A new chapter begins on health care

In most legislative tales, the signing ceremony is the ending. But with health care, it feels like just the end of a chapter, doesn’t it?

And so the health care debate continues, and we continue to put the claims to our Truth-O-Meter:

• Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is leading the effort to challenge the constitutionality of the health care bill. At a news conference, he claimed that Medicaid expansion in the bill would cost the state $1.6 billion or more a year. We found that was an exaggeration.

• McCollum also described the lawsuits, filed by 13 attorneys general, as “bipartisan.” We found that was a huge stretch.

• Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah claimed that the health care bill will provide subsidies for families of four that earn $80,000. That seemed high to us, but we found Hatch was right.

• Rep. Bart Stupak, the Michigan Democrat who has been at the center of the debate over abortion coverage, said Sunday that the final outline of the bill did not provide for public funding for abortion coverage. We rated that one True.

• We updated one of President Obama’s campaign promises. He promised to create a national health care exchange. We rated that Compromise. It’s the first of many updates to come as a result of the new health care law.