Clinton Under Fire Over False Story Of Health Care Horror

Over the last five weeks, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York has featured in her campaign stump speeches the story of a health care horror: an uninsured pregnant woman who lost her baby and died herself after being denied care by an Ohio hospital because she could not come up with a $100 fee.

The woman, Trina Bachtel, did die last August, two weeks after her baby boy was stillborn at O'Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens, Ohio. But hospital administrators said Friday that Ms. Bachtel was under the care of an obstetrics practice affiliated with the hospital, that she was never refused treatment and that she was, in fact, insured.[...]

A Clinton spokesman, Mo Elleithee, said candidates would frequently retell stories relayed to them, vetting them when possible. "In this case, we did try but were not able to fully vet it," Mr. Elleithee said. "If the hospital claims it did not happen that way, we respect that."

Keep reading or watch a video of Clinton telling the story.

Comments

[darlamc]

Wish HUFFPOST would put this video under the other one so people would see how something like this happens. Here is the video of the local Sheriff sharing a story with Senator Clinton.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wqpEt_CdBk

[CC1]

What?! That is ridiculous. A facility would not deny lifesaving treatment to a patient based on inability to pay $100, only transfer them to a state-run facility where most uninsured and low-income patients are sent. The only ones who get hassled are those who actually work for a living and can't get free treatment.

[Susan1968]

Clinton Told True Tale of Woe, Says Kin
By Anne E. Kornblut
The aunt of a young pregnant woman who died after a hospital told her she needed to pay $100 up front for care said in an interview on Monday that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has been telling the story accurately on the campaign trail.

... Clinton's claim that Bechtel did not get care at another hospital that wanted a $100 pre-payment before seeing her, according to the young woman's aunt, Lisa Casto. "It's a true story," said Casto, 53.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/04/07/clinton_told_true_tale_of_woe.html

[SuppersReady]

I don't care what the aunt said. Emergency Rooms do not deny care at the door. Period. Uninsured people flock to emergency rooms because it is the only place they can get care. Doctors offices on the other hand, can do what they want. Can you imagine all the dead people lying in the grass if front of ER's if they refused all who cannot pay..... Not to mention the lawsuits.......This aunt is not telling the whole story. This story is hard to vet because there are privacy laws involved here.

[vincealy]

Except for the facts that the womwn indeed had insurance; was not denied healthcare . Those are the main points of this story. This is a tragic case . But the facts are just not consistant with Hillarys story

[lyn417]

A facility cannot by law transfer an unstable patient to another facility, that is known as dumping and carries a fine of $50,000.

[Dayahka]

The health care story is totally different from the sniper story. The sniper story was a bald-faced lie; the health care story was a story borrowed from someone else, a story that is very likely true of someone somewhere, and was intended to move your emotions, not, as in the case of the sniper story, give credence to one's alleged experience.

[rosal]

Wide Net Cast by Lobby for Colombia Trade Pact - New York Times.

On today's NYT.( April 08) I hope every PA voter reads this.

[jackdav]

There are so many health care horror stories that are true (see Jonathan Cohn's book Sicko) that I don't know why Hillary didn't check this out carefully. (I should add I do not support her plan; I favor single-payer like France's). She's not winning the nomination anyway.

[1Saber2Rattle]

Why don't commentators say it like it is when it comes to Hillary - she lied "again!"

If it was Obama they wouldn't hesitate to call him a liar. Hillary lies - so can we trust that it would really be Hillary answering the phone at 3 a.m?

[accountability]

ROTFLMAO!!!
"Why don't commentators say it like it is when it comes to Hillary..."
You are joking right?
Is this an attempt at satire or are you really that divorced from reality???

EXACTLY!
Why don't they stop misrepresenting her and distorting everything she says and does, and wears... I'm surprised they don't follow her into the bathroom.

"If it was Obama they wouldn't hesitate to call him a liar."

*Snort*

[1Saber2Rattle]

She does the best job of "misrepresenting" than anyone against her ever could. I guess that answers the question, they don't have to point it out since she so aptly continues to.

[maryinnh]

So Hillary was telling the truth. The NY TImes apparently didn't vet the story. Huff Po's just reprinted it and this is how the cycle goes. Why does this kind of reporting go on with Hillary but not Obama. Huff Po's apology shouldbe front and center.

