It's important that we all know the truth about health care waivers

As an advocate for health care reform - I feel very strongly that everyone knows the facts and nothing but the facts about the year old law so that the public can be educated and be ready to call out flat out lies when we see or hear them. 

If we turned on Fox News at any given moment while the commentators were talking about Obamacare - we would all think that the Affordable Health Care Act was such a horrible piece of legislation that Obama had to hand-deliver waivers himself to his supporters so that they would be exempt from the legislation. 

Nothing could be further from the truth.  Although I'm sure a conservative think tank is out there right now trying to find something further from the truth.

Everyone needs to understand that, yes, waivers were given for a temporary one year duration.

Why were waivers given?  So insurance premiums did not skyrocket because of the section that removes lifetime caps and so that in the interim before the law takes full effect in 2014 - no one loses the coverage that they currently have if they are being covered through a non-comprehensive health care plan.  After all, a non-comprehensive plan is better than no health care plan and workers should not have to lose their current level of insurance while we all wait for 2014.

Another anti-health care reform lie - only unions and Obama groups benefited from Obamacare waivers.  Do you think that all of the State of Tennessee is an Obama supporter?  Tennessee Democrats especially need to be aware that the State of Tennessee along with other local governments received a waiver. 

Get the full facts about the waivers, why they were necessary, and understand that the waivers are only a year-long temporary measure to allow individuals, business, and yes, some governments adapt to the mandates in the health care law that will be fully intact by the  year 2014.  All of this information is available to anyone at the Dept. of Health & Human Services' website.

It's going to be difficult for democrats to move forward  unless we know the difference from a fact and a rumor.  The rumor that only Obama-backed people received waiver is false.  But hey, at least critics are making up lies now that don't scare our seniors such as the lie they made up with death panels.  Perhaps the health care law critics are toning down their rhetoric now?

P.S.  I like referring to the Affordable Health Care Act as "Obamacare".  In fact, I believe that it's a clever way to take away that word from health care opponents and may make the public warm to the law and the word "Obamacare" as they see the wonderful things that are in the legislation as they are implemented. 

Trust me, by 2015 - Republicans will be howling "it's not Obamacare", it's the Affordable Health Care Act...   desperate to take away the great things the bill does from the credit of our President.