As part of his crusade against the Affordable Care Act, Ted Cruz has been complaining that he lost his health insurance after enrolling in an ACA plan. But as it turns out, he never actually lost his coverage.
It all started last March, when Cruz launched his presidential campaign and his wife went on unpaid leave from Goldman Sachs. No longer covered by his wife’s health insurance plan, Cruz enrolled his family in a federal health exchange plan.
Then in January, Cruz told New Hampshire voters that he had been kicked off his plan and was no longer insured:
"You know who one of those millions of Americans who's lost their health care because of Obamacare? That would be me. I don't have health care right now," he told an audience in Manchester, New Hampshire.
"I had purchased an individual policy and Blue Cross Blue Shield canceled all their individual policies in the state of Texas effective December 31st," Cruz explained. "So our health care got canceled. We got a notice in the mail. Blue Cross Blue Shield was leaving the market."
However, Cruz’s campaign was soon forced to admit that he had been insured the whole time - and Cruz was just making it all up:
In a reversal, the Cruz campaign now says that Ted Cruz's family actually had insurance all along. Although their initial PPO plan did lapse, BlueCross BlueShield of Texas automatically enrolled them in another plan -- known as a "health maintenance organization” plan -- to keep them covered. Cruz just didn't realize it.
Politifact even gave Cruz a Pants on Fire rating for his claim that Blue Cross Blue Shield was leaving Texas:
Actually, the company continues to sell coverage all over Texas, according to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. The company also says individual customers like Cruz were notified months before 2016 changes—including an end to individual PPO plans--kicked in.
Obamacare has worked for Ted Cruz - and for millions of other Texans.
Now if only Ted Cruz would start working for Texans.
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