through their parents‟ plan as a result of the new law [WhiteHouse.gov]. It would
also threaten the more than 1.8 million Georgians who have pre-existing conditions that could
prevent them from accessing health coverage [FamiliesUSA, 5/2010].

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 Meet the New Kids

Meet Blake Farenthold...

…He Says You Don‟t Have Enough „Skin in the Game‟

Rep.-elect Blake Farenthold (R-TX 27) proposes high-deductible plans that could bankrupt low-
income Americans

Farenthold Fact: He thinks the 170 million Americans who have employer-based
health insurance have no personal responsibility.
During his campaign, Blake Farenthold blamed employer-based health insurance for the country‟s
health care problems:
“Our healthcare system is broken because we have taken personal responsibility out of it.
Consumers have no “skin in the game.” Employers pay for the insurance, doctors bill the
insurance companies and all the consumer is out of the loop. There is no incentive for anyone to
keep costs down. If I had grocery insurance, I‟d be eating steak and lobster every night.”
[Farenthold]

Extremely Out of Touch: Medical costs are the leading cause of bankruptcy.
Farenthold claims Americans do not have enough “skin in the game,” but bankruptcy studies say
otherwise. Unpaid medical bills are the number one cause of bankruptcy in the United States,
causing 62 percent of bankruptcies in 2007. Of those who filed for bankruptcy, nearly 80 percent
had insurance. [American Journal of Medicine, 6/5/09]

On his website, Farenhold proposes high-deductible health plans featuring expanded Health
Savings Accounts to reduce health costs. High-deductible plans create a high financial hurdle that
Americans struggle to clear. They often lead to severe financial problems that put care out of reach.
More than half of adults in the highest-deductible plans report difficulty paying bills or accumulated
debt. Nearly 60 percent of Americans with an illness would have trouble paying medical bills under
a high-deductible plan [Commonwealth Fund, 2005].
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 Meet the New Kids

Meet Rick Scott...

…He‟s either a Schnook or a Crook

Gov.-elect Rick Scott (R-FL) presided over a company guilty of nation‟s largest Medicare fraud
scandal, started a group to „Swift Boat‟ health reform, and now presides over the state of Florida

Scott Fact: Scott was CEO of company fined $1.7 billion for Medicare/Medicaid
fraud.
Scott presided over Columbia/HCA, the largest private, for-profit health care company in the
country, as it committed massive fraud. The company paid $1.7 billion in fines in the largest
Medicare fraud settlement in American history. Scott‟s company had a long record of committing
fraudulent activities, including:

 Billing Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal programs for tests that were not necessary or
ordered by physicians. [Politifact, 6/10/10]
 Upcoding, or claiming patients were sicker than they were to increase Medicare reimbursement
to the hospitals. [Politifact, 6/10/10]
 Illegally claiming non-reimbursable marketing and advertising costs as community education.
[Politifact, 6/10/10]
 Providing physician kickbacks, such as lavish fishing trips to Costa Rica, free office rent,
discounted pharmaceuticals, bogus consulting jobs, and free ownership shares in Columbia
hospitals, to doctors in return for Medicare referrals. [Miami Herald, 6/27/10]
 Improperly billing patients for home health visits. [Miami Herald, 6/27/10]

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 Meet the New Kids

Extremely Bad Options for Florida: Criminal v. Criminally Incompetent

The fact is, Scott‟s company cheated. It defrauded taxpayers, and it stole money from the health
care system. Scott wants Floridians to think is that his level of responsibility and his role in his
company‟s crimes and practices is debatable.

Was he responsible?
“„As I have said repeatedly, Columbia/HCA made mistakes, and I take responsibility for
what happened on my watch as CEO,‟ Scott said in a written statement.” [Miami Herald,
6/27/10]

Or was he ignorant?
KLAS: The web site doesn‟t say what you‟d known and when. Can you say you did not suspect
there was anything questionable going on in terms of…
SCOTT: If I‟d seen anything, I‟d have fired them. Think about it. I‟d put my life savings and
started this company from scratch and then somebody would have done something wrong and I
wouldn‟t have done anything about it. That‟s not consistent. [St. Petersburg Times, 10/29/10]

Scott is trying to play it both ways. He eagerly boasts about being a successful, shrewd
businessman. But when confronted with his company‟s fraud, he pleads ignorance of the criminal
activity that was rampant throughout his company. Either Scott is a crook who defrauded his
patients and the Medicare system out of millions of dollars, or he is the schnook who was not
competent enough to identify the widespread fraud taking place right under his nose. But they are
mutually exclusive, and neither inspires much confidence in his ability to lead Florida toward better
health care for its citizens.

Extremely Shady: Scott tried to “Swift-Boat” health reform.

