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Obama Overstates Benefits From Rebates

As the Washington Post Fact Checker says, President Obama used misleading numbers when he said 8.5 million Americans were getting rebate checks from insurers because of spending limits in the Affordable Care Act. Actually most of the money is going to employers who bought the policies.

However, Health News Florida's report on the rebates for this state used the correct phrasing. It said that the rebates were on policies that cover more than 600,000 Floridians, but that about half of those people were covered through employer or other small-group policies.

But individuals will receive the bulk of the money in Florida, according to the data. About $40 million of the total $54 million in rebates to Floridians is going to those who bought individual or family policies.

Originally founded in December 2006 as an independent grassroots publication dedicated to coverage of health issues in Florida, Health News Florida was acquired by WUSF Public Media in September 2012.