Clinton Hospital Story May Actually Be True

ABC's Political Punch   |  Jake Tapper   |   April 7, 2008 03:50 PM


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The New York Times had a real attention-grabbing story over the weekend indicating that Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, had been irritating an Ohio hospital by telling a false story about a poor, pregnant woman denied health care.

"The hospital said, 'Well, you don't have insurance,'" Clinton said. "She said, 'No, I don't.' They said, 'Well, we can't see you until you give $100.' She said, 'Where am I going to get $100?' The next time she came back to the hospital, she came in an ambulance," Mrs. Clinton continued. "She was in distress. The doctors and the nurses worked on her and couldn't save the baby."

Read the whole story here.

 

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I hope that was a joke. Obama's admitted to sneaking a cig. and he's already lied multiple times this election process, one of his biggest was over the canada meeting.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:43 PM on 04/08/2008

ChrisS, are you really so lame? Maybe if you lay off the 13 for a while, you'll start to see through the fog again. Do you want Hillary to be your president? Are you nuts? Forget about Obama for a minute. Do you really want this bald faced LIAR? The one who helped send a million and counting to their death? The one who helpd hundreds of thousands lose jobs? The one that says one thing and keeps doing the opposite? The one with no ethics whatsoever? That is the one you want? What the hell is wrong with you?

"Zeifman fired Hillary from the committee staff and refused to give her a letter of recommendation " one of only three people who earned that dubious distinction in Zeifman"s 17-year career.

Why?

'Because she was a liar,' Zeifman said in an interview last week. 'She was an unethical, dishonest lawyer. She conspired to violate the Constitution, the rules of the House, the rules of the committee and the rules of confidentiality.'"

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 02:36 AM on 04/09/2008

SOmeone who throws accusations of bald faced liar around, shouldn't be lying about her being fired. She wasn't, go do a fact check. Not too mention you are referring to something that happen almost 40 years ago. Has HRC lied, YES, Has OBama lied YES. Do all politicians LIE, YES. Get off your high horse for a minute. I don't worship politicians, i take them for what they are. And IMO HRC has a chance to get more accomplished and she isn't far leftest. Sorry but I'm a moderate Democrat, and the majority of this country is in the middle. I don't get brainwashed or inspired by politiicians. I don't have anything personal against Obama. I am however disgusted by his supporters, the majority doesn't seem to want to follow his words or his mantra. They would rather just tear down and attack HRC or her supporers with every word out of there mouth..

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:17 AM on 04/09/2008

The FACT is the woman was not turned away; she made a decision not to go to a particular hospital; the hospital did NOT turn her away. The FACT is the woman HAD medical insurance. The FACT is the woman was TAKEN CARE of. So, another FACT is Hil-liar-y so eager to get any story to prove her point, did not take the time for her staff to find out if the story was ACCURATE! That is the FACT! We all know there are thousands of REAL stories like that, why didn"t Hil-liar-y and her STAFF find one?!??!

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:20 PM on 04/08/2008

She was taken care of and still died of a completely treatable condition? That would not meet my definition of taken care of.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:24 PM on 04/08/2008

But that has nothing to do with whether or not she had insurance.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:00 AM on 04/09/2008

Of course it does. She had gotten into financial difficulty when she was not insured. It resulted in certain decisions being made when she was insured that led to her death due to delayed treatment.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:50 AM on 04/09/2008

As far as I can tell we don't know what she died of. The original story says that OBleness misdiagnosed her condition because it didn't have the means to properly diagnose her. I think we are still waiting for all of the facts.

However, the real point is that Hillary did not vet the story and then embellished the facts to make the story more effective. Sound familiar? That's what she did with the Bosnia story as well. She took a perfectly reasonable and true story about going to a war zone and then embellished the story until it had no relation to reality.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 01:26 AM on 04/09/2008

I read it was eclampsia. The facts as I understand them are consistent with that condition but I admit it could have been something else.

Story telling is as old as the human race. When did it become a requirement that stories be 100 percent accurate? Does anyone accuse a parent of being a liar for telling the story of George Washington and the cherry tree to their kids (or of not having vetted the story)?

This story passes any reasonable test better than many of the stories Obama has told (which also pass my reasonableness test).

Insurance was a factor.
Financial situation of the woman was a factor.
Social standing was a factor.
Last but far from least, she and her unborn child died unnecessarily.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:03 AM on 04/09/2008

So let me summarize what I see on this site. A woman and her baby are dead from eclampsia, a condition that no one should die of in an modern society with an advanced system of health care.
The story is told by Hillary Clinton and all the discussion here is about whether or not the story as told is exactly true in all it details.

What happened to our humanity? Why aren't we working together to make sure this never happens again?