Regardless of his ruined reputation in the health industry, Scott had the audacity to found a so-
called “patients‟ rights” group in early 2009 to oppose any attempt by the new administration to
reform health care. He brought on the public relations firm CRC, the masterminds behind the Swift
Boat Veterans for Truth campaign, to coordinate the campaign. [Washington Post, 5/11/09]

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 Remember These Guys?

Part 2

Remember These Guys?

The “new kids” aren‟t the only ones going to extremes to oppose the
Affordable Care Act. The Health Information Campaign presents examples
of currently elected lawmakers who have also made extreme statements
against health care reform.
Some of them try to scare the public, some of them ignore the facts, and
some of them are just plain hypocritical. Just like the “new kids,” the
positions of these lawmakers would be devastating to the health coverage of
the people they represent.

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 Remember These Guys?

Remember Rick Perry?

…He Says Texas Should Secede (from Medicaid)

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) is pushing a plan that would cost Texas billions and could leave millions
without health insurance

Perry Fact: Texas can deliver health care better than the feds.

As his state tries to find answers to a budget shortfall, Gov. Rick Perry and a few state legislators
proposed the idea that Texas should withdraw from the federal Medicaid program.
“We know how to deliver healthcare to more people in a less expensive way than what the
federal government does. (States) need to stand up and say, „We don‟t want your strings
attached. We don‟t want you down here telling us how to run our business.‟” [Ft. Worth
Star-Telegram, 11/13/10]

Extremely Out of Touch: „Seceding‟ from Medicaid could cost Texas $900 billion
and leave 2.6 million without coverage.
Of the 3.3 million Medicaid enrollees in Texas, nearly 2.6 million – mostly poor children – would
lose coverage if Texas opted out of the program [Dallas Morning News, 12/3/10]. Beyond that,
withdrawing from Medicaid could have dire consequences for Texas‟ economy. With one in 12
Texans employed by the health care industry, secession could cost the state $900 billion in lost
economic activity. [Dallas Morning News, 11/30/10]

And while Texans would no longer benefit from Medicaid, they would still pay for it. Because
Medicaid is funded through Texans‟ federal taxes, the people of the Lone Star State would still be
subsidizing the program for other states. [New York Times, 11/19/10]

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 Remember These Guys?

Remember Jon Kyl?

…He Doesn‟t Want to Pay for Maternity Care Because He‟s A Man
Like Rep.-elect Renee Ellmers (R-NC 02), Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) does not want to pay for maternity
care for American women

Kyl Fact: He doesn‟t see the need for expanding maternity care.

Sen. Jon Kyl attempted to strike it from the Senate Finance Committee‟s health bill and opposed it
again as part of the Affordable Care Act.
“„I don't need maternity care,‟ Kyl said. „So requiring that on my insurance policy is
something that I don't need and will make the policy more expensive.‟” [TPM 9/25/09].

Extremely Out of Touch: Women pay more for health insurance, and not
because of maternity care.
Because of a process called “gender rating,” women have paid more than men for identical health
care plans. Often, non-smoking women paid more than male smokers. And maternity care was not
responsible for the price difference, given that it was offered on only 14 percent of private
individual health plans in 2009. Last year, a 25-year-old woman was charged up to 84 percent more
than a man of the same age on plans that did not include maternity coverage. [National Women‟s
Law Center, 2009]

The Affordable Care Act ends the discriminatory practice of gender rating, lowering health
coverage costs for women. It also includes maternity coverage as an “essential health benefit” that
must be covered by certain plans beginning in 2014. While two American women die every day due
to pregnancy and childbirth complications, quality maternity care could cut that number in half.
[Amnesty International, 3/2010]

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 Remember These Guys?

Remember John Ensign?

…He Wants Some of That „Wasteful‟ Health Care Money

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) called health reform “wasteful,” then sought the funds it provided for a
project in Nevada

Ensign Fact: He condemned health care spending in the Affordable Care Act as
wasteful.
On his Senate website, Sen. John Ensign says:
The new health law is filled “with billions in wasteful government spending and expanded
government.”[Ensign]

Extremely Hypocritical: Ensign sought a piece of health care spending he called

wasteful.
Ensign penned a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services requesting grant money
authorized by the law for the University of Nevada, School of Medicine, despite his concerns for
the new law‟s constitutionality and cost. Ensign was willing to admit these funds would help
Nevadans face their growing health care challenges in his letter; however, he spews anti-health
reform rhetoric on his official website. [ThinkProgress, 11/15/10]

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 Remember These Guys?

Remember Chuck Grassley?

