Letter: A response to health care letter

William Quinn (July 11 letter to editor) should reread the “so-called article” about health insurance marketplaces “by Deep Banerjee” (July 5 Depth page) before wildly accusing the Herald of entering “the fake news zone.”

Reed Abelson of The New York Times, not Banerjee, wrote the “opinion piece posing as real news.” Abelson’s straightforward, fair and balanced story quoted Banerjee, who was upbeat about the state of today’s marketplaces compared to when they opened five years ago.

Quinn’s right that President Trump has done nothing to “gut” the “so-called affordable care act,” but he and congressional Republicans keep trying, incrementally.

The 2017 tax law repealed the requirement for everyone to have health insurance or pay a penalty. Candidate Trump pledged to kill what he called “the Obamacare nightmare.” Republicans didn’t talk “repeal and replace” until 2014 after more than 50 failed votes to straight-up repeal the law.

They didn’t offer replacement legislation until 2017. Those failed after nonpartisan analysts concluded millions, including hard-core Trump supporters, could lose their insurance.

Criticize Obamacare, (it helped me get comprehensive, affordable insurance before I qualified for Medicare), but stop being suckered by fearmongering propaganda about “fake news” from Trump and his right-wing-media sycophants.