White House Shared An Article & Cut Out The Parts It Didn’t Like

In a Monday email blast highlighting the flaws in Obamacare, the White House deleted a passage criticizing Trumpcare from the Associated Press article the email included to make its argument. Also deleted were sections mentioning the positive impacts the Affordable Care Act has had on the lives of Americans.

According to the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index, which conducted the survey cited by the AP report shared by the White House, the number of adults living without insurance in the U.S. has grown significantly over the past year — roughly two million more have joined the ranks of the uninsured. In the fourth quarter of 2016, the amount of uninsured American adults was at a record-low 10.9 percent, a number that rose to 11.7 percent by the second quarter of this year. As the AP notes, "Though small, the change was statistically significant, survey analysts noted."

The White House's email omitted mention of Obamacare driving the rate of the uninsured to "historic lows" and raising the number of Americans with health care coverage by some 20 million. Also deleted was a sentence referring to the Congressional Budget Office's estimation that 22 million people would lose coverage under the GOP's proposed plan.

Also omitted were analyses on the effectiveness of President Trump's proposals and Trumpcare's possible role in the sudden increase of uninsured adults. According to the report, numerous insurers see Trump's actions as "contributing to double-digit premium increases for next year."

"Uncertainty surrounding the health care law also may be driving the increase," states one section of the Gallup-Sharecare survey. "President Donald Trump's executive order permitting agencies to waive or delay provisions that 'impose a fiscal burden' on individuals, as well as the prospect of a new healthcare law may be causing consumers to question whether the penalty for not having insurance will be enforced."

The Republican-controlled Senate is currently struggling to pass its Obamacare replacement plan, with at least two GOP senators claiming the bill is "dead." After a weeklong recess in July allowed their constituents to not only gain more information about the plan but also express their opposition, the pressure has increased for several Republican legislators. At the moment, the GOP effort to pass the bill is several votes short.

On Thursday, House Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested that, should the plan fail to pass, bipartisanship might be the way to go. "If my side is unable to agree on an adequate replacement, then some kind of action with regard to the private health insurance market must occur," he said. On Monday, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and three other Democratic senators told him they're ready to work together on a new bill.