A very well written LTE from Rachael Booth of Landaff...(posted with permission)

There is a concerted effort in our country to cast the Affordable Care Act in the worst light possible.  We have heard that “the American people don’t want this” over and over from Speaker John Boehner and other Republicans in Congress as well as being bombarded by Fox “News” and conservative talk show hosts about the dangers inherent in the ACA.  We have even seen numerous TV commercials with nice old ladies saying how their lives and their health care have been ruined by “Obamacare”.  When looked at closely, these advertisements are found to be totally false, yet they continue to be aired.  We are told repeatedly how Obama, Senator Shaheen and Representative Carol Shea-Porter have “lied” and said that you can keep your doctor if you like him or her.  There was no lie; as it turns out, most people WILL be able to keep their doctors under the ACA.  But the Right wants you to believe that the President and others lied to us about this.  Can you imagine the President of the United States openly and knowingly lying about something like this with the realization that when the truth comes out he will be thoroughly embarrassed?  Really?  Then you also believe that the President was born in Kenya.

To date, over 5 million Americans have signed up for health insurance through the ACA.  Yet the misinformation campaign continues to thrive.  A majority of business owners with fewer than 50 workers still think they have to offer insurance to their employees or pay a penalty.  That is false.  Forty-one percent of uninsured Americans say they plan to remain that way because they believe it will be cheaper for them to pay the penalty than to buy insurance through the program.  They don’t realize that there are subsidies available to them to help pay for their insurance.  They are getting this misinformation from conservative sources saying totally untrue things like the ACA is “the biggest job killer ever”.

Other widely spread misinformation about the ACA: Congress is NOT exempt from it; it does NOT include “death panels”; Muslims are NOT exempt from it; it does NOT ration health care – it remains the same as always; illegal immigrants will NOT be able to get health care it or be able to enroll in Medicare, or even shop on the marketplace for health insurance; and finally, seniors will still be eligible for cancer treatment under the new law.  This last one is particularly heinous because seniors seem be the most targeted of the misinformation campaign.  This is all simply just scare tactics meant to discredit the President and his policies.

Instead of listening to the lies and misinformation being spread about the ACA, take the time to actually read what is REALLY going on and learn something instead of letting the conservatives and Fox “News” tell you what to think.  Understanding things makes the world a whole lot brighter.