[Jjc2006]

Huffpost will neither apologize, update or remove their spinful story. Too many Hillary haters gather here to spew their unfounded vitriol....it's a right wing haven of hate inhabited by close minded "progressives". These people are doing untold damage to the concept of progressive. They have yet to learn..."hate is not a progressive or liberal value."

[diogeron]

I don't hate Hillary at all. In fact, I would be happy to vote and campaign for her if she's the nominee. :I just think she's not as good as Obama, on any number of levels. Let's face it: either Hillary or Obama would be infinitely better than McCain.

[accountability]

YES!
It should be on this page as well.

I'm wondering what Olbermann is going to say tonight.
I didn't get to the TV fast enough last night when he began spitting out his self-righteous crap about this story, not mentioning (of course) that there was a question about it.
I watched a few minutes till he became so hateful and spiteful I douldn't watch anymore. I don't want that ugliness in my head. One of the many readsons I don't watch Fox.
It should be interesting to see if he issues an apology, I somehow doubt it though I would like to see him put himself on his own worst person's list.

I do.
LOL

I have to find an NPR station.

[dri55y]

I used to encourage friends to read HuffPo & to watch Olbermann. The website it still ok if you don't read any of the nonsense about Hilary.
Olbermann on the other hand is way far gone. This guy has been taken over by aliens. It's not the same person.

[dri55y]

Now that's funny! The idea that HuffPo would acknowledge not just bias, but that it had perpetuated an untrue charge against Hilary is ludicrous to the max.

[Raymondf]

leave it to hillary, usual clinton way.

[OlskoolDem]

Hillary is a goof . who'd vote for her?

[riconap]

What do you know: the story was verified as TRUTHFUL today. Why don't you all go down to the freeway and wait for a fatal accident to satisfy your blood-lust?

[rokn81]

the story was not verified.its simply one more lie- from a nest of liers and oppurtunists.
by the way- re: her sniper lie that she tried to laugh off on jay leno- a lie told 3 or 4 times is not a "mistatement"...its a serial lie. it seems to be a cinton family tradition.
i voted for both of them,but never again.
barack for president.

[uglybetty]

Nothing like trying to Reason with an Obama Fanatic is there ?

[Susan1968]

Clinton Told True Tale of Woe, Says Kin
By Anne E. Kornblut
The aunt of a young pregnant woman who died after a hospital told her she needed to pay $100 up front for care said in an interview on Monday that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has been telling the story accurately on the campaign trail.

... Clinton's claim that Bechtel did not get care at another hospital that wanted a $100 pre-payment before seeing her, according to the young woman's aunt, Lisa Casto. "It's a true story," said Casto, 53.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/04/07/clinton_told_true_tale_of_woe.html

[Warmglobe]

Hillary was caught in a lie...I don't believe it!

[lyn417]

Hillary knows better. There are anti-dumping laws that apply to every emergency room in this country. (See EMTALA.com) Care cannot be refused to ANYONE regardless of a patient's inability to pay for services. Some of you are clearly ignorant of EMTALA laws which are in place to protect patients from being dumped. This story just shows me that people in this country choose to be uninformed and make decisions based on emotion rather than fact. I can't believe that Sen. Clinton is ignorant of EMTALA. Anyone who works in a hospital can tell you this. Was this hospital guilty of violating EMTALA? Perhaps, but the laws are in place to protect the public (citizens and non-citizens I might add) from harm. For every story like this, there are dozens of stories where patients received charity care when there was an inability to pay. Shame on you Hillary, it just confirms my belief that you are such a liar.

[LightningJoe]

And yet, somehow, the media was able to "vet" it just fine. Just a thought: Camp Clinton didn't try very hard; which raises all sorts of thoughts.

When she gets her famous call, er, wakeup by a staffer, in the apocryphal third hour of the morning, is she going to bother vetting THAT, or just go with the most self-serving version of events?

---
TV: Just say No!

[annita]

Oh brother.

Of course the fact that its a true story will not be plastered on the front page, but buried instead in small print.

Great job HuffPost.

What else could I expect?

[MikeB08]

Sen. Clinton was telling a true story. Huffpo and all the other Obama biased media were wrong. Apology? Anyone?...Anyone?

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/04/07/clinton_told_true_tale_of_woe.html