This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The massive propaganda war against Obamacare by Sen. Mike Lee and his tea party/GOP extremists is a misguided attempt to deprive millions of Americans of substantial improvements in health care. Their attack is based on lies and distortions designed to create fear and confusion to justify their threat to shut down the government and defund Obamacare.
A government shutdown is so irresponsible that conservative stalwart Mitt Romney, House Speaker John Boehner and Sens. Mitch McConnell and John McCain have spoken against it.
Because the GOP offers no alternative, defunding Obamacare would return us to the former system of poor coverage, exorbitant premium increases and obscene profits for insurers.
This would offer no hope for the 26,000 who die annually because they lack health insurance, the 900,000 who declare medical bankruptcy each year, and the thousands who are denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
By contrast, Obamacare excludes pre-existing conditions as reason for denial, there is no lifetime cap on medical care, insureds can't be dropped because they get sick or injured, and insurers are required to spend at least 80 percent of premiums on medical care (21.5 million people have already received $1.6 billion in rebates).
For more truth about Obamacare, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform.
Andrew Kramer
Ivins