Health Bill Gun Claim A Wild Shot

The statement

The Baucus health care bill "could be used to ban guns in home self-defense."

- Gun Owners of America in an Oct. 9 alert to members

The ruling: FALSE

In the last few weeks, Gun Owners of America has sent out several action alerts to members criticizing the health care reform bill that passed the Senate Finance Committee last week.

On Oct. 9, the GOA sent an alert to members titled, "ObamaCare Could be Used to Ban Guns in Home Self-Defense." The group speculated about the impact of the health care bill on gun owners, hypothesizing that, in a bid to control spiraling health care costs, the administration will target people who have "excessively dangerous" behaviors that officials believe raise the cost of health care. The group warned that gun ownership is likely to be high on that list.

In this item, we'll scrutinize the claim that the Senate bill, authored by Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., "could be used to ban guns in home self-defense."

We looked at the language in the bill and found no mention of either "gun" or "firearm." So there's no explicit support in the bill for the group's claim.

Okay, says GOA, but guns could still be a target because of the emphasis on discouraging unhealthy behaviors.

The group is right that the bill does allow higher premiums based on behavior - specifically, the use of tobacco.

And the bill would expand some rules now in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, that allow employees to be rewarded if they participate in wellness programs.

So, GOA has a point that the Baucus bill opens the door to rating health insurance premiums based on behaviors. But the group is making a huge leap to suggest that could mean the government would target gun owners.

There's no indication in the bill that gun ownership is contemplated as a future factor in premium-setting. Every behavioral factor explicitly cited in the bill concerns pure medical issues, such as a lowered cholesterol level, maintenance of a certain body mass index, quitting smoking or losing a specified amount of weight.

We find insufficient evidence to support the group's overheated rhetoric. We find the statement False.

PolitiFact staff writer Louis Jacobson. This ruling has been edited for print. For the full ruling - and others - see PolitiFact.com.