Does your family talk more than turkey on Thanksgiving?

Turkey. Football. Food coma. Relatives poorly informed about politics. While Ken Cuccinelli probably isn’t showing up to your Thanksgiving dinner this year (or maybe he is. We don’t know your life), his right-wing talking points might. Everyone has friends and family members who love to debate politics even though they have no clue what they are talking about.

The amount of nonsense can be overwhelming, and their bumper sticker logic can be mind-boggling. But don’t despair! We have everything you need to set the record straight on Obamacare. Mashed potatoes not included.

Crazy Cousin Says: Obamacare isn’t working. People aren’t enrolling.
You Say: Actually, more than one million people are shopping in the online marketplace. We can all agree that the website problems are inexcusable. But, enrollment will only go up as the website functions better. People have to take their time researching options before purchasing health insurance.

Crazy Cousin Says: We gave Obamacare a chance and it doesn’t work. We should just repeal the law.
You Say: Actually, Republicans haven’t given the bill a chance–instead they’ve worked from Day 1 to undermine its success. There are parts of the law we definitely need to modify. But we’re Americans. If we work together, we can do anything. Right now our representatives should come together to improve the law, not tear it down and force us to go back to the old, broken system.

Crazy Cousin Says: These health insurance cancellations just go to show Obamacare will leave people worse off.
You Say: Unlike in the past, when insurance companies could drop your policy or deny you coverage for any reason, millions of Americans now have access to better coverage at affordable prices. Most people who are losing their cut-rate insurance policies will be able to find better deals for better coverage in the health exchange. In fact, a lot of those people will qualify for financial subsidies to purchase policies that have better protections than they had before.

Crazy Cousin Says: America has the best health care in the world. Why break it?
You Say: You’re right, we have amazing health care providers in this country. But let’s not forget how broken our system of accessing that care really was. Before the Affordable Care Act, 1 in 5 people applying on the individual market were actuallydenied coverage. Up to 43 percent of people on the individual market had a pre-existing condition and insurance companies could charge them more. Insurance companies were charging women as much as 150 percent more than men. Now, insurance companies cannot deny coverage because of a pre-existing condition, or discriminate based on health status or your sex. And no one will go bankrupt trying to pay for live-saving medical care.

Crazy Cousin Says: The Medicaid system is already too expensive. We can’t afford to expand it.
You Say: In fact, expanding Medicaid to provide affordable health coverage to up to 400,000 Virginians would actually save our state money. The Medicaid expansion would create jobs and lower health care costs because we won’t have to pay for the cost of uninsured in emergency rooms. Most of the people who would benefit from the Medicaid expansion are the working poor: folks with jobs who can’t afford health insurance. If we don’t expand Medicaid, we’ll leave our very poorest citizens without access to quality and affordable health care.

Crazy Cousin Says:Requiring business to provide coverage for contraception is an attack on religious freedom.
You Say: Actually, the administration’s policy protects religious liberty and women’s health. Nearly 99 percent of women have relied on contraception in their lives, butmore than half of women between 18 and 34 years old have struggled to afford it. The administration’s policy means religiously-affiliated organizations won’t have to provide birth control coverage if they object. But it also means that your employer doesn’t get veto power over your access to health care. That’s something we should all be able to agree on.

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