Sorting out claims on the health care law

Off the top of my head, it’s hard to think of an issue in a presidential election that’s harder to wrap your head around than the Obama health care law.

This is in part because the law is so complicated, but the law is complicated because the health care system itself is so inscrutable and the politics made it impossible for Congress to adopt a simpler system.

So it’s a good thing that we now have some independent fact-checking organizations that can call politicians when they mis-state the facts about the issue.

And we have some results in:

Both PolitiFact.com and FactCheck.org have debunked Mitt Romney’s claim that the health care law “means that for up to 20 million Americans, they will lose the insurance they currently have, the insurance that they like and they want to keep.”

PolitiFact rated that claim “false,” FactCheck called it “exaggerated.”

And the fact-checkers picked a bone or two with President Obama’s statement that “”if you’re one of the more than 250 million Americans who already have health insurance, you will keep your health insurance. This law will only make it more secure and more affordable.”

PolitiFact rated that claim “half-true,” and FactCheck said the president “simply can’t make this promise.” Both noted that while nothing in law per-se will drive Americans from their employer-based insurance, a variety of factors could affect the number of those insured as the health care changes take effect.

Get the details on those and other health-care related claims at PolitiFact here and FactCheck here.

And before we leave the subject, it will be fascinating to see how Romney manages to campaign on a health care law so similar to the one he brought to Massachusetts. This Michael Shear piece in the New York Times Caucus blog notes that Romney and leading Republicans aren’t exactly on the same page, and that some old Romney quotes on the individual mandate sound a lot like Nancy Pelosi.