The Poynter Institute Menu Donate State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin Issues * All Issues * Online hoaxes * Coronavirus * Health Care * Immigration * Extremism * Taxes * Marijuana * Environment * Crime * Guns * Foreign Policy * LGBTQ+ People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis Media * PunditFact * Tucker Carlson * Sean Hannity * Rachel Maddow * Bloggers * PolitiFact Videos Campaigns * 2024 Elections Truth-o-Meter * True * Mostly True * Half True * Mostly False * False * Pants on Fire Promises * Biden Promise Tracker * Trump-O-Meter * Obameter * Latest Promises About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Suggest a Fact-check * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters Donate #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up English Español ### Get PolitiFact in your inbox. * Weekly Email Newsletter * Daily Email Newsletter Your Email Address Sign Up ![](\\" ![](\\" Nancy Pelosi stated on November 27, 2017 in a tweet from her team\'s political account: The GOP tax plan \"Sabotages the health care of 13 MILLION Americans.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" half-true/6479cbc723379f0ee49c269b0b9790b7.jpg.\\") ![\\"half- true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") * Health Care * Taxes * California * Nancy Pelosi ![\\"House](\\" House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in September 2017. (AP Photo) ![\\"Chris](\\" By Chris Nichols November 29, 2017 # Pelosi’s problematic claim GOP tax plan ‘sabotages’ health care of 13 million Americans Many Democrats in Congress describe the GOP tax plan as a scheme to benefit the wealthy at the expense of the middle class. In recent weeks, their attacks have been expanded to say it would take away or damage health care for millions of Americans. That particular criticism started after Senate Republicans added a provision to their tax overhaul bill that would eliminate the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate — the requirement that Americans have health insurance or pay a penalty. GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine has expressed concern over the inclusion of this provision in the tax bill, which needs approval from nearly all Republican senators to pass. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was the latest Democrat to lodge a comparable criticism of the bill. The GOP tax plan \"Sabotages the health care of 13 MILLION Americans,\" Pelosi’s political team wrote on Twitter on Nov. 27, 2017 as part of a longer list of criticisms of the bill. ![\\"\\"](\\" PolitiFact New York and The Washington Post have fact-checked similar statements by Democratic leaders about the bill\'s impact on health care. They found those claims were partially accurate but ignored key facts. We’ll take a look at those and rate Pelosi’s statement. Similar claims Earlier this month, PolitiFact New York rated Half True the claim by Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo: Congressional Republicans \"want to take health care from millions of Americans in order to pay for\" a tax bill. It found Cuomo had a point: Ending the individual mandate would result in an estimated 13 million fewer Americans with health coverage by 2027, according to the Congressional Budget Office analysis. Pelosi’s spokesman pointed to the same CBO report when PolitiFact California asked for evidence backing up the congresswoman’s claim. In its analysis, however, PolitiFact New York pointed out that ending the individual mandate isn’t the same thing as stripping away health insurance for a large number of Americans. While some would lose access to health insurance due to increased premiums, many others would drop their coverage voluntarily. The Washington Post Fact Checker, meanwhile, gave Two Pinocchios — which it describes as its Half True rating — to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer when he said, \"We’re kicking 13 million people off health insurance to give tax cuts to the wealthy.\" #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 23, 2024 in a speech in Las Vegas “Kamala cast the tiebreaking vote to hire 87,000 new IRS agents to go after your tip income.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • August 28, 2024 The Post described the first part of Schumer’s statement as \"problematic.\" \"CBO, in estimating the impact of repealing the individual mandate, is mostly describing a voluntary action of people choosing not to buy health insurance. That’s not the same as \"kicking off\" 13 million people. Granted, some people may feel they don’t have a choice because their premiums increased. Senate Democrats need to more accurately describe the CBO report,\" the Post concluded. Sabotage? Pelosi, through her political team’s tweet, claims the GOP tax plan \"sabotages\" the health care of 13 million Americans. We took this to mean it intentionally strips health care from millions. If healthy people leave the individual market, premiums will go up for the remaining and sicker enrollees. That could force some people to drop their plans due to cost. But, as with the claims from Cuomo and Schumer, the statement from Pelosi and her staff ignores the fact that a large portion of the 13 million people would voluntarily drop their plans and would not see a direct health impact. PolitiFact New York cited research from RAND Corp. that estimated roughly two- thirds of disenrollment would stem from voluntary choices and one-third would be involuntary. Other research has put the percentage at about 50-50, said Linda Blumberg, a health policy specialist at the Urban Institute. Our ruling Nancy Pelosi recently claimed the GOP tax plan \"Sabotages the health care of 13 MILLION Americans.\" She has a partial point: Senate Republicans have proposed eliminating the ACA’s requirement that all Americans have health insurance or pay a penalty. By getting rid of this, the CBO estimates 13 million fewer people would have insurance a decade from now. Many would voluntarily leave the individual health care marketplace, driving up premiums for those who remain, forcing some who want to keep their insurance to drop it. But like other top Democrats, Pelosi left out much of the story. \"Sabotaged\" just doesn’t fit for the two-thirds of those researchers say would leave voluntarily. PolitiFact New York and The Washington Post examined similar claims and rated them the equivalent of Half True. They were partially accurate but omitted key information. We agreed with their assessments. We also rate Pelosi’s claim Half True. **HALF TRUE** – The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. Share the Facts 2017-11-29 22:53:13 UTC PolitiFact ![\\"PolitiFact\\"](\\" logo-big.jpg\\"/) 4 1 7 ![\\"PolitiFact](\\" halftrue.jpg\\") PolitiFact Rating: Half True The GOP tax plan \"Sabotages the health care of 13 MILLION Americans.\" Nancy Pelosi House Minority Leader ![](\\" Monday, November 27, 2017 2017-11-27 Read More info #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Tweet, Nancy Pelosi’s political team, Nov. 27, 2017 Washington Post, Schumer’s claim that the GOP is ‘kicking 13 million people off health insurance’, Nov. 16, 2017 PolitiFact New York, What impact will eliminating individual mandate have on uninsured, deficit?, Nov. 16, 2017 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Chris Nichols ![](\\" ![](\\" Larry Elder stated on August 31, 2021 in a CNN interview: “I don’t believe the science suggests that young people should be vaccinated. I don’t believe that young people should have to wear masks at school. I’m not sure the science is settled on that at all.