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:22 PM on 04/08/2008

It's become anything to tear Clinton down, this is an example of how life under the politics of hope and change will be . I see that Huffington Post moved this to the front page, but still are giving it far less space than they gave the original screaming headline about HIllary lying again. It's just sick what the campaign of hope and change will do to get elected. Millions of people don't have healthcare, and all these people care about is trashing Hillary. I don't think we can work together anymore, to much hate has been spewed here and other places. The democratic party I grew up with didn't call other candidates f***ing whores, murderes, liars and worse. We stood together as one party and we supported one another. That will not happen in this campaign, and I will be switching to independent after the primary season is over. The democratic party I belonged to didn't suppress the vote of millions or call for the end of voting in the primary season. I think compassion is gone, get used to this new way, again it's part of the politics of hope and change.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:52 PM on 04/08/2008

I largely agree with you but I saw much of the same during the McGovern era and the Humphrey - McCarthy battles in 1968. It's not so new but it's depressing the number of people who refuse to learn from history.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:17 PM on 04/08/2008

Great Post Mattie, I'm right there with you. I'm ashamed of this party and what it's become.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:55 PM on 04/08/2008

Don't worry ChrisS13: After the Temporary Democrats lose interest and go back to their video games, we can pick up the pieces and try again in 4 years.

Just because the Democratic Party has evolved into a mental institution run by the inmates, I still have "Hope" that the wrong kind of "Change" doesn't occur.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 01:41 AM on 04/09/2008

NO. The story is NOT true!

She was NOT making minimum wage.

Her insurance afforded her coverage at ANY hospital.

She was told to make a $100 deposit because she had previously been sued by the hospital for an outstanding debt of almost $5,000.00 It had nothing to do with the quality or lace of insurance, but bad credit with the hospital.

The substance of Clinto's story is that this woman was without good options, which is NOT TRUE. She had quality care available to her through her insurance. She could have sought treatment at ANY hospital and NO hospital turned her away. The did, however, ask for a $100 deposit because of her bad credit history with them.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:12 PM on 04/08/2008

the women is dead, what is wrong with you

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:52 PM on 04/08/2008

And Hillary is using her death for political points. What is wrong with you?

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 01:27 AM on 04/09/2008

Of course she is, what's wrong with that? She wants political change in this country so that people no longer die unnecessarily because of their financial status or social status. Sounds like a good cause to me.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:09 AM on 04/09/2008

She's using her death to highlight how horrid our Health Care system is, and hopefully in turn get more people on board to make neccessary changes. Obama agrees with that as well, and he too has used similar stories to hightlight how shitty the system is. You seem to be focused on a tiny detail instead of the big picture. I guess candidates shouldn't talk about High Oil prices or how bad the econemy is, because that would mean they are talking about it for political points.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:20 AM on 04/09/2008

HOW TO TELL WHEN HILLARY IS LYING

Answer: Chris Matthews lips are moving.

Alternate Answer: Olberman devotes a half hour to dumbing down the topic.

Best Answer: Andrea Mitchell (between aneurism's) sit's in for Howard Fineman.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 04:38 PM on 04/08/2008

NEWS BULLETIN:

The Parsing Championship, once held briefly by Bill Clinton, has been won in an explosive, last-minute performance by The Obamatons. Setting dramatically new horizons for the picking of nits, the Big Os stunned fans and commentators by employing, for the first time in competition history, laboratory-grade electron scanning microscopes to seize the crown.

Observers were stunned. "Gee," said one. "They had us all fooled... it sure looked like the hospital story was basically true, but these guys are REALLY good."

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 04:34 PM on 04/08/2008

StillAmused,
Sorry, the story was not accurate, while it had an essence of truth, it was inaccurate, thus not the truth. IF I were walking down the street and tripped, stumbled but then caught myself before hitting the ground, but then went on to tell my friends and family I fell; would I be telling the "truth"? Yes, I tripped. Yes, I stumbled. Yes, I caught myself. Did I fall, no!

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:36 PM on 04/08/2008

Guess it depends on what the meaning of "fall" is, huh? Bet that, on the way down, you'd have signed a fuckin' sworn affidavit that you were "falling".

Excellent dramatic re-creation for our viewers, O'bot.

Atsa somma spicy nits you pickin'.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 02:24 AM on 04/09/2008

Great comment, really made me laugh! I totally agree about 'the picking of nits'.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:37 PM on 04/08/2008

It is amazing that people are so focused on insignificant details of a story that is not only basically true in this case, but in so many cases, and the main point is lost.

A young working woman, and her baby, are both dead when the healthcare she needed was so readily available. In the richest nation on the planet, these two people died, as do many others, because of the profit motive involved in caring for them. Their lives became commodities for profits, and when those profits were compromised, their lives became less meaningful. A shameful example, this is, for the richest nation on the planet.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 04:23 PM on 04/08/2008

Official response from the foaming-at-the-mouth MSM (and HuffPo), delivered by Emily Litella (bless Gilda):

"Never mind."