…He Warned Iowans about Government Death Panels

End-of-life counseling was included in a Medicare bill Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) supported in 2003

Grassley Fact: Grassley told Iowans about a government program that would
„pull the plug on grandma.‟
Sen. Chuck Grassley was working on a bipartisan health reform bill when he attacked the
Affordable Care Act at an Iowa town hall meeting.
“„There is some fear because in the House bill, there is counseling for end-of-life,‟ Grassley
said. „And from that standpoint, you have every right to fear. You shouldn't have
counseling at the end of life. You ought to have counseling 20 years before you're going to die.
You ought to plan these things out. And I don't have any problem with things like living wills.
But they ought to be done within the family. We should not have a government program that
determines if you're going to pull the plug on grandma.‟” [Huffington Post, 8/12/09]

Extremely Hypocritical: He was for death panels before he was against them.
The “death panel” provision that caused such a stir was not a death panel at all. In fact, it simply
provided Medicare coverage for optional end-of-life planning. In 2003, Grassley voted for a bill
that contained a provision similar to the “death panel” provision he used to scare voters in 2009.
[Time, 8/13/09]

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 Remember These Guys?

Remember Steve King?

…He Calls Health Reform a Cancer on America‟s Spirit

Rep. Steve King (R-IA 05) compared the Affordable Care Act to a tumor and called for a full repeal,
even of consumer protection provisions

King Fact: Wants entire health reform bill repealed immediately.

Breaking with his party‟s leadership, Rep. Steve King told Fox News‟ Neil Cavuto that the entire
Affordable Care Act needed to be repealed immediately, including provisions others in his party
have supported.
“I called it a toxic stew weeks ago, and a toxic stew, you can't separate it. You can't take a
teaspoon of it and say, 'well that wasn't so bad.' But now it's become the tumor of a cancer in
our legislation, and you can't take a tumor out in part. You've got to pull it all out. And some
will say, 'well there's some viable tissue there,' but that's the price of something that is a
cancer on America's spirit and vitality.” [TPM, 4/2/10]

Extremely Out of Touch: One in four Iowans have a pre-existing condition that
could prevent them from getting coverage.
Many supporters of repeal, including King‟s party leadership, have vowed to keep certain
provisions of the law. These include provisions protecting those with pre-existing conditions,
allowing young adults to remain on their parents‟ plans until age 26, and strengthening Medicare.
Removing these provisions would have disastrous effects for many Iowans, including:
 The 596,000 (24%) with a pre-existing condition who, if King got his way, could be denied
health coverage. [FamiliesUSA, 5/2010]
 The 8,330 young adults who would not have insurance coverage if they could no longer
remain on their parents‟ plan until age 26. [HealthReform.gov]

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 Remember These Guys?

 More than 57,000 small businesses that could qualify for a small-business tax credit to help
provide health coverage to their employees. [HealthReform.gov]
 The 23,098 Medicare beneficiaries who hit the Medicare donut hole in 2010 and received
$250 rebate checks to help cover the cost of prescription drugs. [Healthcare.gov]

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 Remember These Guys?

Remember Virginia Foxx?

…She Says There Are No Uninsured Americans

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC 05) derided health reform as a massive tax increase

Foxx Fact: Thinks all Americans already had access to quality health care.
At a press conference in July 2009, Rep. Virginia Foxx disputed the fact that there were Americans
who did not have access to health care.
“„There are no Americans who don‟t have healthcare. Everybody in this country has
access to healthcare,‟ she says.” [ThinkProgress, 7/24/09]

Then, in November, Foxx took to the House floor to battle health care reform again:
“And I believe the greatest fear that we all should have to our freedom comes from this
room — this very room — and what may happen later this week in terms of a tax
increase bill masquerading as a health care bill. I believe we have more to fear from the
potential of that bill passing than we do from any terrorist right now in any country.”
[ThinkProgress, 11/2/09]

Extremely Out of Touch: An estimated 1 million uninsured North Carolinians

will gain coverage under the new law.
The Affordable Care Act addresses one of the major problems facing the American health care
system: access to coverage. Studies estimate as many as 22,000 unnecessary deaths occurred in
2006 due to lack of insurance coverage [Urban Institute, 1/2008]. An estimated 9,600 North
Carolinians would die prematurely due to lack of insurance coverage over the next decade. In
addition, more than 1 million uninsured North Carolinians will have access to health insurance by
2019. [FamiliesUSA, 5/2010]

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 Remember These Guys?

Foxx claims the Affordable Care Act is a tax increase. But the law will provide tax breaks to more
than 1 million North Carolinians, the total value of which will exceed $4 billion. Half of those will
be uninsured, with the tax credit allowing them access to coverage that was previously
unaffordable. [FamiliesUSA, 9/2010]

Furthermore, 124,000 of the state‟s small businesses will be eligible for a small business tax credit
that makes it easier for businesses to provide insurance to their employees. [HealthReform.gov]

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