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Today, Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) took to Twitter to spread some of his party’s trademark misinformation. The modern GOP relies on exploiting the near-constant onslaught of information voters receive from all directions to keep them disoriented.
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The Republicans have discovered that they can outright lie to the American people, and certain quadrants of the media and public will immediately and instinctively amplify their voices, drowning out those attempting to fact-check and hold the party accountable to the truth.
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Barrasso took aim at Senator Bernie Sander (I-VT), who will be hosting a discussion about Medicare for all tonight. Sanders has been a vocal proponent of single-payer healthcare to replace the broken, fragmented, and expensive, private approach to healthcare the United States currently endures.
The Republican Senator then asked the either stunningly misphrased or hilariously ignorant question:
“If #MedicareForAll is implemented, how many people will lose their current coverage?” Barrasso provided a response to his own rhetorical question: “Answer: EVERYONE with private coverage.”
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Of course, the entire idea behind Medicare for all is that it would provide healthcare for ALL. That is to say, nobody would be “losing” coverage because by definition everyone would now have it. Barrasso is trying to obfuscate the reality of the issue in an effort to sap support for a broadly popular initiative.
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Tonight @SenSanders will host a conversation about #MedicareForAll. @SenSanders if #MedicareForAll is implemented, how many people will lose their current coverage? Answer: EVERYONE with private coverage.
— Sen. John Barrasso (@SenJohnBarrasso) January 23, 2018
Sanders himself responded in civil fashion:
Thanks for that question, John. I hope you tune in tonight to learn what Medicare for All would really do for Americans. https://t.co/YgiVxxZBQv https://t.co/XKXI1TPd1c
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 23, 2018
That said, Sanders was the exception, as most Twitter users piled on to mercilessly mock Barrasso and point out the dishonesty of his tweet:
This is a Hall of Fame level dumb tweet. Nobody would lose coverage, it would be just a transfer of providers from private to government, I’m not saying I even support Bernie on this, but this is just blatant fear-mongering.
— Aaron Woodbury (@WoodburyAC) January 23, 2018
You and the staffers who run this account treat the people of Wyoming like we are incredibly unintelligent or uninformed. You could have said that insurance quality for those who pay privately might decrease, and made a somewhat factual statement, but you chose the path of panic
— Aaron Woodbury (@WoodburyAC) January 23, 2018
How do you now know what the word “all” means?
— jordan (@JordanUhl) January 23, 2018
Well, of course he is. Barrasso is on government provided universal healthcare as a Senator. He doesn't have to put up with the kind of crap we plebes do on a daily basis just to get medical care.
I don't hear the Senator whining about his terrible Socialized medicine.
— The Opinionated Lab [This Space Available] (@OpinionatedLab) January 23, 2018
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What if their current coverage is terrible and they can get better coverage through a Medicare-style option?
— Kyle the Stable Genius (@IchabodSkeezix) January 23, 2018
how will someone lose coverage…. if everyone is covered…. by definition… of Medicare… “for all..” pic.twitter.com/I0urvEKRrP
— Matt Daly (@mattdaly) January 23, 2018
Gosh I would hate to give up my private employer sponsored insurance where I spent $20k between premiums and copays for me and my two girls to be stuck with a less complicated system where I’m not constantly worrying about if serious problems will be covered.
— Dallas Surgical Nurse (@nurse_curse) January 23, 2018
Stop ebarasso-ing yourself
— PandaDog (@R6Rider) January 23, 2018
I have private coverage right now and AETNA decided that a medicine that greatly improves my quality of life wasn’t worth it to them so they stopped covering it. I went from paying ten bucks or so a bottle to paying hundreds per pill.
— Guillotine Mindset (@SocialistTaco) January 23, 2018
