Clinton: Exaggerating Help for the Troops (Fact Check)

[jefferson_dem]

Clinton: Exaggerating Help for the Troops
Clinton falsely claims guardsmen and reservists didn't have health insurance before she went to work.

factcheck.org
Updated: 5:04 PM ET Dec 20, 2007
Summary
In a recent ad, Clinton claims members of the National Guard and military Reserve didn't have health insurance until she and a GOP colleague took action.

We find the ad misleading. In fact, active-duty Guard and Reserve troops already were covered by federal insurance, and four out of five non-active-duty guardsmen and reservists already were covered by their civilian employers or other sources.

Clinton did help expand and enhance health care coverage for reservists but can't claim credit for creating coverage where none existed, as this ad implies.

Analysis
The ad, called "Guard," began airing statewide in New Hampshire on Dec. 17. It places Hillary Clinton alongside glowing images of men and women in uniform and lays her voice over soaring, patriotic strains. But, beneath all of the glitz, there's a misleading claim.

Guarding the Guard
Clinton says, "You would think that ... National Guard and Reserve ... would have had health insurance. But they didn't."

That's not exactly true. First of all, long before Clinton became a senator, members of the National Guard and Reserve were covered by federal health insurance while on active duty and for a period thereafter. So were their dependents. As for those not on active duty, four out of five were covered by health insurance through their civilian employers, their spouse or some other source, according to a 2000 survey by the Department of Defense.

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http://www.newsweek.com/id/81175/output/print

[dsc]

1. I wonder if fact check found the lies in Guiliani's ads

since this ad actually is true. Before Hillary 1 out of every 5 Guardsmen didn't have insurance. Now they do. Sure many had employer provided insurance but the feds have nothing at all to do with that.