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • September 11, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Larry Elder stated on August 19, 2021 in a tweet: “California voters to be able to download ballots at home for recall election, sparking security concerns.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • August 27, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on June 1, 2021 in an interview on MSNBC: \"Sadly during the course of the pandemic one-third of our small businesses have closed.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • June 7, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" John Cox stated on May 4, 2021 in a campaign press conference: California Gov. Gavin Newsom “just let 76,000 inmates out of jail.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • May 5, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kevin Kiley stated on April 26, 2021 in a tweet: “San Francisco had twice as many drug overdose deaths as COVID deaths last year.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • April 29, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Gavin Newsom stated on March 9, 2021 in a State of the State Address: “California’s [COVID-19] death rate has remained one of the lowest per capita in the nation: 134 deaths per 100,000, compared to 158 nationally, 153 in Texas and 247 in New York.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • March 10, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Doug LaMalfa stated on March 2, 2021 in a constituent email.: Voting-rights legislation proposed by Democrats in Congress called H.R. 1 “would force states to restore the voting rights of convicted felons—including violent felons convicted of murder or rape.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • March 4, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kevin Sorbo stated on February 15, 2021 in a tweet: “So California is requiring signature verification for Gavin Newsom’s recall, but didn’t require it for the mail in ballots.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Bill McCarthy • February 16, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kevin McCarthy stated on February 9, 2021 in a press release: Raising the national minimum wage to $15 per hour “would destroy up to 3.7 million jobs.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • February 11, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Bloggers stated on January 28, 2021 in a blog: Facebook tried to “shut down” the campaign to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • February 2, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Rusty Hicks stated on January 12, 2021 in a press conference: The effort to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom is \"a coup.\" ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • January 14, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Shannon Grove stated on January 6, 2021 in a tweet: \"Antifa\" is to blame for storming the U.S. Capitol. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • January 7, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on January 1, 2021 in a Facebook post: There are “absolutely no patients” at Los Angeles hospital considered the center of region\'s COVID-19 surge. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • January 6, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" James Gallagher stated on December 3, 2020 in a tweet: “Government imposed lockdowns do NOT reduce [COVID-19] cases or stop spikes.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • December 16, 2020 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on November 11, 2020 in a tweet: Video shows California election workers \"cheating\" by collecting ballots from drop box on Nov. 4. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • November 11, 2020 ### Pelosi’s problematic claim GOP tax plan ‘sabotages’ health care of 13 million Americans * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 12, 2024 in an Instagram post: A video shows a body that Israel embedded with a bomb exploding during a Palestinian funeral procession. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 11, 2024 in a post: “ESPN has fired Shannon Sharpe.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Gideon Hess • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Threads posts stated on September 12, 2024 in a post on Threads: An image shows Travis Kelce responding to Elon Musk X post that followed Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Madison Czopek • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 12, 2024 in an Instagram post: Former President Donald Trump admitted during the Sept. 10 presidential debate that he “blew up the Nord Stream pipeline.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Loreben Tuquero • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 10, 2024 in a Facebook post: Patron, Don Julio and Pink Whitney tequila recalled because they contained fecal matter. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Jeff Cercone • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Elissa Slotkin stated on September 11, 2024 in a TV ad: Mike Rogers supported “laws that could eliminate IVF and birth control.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Caleb McCullough • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 11, 2024 in an Instagram post: \"Debate moderators made the false claim to Donald Trump that there is nowhere in the United States where abortion is legal up until birth.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Jeff Cercone • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 12, 2024 in a Facebook post: ABC News fired presidential debate moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Sofia Ahmed • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Yes on 4 stated on September 10, 2024 in a TV ad: Florida’s six-week abortion law has “no real exceptions. Not for her health. Not even for rape.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Samantha Putterman • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 11, 2024 in una publicación en Facebook: Imagen muestra carnet del Partido Comunista de la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Maria Briceño • September 13, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. Become a member! In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts. Sign me up #### Offices District of Columbia 1800 I Street NW Washington, DC 20006 Florida 801 3rd St. S St. Petersburg, FL 33701 727-821-9494 #### People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis #### State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin #### About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters #### RSS Feeds * Recent Articles and Fact-checks * Recent Fact-checks Suggest a Fact-check #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Copyright ©All Rights Reserved Poynter Institute 2020, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization ![\\"\\"](\\" ✕ * * *
The GOP tax plan Sabotages the health care of 13 MILLION Americans