Fact Checker: Fact-checking Sen. Cassidy’s rebuttal to late-night host Jimmy Kimmel about the Obamacare repeal bill

Fact-checking Sen. Cassidy's rebuttal to late-night host Jimmy Kimmel about the Obamacare repeal bill Politics and Hollywood can create a head-scratching moment when they merge (see: Sean Spicer cameo at the Emmys mocking his inauguration crowd size Four-Pinocchio claim). This week, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel attacked Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) over a new plan to replace …   Democracy Dies in Darkness     The truth behind the rhetoric   Fact-checking Sen. Cassidy's rebuttal to late-night host Jimmy Kimmel about the Obamacare repeal bill Politics and Hollywood can create a head-scratching moment when they merge (see: Sean Spicer cameo at the Emmys mocking his inauguration crowd size Four-Pinocchio claim). This week, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel attacked Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) over a new plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare.” Kimmel claimed the bill “will kick about 30 million Americans off insurance.” (That’s a high-end estimate.) Firing back, Cassidy said "more people will have coverage. … There are more people who will be covered through this bill than under the status quo." But that’s quite misleading. Under the Cassidy bill, federal health-care funding will be reduced significantly in many states. Cassidy says innovation would flourish as states make their own choices, and that will help bring down costs and expand coverage. That’s possible — but unlikely, given just how much funding the bill slashes. No credible analyst has been willing to venture an estimate on coverage because no one knows how states would react. Still, the expert consensus is that Cassidy’s funding formula makes his claim all but impossible to achieve. Cassidy earned Three Pinocchios. giphy.com Enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to someone else who'd like it! If this e-mail was forwarded to you, sign up here for the weekly newsletter. Hear something fact-checkable? Send it here, we’ll check it out. Is President Trump vindicated for his claims that Obama ordered 'wiretapping' of Trump Tower? This week, readers asked us to revisit a Four-Pinocchio ruling of President Trump’s March 2017 claims that Obama ordered the wiretapping of Trump in Trump Tower, just before the presidential election. On Tuesday, CNN reported that the U.S. government wiretapped former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, though it’s unclear whether this took place at Manafort’s residence in Trump Tower or in Alexandria, Va. Trump’s supporters claimed the president was vindicated. Not necessarily. There’s no new detail in the Sept. 19 CNN report that warrants a change to our original Four-Pinocchio rating. There’s still no proof Obama ordered a wiretapping of Trump in Trump Tower. It’s possible that something Trump said in conversation with Manafort was picked up as a part of the wiretapping of Manafort — but that's not the issue that Trump originally raised. We reaffirmed our Four-Pinocchio ruling, but will continue to watch for other developments and update as necessary. ADVERTISEMENT   giphy.com Happy 10th birthday, Fact Checker! With a burst of four fact checks on the morning of Sept. 19, 2007 — including one of Osama bin Laden — our former colleague Michael Dobbs launched The Fact Checker. But there’s a 26-month gap in our 10-year history, when Fact Checker was on hiatus, so we’re not fully 10 years old. Still, we're pleased to be one of the pioneering fact-checking organizations (along with FactCheck.org, launched in 2003, and PolitiFact, also in 2008). The growth and acceptance of political fact-checking since the early days of 2007 has been astonishing and also gratifying. Now, it seems like everyone is fact-checking — including even Teen Vogue! We've published nearly 2,500 fact checks on just about every domestic and international policy issue. The number of unique visitors has exploded, especially this year, with new readership records set month after month. Thank you to our wonderful readers for your dedication, ideas and valuable feedback. We published a video showing a sampling of how our fact checks have been cited by prominent politicians and celebrities over the years. Check out the video here. Here’s to the next 10 years! giphy.com We’re always looking for fact-check suggestions. You can also reach us via email, Twitter (@myhlee, @GlennKesslerWP, @mmkelly22, @nikki_lew or use #FactCheckThis), or Facebook (Fact Checker or myhlee). Read about our rating scale here, and sign up here for our weekly Fact Checker newsletter. Scroll down for this week’s Pinocchio roundup. –Michelle Ye Hee Lee Is President Trump vindicated on his claim of ‘wires tapped’ by Obama? There is no new detail in the Sept. 19 CNN report that warrants a change to our original Four-Pinocchio rating. By Michelle Ye Hee Lee  •  Read more »   Sen. Cassidy’s rebuttal to Jimmy Kimmel: ‘More people will have coverage’ Rebutting Jimmy Kimmel, Sen. Cassidy says his plan will boost health-insurance coverage. But the evidence is slim. By Glenn Kessler  •  Read more »   Speaker Ryan's fuzzy math on the nation’s ‘terrible tax system’ Ryan cited three numbers to make his case for lower corporate taxes, but there's a problem with each figure he used. By Nicole Lewis  •  Read more »   President Trump’s claim that 10 refugees overseas cost as much as one in the U.S. The president offered a striking statistic at his U.N. speech. Where did it come from, and is it valid? By Glenn Kessler  •  Read more »   President Trump's claim that 'we've had bigger storms' than Harvey and Irma President Trump points to hurricanes' intensity, but the damage caused by the recent storms makes them some of the most costly on record. By Nicole Lewis  •  Read more »   Medicare, private insurance and administrative costs: A Democratic talking point Democrats such as Sens. Jeff Merkley and Bernie Sanders says Medicare is more efficient than private plans. But not so fast. By Glenn Kessler  •  Read more »   Happy 10th birthday, Fact Checker! The Fact Checker has its 10th birthday on Sept. 19, 2017, though that statement might merit a Pinocchio By Glenn Kessler  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Recommended for you   The Energy 202 Your daily guide to the energy and environment debate. Sign Up »         Share Fact Checker:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for Fact Checker. 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