Which was blatantly obvious from the second she said it.
Via WaPo:
“The point is, is that the mandate was not delayed. Certain reporting by businesses that could be perceived as onerous, that reporting requirement was delayed, and partially to review how it would work and how it could be better. It was not a delay of the mandate for the businesses, and there shouldn’t be a delay of the mandate for individuals.”
— House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), news conference […]
The Pinocchio Test
Encouraging employers to provide health insurance is not the same thing as mandating it. We understand Pelosi’s desire to minimize the impact of the decision — and supporters of the law may have a strong case that the employer mandate is not as central to the law as the individual mandate to buy insurance — but that’s not an excuse to deny reality.
Yes, reporting requirements were delayed. But, as a consequence of that action, there also was a one-year delay of the actual employer mandate. It’s right there in the announcement.
Update: Some readers have asked why this claim did not result in Four Pinocchios. We initially were tempted to award that rating, but decided that Pelosi did describe correctly what Treasury did, which is delay reporting requirements. But she then acted as if there was no consequence, which is incorrect. The difference between a Three and a Four is sometimes narrow, and we ultimately concluded she just missed earning a Four. But it was certainly a close call.