The Washington Post Fact Checker has given a rating of "mostly false" to Rep. Nancy Pelosi's (D., Calif.) claim that seven million veterans could lose their health care.
Pelosi made the remarks on Tuesday at the Center for American Progress Ideas Conference.
"Seven million veterans will lose their tax credit for their families in this bill," Pelosi said, referring to the American Health Care Act.
The Treasury Department and IRS had added regulations to the Affordable Care Act that would allow veterans to choose whether they would receive health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs or through the ACA. If they chose the ACA, veterans would receive premium tax credits.
This regulation was not included in the AHCA, but Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee are hoping to pass existing tax benefits in a separate bill. The bill introduced by Republicans would ensure that veterans' tax benefits would not be lost.
"This means veterans 'could' — not 'will,' as Pelosi says — lose tax credits if the current protections don’t carry over under a new health law," the Washington Post reported.
This resulted in the Post giving Pelosi's statement three Pinocchios, meaning "mostly false."
Another prominent California Democrat, Sen. Kamala Harris, received four Pinocchios recently from the Washington Post for her claim on Republicans' health care legislation.