"Anatomy of a ACA Lie" - Healthstew/Boston Globe

   Editor's Note-I came across this piece from Healthstew, the health care blog of the Boston Globe. Written by John McDonough, who is a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, I find it one of the better healthcare blogs out there. His piece from Monday talked about an email that had been making the rounds about a special tax...buried in the bowels of the ACA...levied on the sale of homes or plain old normal folks like you and me. McDonough does a nice job debunking the meme. I've seen similar emails before on the internet, but not for several months. I guess they're back. 


Earlier tonight I was accused of being a "sheep" for the Affordable Care Act, President Obama, the Obama Administration, etc. While I made my case with facts and figures, I was confronted with vague rhetorical devices and damning generalizations about the ACA and the people that run our Government. This is not new, I see it regularly. I see it a lot. 


Its interesting to me that there are "sheep" out there of all political sizes and shapes. All too often, the ones screaming the loudest about other people being sheep and that they'd better wake up before it too late are usually the least informed on the issue of health care reform, economics, etc. They've heard some scary talk on the radio or TV and when you don't subscribe to the same info that they do, they feel a need to verbally accost you. It would be a full time to job to debunk all the hysterical claims people like this make. All of their info, with no links/data/etc. usually available is somehow OBVIOUSLY THE RIGHT STUFF, while anything guys like me counter with , usually WITH links, data, etc. is dismissed as propaganda. 


Oh well...


Enjoy the article and remember, that nothing McDonough writes, explains, debunks, etc. will ever convince a certain segment of our population that there is this onerous tax aimed at all of us who might sell our homes someday. 
__________________________________________________________________________
Anatomy of a ACA Lie by John McDonough

Most good lies have a kernel of truth in them, giving them undeserved credibility. Here's a great example of a lie intended to scare senior citizens into opposing both the Affordable Care Act (aka: ACA/ObamaCare) and President Obama as well.  Last week, I spoke to the GE Oldtimers Association, a luncheon group of about 50 older gents (and a few women) who are retired managers and engineers from the GE jet engine plant in Lynn, Massachusetts. They meet at Anjelica's Restaurant in Middleton, MA. They are nice, smart, informed, and attentive. They had lots of questions about the ACA, and we had a great discussion.

Near the end, some of them asked me about unsolicited emails they were getting claiming that the ACA, beginning in 2013, would impose on them a new Medicare tax of 3.8% when they sold their homes. Now, I knew that the ACA creates a new 3.8% Medicare tax on unearned income in excess of $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples. But a tax on principal residences? It didn't sound right. Rather than guess, I asked them to send me the email and I would check it out.

Click here to continue reading...

Source: http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/health_stew/2012/03/anatomy_of_an_aca_lie.html