new Koch Bros ACA attack ad Shannon Wendt makes claims but no corroboration provided when asked

[Bill USA]

New American's for Prosperity attack ad, this one with Michigan resident, Shannon Wendt, saying the plan available for her family under Obamacare is 'unaffordable' and that Obamacare is "destroying the middle class".

turns out the facts, as they can be found out, don't quite match with the claims. One thing is straight-forward though: given their income (Wendt, a mother of five, is a resident of Grand Rapids who sells jewelry on Esty) her family could qualify for Michigan's CHIP plan, MIChild, but they decided not to sign up for it.

WaPo Factchecker and others have tried to get some hard numbers from Americans for Prosperity but they would not provide any hard numbers for actual costs or corroboration of the assertions made in the ad.



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Big claims, few details in anti-Obamacare ad alleging soaring costs[/font]

Michigan resident Shannon Wendt, in a new Americans for Prosperity ad attacking Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.)

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2014/03/26/big-claims-few-details-in-anti-obamacare-ad-alleging-soaring-costs/

As for costs under the new plan, her story was slightly different depending on the interview. She told Fox News that her old plan cost $260 a month with a $5,000 deductible, but the new plan will be $400 with a “high deductible. But she also told MLive.com that the premiums “will be close to what they paid last year for health insurance.” (The old plan, she told MLive.com, had $10,000 in out-of-pocket costs.)

So how did the plan now become so unaffordable that her husband Zach has to work extra hours? What is the new out-of-pocket maximum? We tried to reach Wendt, but her husband said she was unavailable.

Levi Russell, an AFP spokesman, said “the biggest change since those comments in January was that Shannon and her husband did more research, and realized that the available plans with costs comparable to their older plan that was canceled did not meet the healthcare needs of their family. The plan that does meet their needs is much more expensive. This is primarily due to the narrower provider networks on plans available on the exchange.”

Russell did not respond to a request for more details on the actual costs. We will update this column if we learn more from Wendt herself.
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