More misinformation about health care

It’s been more than three weeks since the Obamacare marketplaces opened for business, and debate over the law is going strong.

Here’s are some of the inaccurate claims we’ve fact-checked in recent days. Links will take you to the complete explanation of our rating, along with our sourcing.

Congress, criminals, Scientologists and other groups are exempt from Obamacare.

— Facebook posts, Oct. 21, 2013

Out of all the groups the meme deems exempt from purchasing health insurance on the marketplace, most are wrong. American Indians, the Amish and prisoners don’t need insurance (for different reasons). But most religious groups cannot get exemptions under the law. We rated the claim Mostly False.

In Florida, “300,000 people are going to lose their individual coverage because of Obamacare. Now those people next year, they don’t have health insurance.”

— Marco Rubio, Oct. 22, 2013, “O’Reilly Factor”

Rubio is right that 300,000 people got letters from Florida Blue. But the letters also offered to switch them to new policies that include the kind of comprehensive benefits the law requires. We rated the claim Mostly False.

“In 45 out of 50 states, on average men are seeing their premiums double, going up 99 percent. Women up 62 percent.”

— Sean Hannity, Oct. 21, on “The Sean Hannity Show”

Hannity’s claim relies on a study that focused on the individual marketplaces for insurance set up under Obamacare, a  subset of people who purchase insurance. That study looked only at the experience of a small minority. That said, new rules for insurance plans will tend to push some rates up — because the plans must provide better coverage. We rated his claim Mostly False.