A May 22 Washington Examiner op-ed falsely suggested that because waivers to the health care reform law are being granted, “elected officials [are] using [the law] to pick winners and losers based upon political favorites.” In fact, the waivers have been granted to companies and organizations that opposed the health care law as well as some that supported it. The op-ed also suggests that it's not “a coincidence” that "[i]n the latest batch of waivers, one in five went to ... businesses in former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's district in San Francisco." But, as Media Matters has documented, the business owner who actually requested those waivers said that they were in no way connected to Pelosi and were part of an annual request for businesses throughout the country, not just in Pelosi's congressional district.

From the op-ed:

There are now 1,372 companies, labor unions and states that have applied for and been granted waivers from an early provision of the law that says health policies must provide at least $750,000 a year in insurance protection.

In the latest batch of waivers, one in five went to expensive restaurants, spas and other businesses in former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's district in San Francisco. What a coincidence!

[...]

And now we learn that the Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday issued regulations explaining that health insurers will have to justify to the federal government health insurance premium increases above 10 percent.

But the rules include an interesting exemption for Medicare supplemental insurance policies. Surprise, surprise! The top marketer of these so-called Medigap policies is AARP, which spent millions of dollars helping to get Obamacare passed.

This is the same AARP that makes upwards of $1 billion in profits from marketing Medigap policies. Clearly, if you have friends at the White House and pay your dues, you, too, can be exempt from Obamacare's rules.

This is crony capitalism at its worst as people and companies seek special favors to escape the destructive 2,800-page law.

[...]

Democratic pollster Patrick Caddell was right when he said that the American people saw the passage of Obamacare as “a crime against Democracy.”

But it is also a crime against the American principle of fairness. Obamacare is barely in place, and we see elected officials using it to pick winners and losers based upon political favorites.