Health care reform fact check

News outlets are analyzing lawmakers' claims about the health law.

The Hill: Dems And GOP Go Tit-For-Tat On Healthcare Premiums
The Obama administration released a 13-page report Friday that argues the healthcare reform law will save families and businesses thousands of dollars, prompting immediate criticism from the GOP (Pecquet, 1/28).

Politico: Fact Check: Will insurance rates fall?
If they expect their own health care premiums to go down and they don't, Obama could have a tough time winning over a public that's already skeptical. But if the Republicans overstate what health care trends can actually be blamed on the law, they'll lose credibility. ... The bottom line is that the law's early provisions may be pushing some people's rates slightly higher, but they're probably not a big factor. In a September analysis, the human resources firm Hewitt Associates concluded that employers will see their premiums go up by about 8.8 percent in 2011 - and about 1 to 2 percent is because of the law (Nather, 1/29). 

Politifact/St. Petersburg Times: Job Crushing, Granny-Threatening, Budget-Busting Monstrosity? 
We looked into the oft-repeated Republican claim that the health care law is "job-killing" -- the label was even included in the name of the repeal bill -- but we found Republican leadership greatly distorted two studies used to back it up. And we rated the claim False. The "granny-threatening" claim ... morphed into the now-infamous "death panel" claim by Sarah Palin, which ended up being awarded our 2009 "Lie of the Year." ... Lastly, is the health care law "budget-busting"? We dealt with this issue most recently when Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., claimed in his response to President Obama's State of the Union on Jan. 25, 2011, that the health care law "is accelerating our country toward bankruptcy." ... We rated his claim Barely True (Farley, 1/29).