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 04:10 PM on 04/08/2008

Here is another article in the Washington Post which give a bit more detail about this story:

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

I suggested in an earlier post that people might want to withhold judgement until more information came out. Clinton took the deputy's story - which he obtained directly from the young woman's family - and "humanized" it slightly into a story to illustrate a larger point, which is valid. Had universal health care been in effect over the course of these events, there would have been no unpaid bill preventing the woman from seeking immediate attention at the most appropriate medical facility, and she wouldn't have been forced to go to another hospital with less capability where her condition may well have been misdiagnosed as the family alleges. The details might have been stated inaccurately, but the fundamental facts were correct. Lack of $100 ultimately resulted in inadequate medical care which led to her death. Instead of jumping all over Clinton, Obama supporters should use these events to refocus their demand for universal health care.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 04:10 PM on 04/08/2008

That is so NOT true. IF Hil-liar-y implements her mandate and fines folks for not having insurance, I wonder how many would have $100 sitting around?

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:39 PM on 04/08/2008

I agree that the Obama supporters could refocus on health care. The Obama campaign touts 'Hope' and 'Change', but that's really a cover. It's about picking apart the opposition, destroying all credibility, then swooping in for the votes. When voters find out the truth, it will be too late.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:50 PM on 04/08/2008

How petty and disgusting you Obama people are. Gotta shower after reading all the vile spewings from your twisted minds. I believe the phrase is "sorry, we were wrong."

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:58 PM on 04/08/2008

no, can't you hear them screaming, no, no, she lied, I don't care what the press said. I hate her, hate her, she lied, she lied. It's like a crazy disease they have. Than you have the Huffington Post, and other media giving the fact that they were wrong about her, very little press, considering the glee they used when they thought she had lied.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:18 PM on 04/08/2008

Clinton's mistake, again, is telling an apocryphal tale based on shaky foundations. Were there snipers somewhere in Bosnia when she visited? Sure. Were they peppering her when she and the First Daughter landed? No. Was the woman who died from a still birth once uninsured? Yes. But was she insured at the time of her death? Yes.

What this highlights is that Hillary needs to streamline her rhetoric. Stop plying the public with apocryphal bromides and tales of combat experience. What's wrong with saying universal healthcare is a public necessity, same as firemen and policemen, or saying her time in the public eye makes her the superior candidate? Nothing...till Obama's beating her in the popular vote, total states and total delegates. Notice that Hillary's need to wade hip-deep in hard-nosed bull did not materialize until it was apparent that her candidacy was in jeopardy, and desperation inevitably clouds one"s judgment.

Randy

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:51 PM on 04/08/2008

Could you press your face down a little harder on the floor? You're missing a couple of dust particles, and one of them could prove to be real DYNAMITE.

"I'm sorry" would have worked nicely.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 04:15 PM on 04/08/2008

What? No huge banner saying the hospital story may indeed be true???? Nice work "Fair and Balanced-Huffington Post."

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:46 PM on 04/08/2008

Hillary embellished a story to fit her campaign. While the core of the story may be true, the details are not. That is the truth. That is why she will not recieve credit for telling a factual story.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:31 PM on 04/08/2008

Ahhhhhhh Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!! Never let the truth get in the way of a nice whopper dittohead....ha ha ha ha!!!!...

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:48 PM on 04/08/2008

Time for your meds.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:14 PM on 04/08/2008

LOOK I DO NOT LIKE PEOPLE THAT TELL HALF TRUTHS. SHE SHOULD OF GOT THE STORY RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. SHE WANTES TO BE THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES NOT PRESIDENT OF WALMART!!! WHEN YOU SPEAK AS A PRESIDENT YOU CANNOT GET A STORY WRONG OR LIE. THE PROBLEM IS SHE GOT THE STORY WRONG. HER PEOPLE DID NOT VETT THE STORY. SHE DID NOT READ THE INTELLIGENT REPORT THAT LEAD US IN TO THE IRAQ WAR. THIS IS A PATERN THAT IS VERY TROUBLING. WE CANNOT LET SOMEONE IN THE WHITE HOUSE WITH THIS TYPE OF JUDGEMENT TO RUN OUR NATION. THE TOUNGE IS THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPON IN THE WORLD. THE TOUNGE HAS KILLED MORE PEOPLE THAN ANY WEAPON. SO LETS NOT DOWN PLAY THIS GETTING THE STORY WRONG BUSINESS.

AMERICA IF SHE WANTS TO BE PRESIDENT SHE NEEDS TO GET THE STORY RIGHT!!!!

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:29 PM on 04/08/2008