Reform, repeal, replace ... looking behind the numbers and arguments

News outlets offer insights — and fact-checking — about the arguments surrounding the GOP effort to undo the health overhaul.

Los Angeles Times: Behind The Arguments For Health Care Repeal
In their campaign to repeal the healthcare overhaul President Obama signed last year, Republicans have leveled two sweeping critiques of the new law: its impact on the job market and on the federal budget deficit. Here is a run-down of how some of the rhetoric matches up with reality (Levey, 1/19).

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The Arguments Over Healthcare Reform
As the House prepares to vote Wednesday on a proposal to repeal the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, opponents and supporters of a repeal released a slew of data showing what it might mean to the Atlanta area, to Georgia and to the country (Keefe, 1/18).

CQ HealthBeat: Wonks Clash Over Health Law's Economic Impact
The week of the House health law repeal got off to a rip-roaring start Tuesday morning with conservative economists and policy analysts forecasting budgetary doom from the overhaul and their counterparts on the left rejecting the claims as false, if not irresponsible (Reichard, 1/18).

The Washington Post: Debunking Common Myths About Health-Care Reform
"This is a 'government takeover' of the health-care system." Republicans repeatedly use this snappy talking point to bash Obama's crowning legislative achievement, but it is simply not true. In fact, PolitiFact.com labeled this claim the 2010 "lie of the year," but that has not stopped lawmakers from using it (Kessler, 1/18).

ProPublica: In Repeal Effort, Republicans Renew Dubious Claim That Health Care Law Kills Jobs
"Job-killing," as we've noted, has been a favorite adjective of the Republican leadership to describe all kinds of regulation they oppose. In regard to the Obama administration's health care law, Speaker of the House John Boehner even released a report to back up the claim that the law will cost jobs. Problem is, the report doesn't quite do that (Wang, 1/18).

Fox News: Insurers Dismiss Administration Claims On Pre-Existing Conditions Barrier
House Republicans and members of the health insurance industry are dismissing as a gross overstatement an Obama administration study — released as debate gets underway to repeal the health care law — that says as many as half of all Americans under 65 have a pre-existing condition that could threaten their access to health insurance (1/18).