Countering the Lies about Health Care Reform

All across the country, the opponents of health care reform are spreading misinformation about President Barack Obama's proposals to improve health care coverage for all Americans. We shouldn't be surprised about that. The insurance companies, the right-wing radio hosts, the K-Street lobbyists and the Republican leadership who are spreading the misinformation have a vested interest in keeping the status quo. They are willing to lie to protect industry profits.

It is troubling to see that so many well-meaning citizens are listening to the lies and believing them. One has only to watch a handful of angry questioners at some televised town-hall meetings to know that some of these questioners are good people who are troubled by what they are hearing. They want to know the facts. But all too often, they are denied answers by the right-wing rabble that eschews the truth by shouting others down.

That's wrong. The opponents of health care reform are pulling out all the stops to kill the reform that millions of Americans need to improve our health care. They're spreading falsehoods and creating chaos. They know what they are doing. All of us need to work together to break through the lies and shouts and slurs. We need to make sure that our friends and neighbors know the truth and can separate the lies from the facts about health insurance reform.

When Sarah Palin writes that President Obama is going to set up "death panels" to decide whether her child with Down syndrome, or elderly parents, are going to live or die, she is spreading a lie. That's a disgrace and she is not alone. A few others liars need to be told to stop it, too.

Senior citizens seem to be a particular target for these liars. A lot of the mythology about health reform is designed to scare them. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was on Fox News last month saying that the president's proposals would be paid for "on the backs of seniors through Medicare cuts." That's a lie. As the Alliance for Retired Americans points out, Medicare will benefit from cost-containment across the entire health care system. Furthermore, President Obama has proposed ending the wasteful overpayments currently given to private Medicare Advantage plans. That reform will help ensure that Medicare resources benefit all Medicare participants, and are not diverted to insurance companies.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) went on the House floor to state that the GOP opponents of health care reform "would not put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government." The idea that the president and supporters of health insurance reform want to put people to death is an outrageous lie. As the Los Angeles Times noted on August 10, "This has become one of the most misleading, inflammatory claims made in the health care debate, advanced repeatedly by conservative commentators such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and Republican lawmakers working to stoke fears among seniors."

In fact, as the Times notes, under the proposal, Medicare would start to cover voluntary doctor visits to discuss living wills and advance directives for care, which would be used only if a person becomes seriously ill and unable to make medical decisions. As is currently the practice, advance care decisions would still be made by the individual. There is nothing mandatory or coercive in the proposal, which was proposed initially by Republicans in Congress.

Another lie spread across the country: the president's proposal will lead to cuts in the coverage seniors receive for prescription drugs. Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) said as much on July 21 when he claimed that the Democratic proposal would cause "millions of seniors to lose their coverage for prescription medicine." In fact, health insurance reform will save seniors hundreds of dollars on their prescriptions because it cuts the cost of drugs by half once they reach the Part D coverage gap. Moreover, it begins phasing in the end of the "donut hole."

It's troubling that these lies about health insurance reform are frightening senior citizens. That is an outrage. When you hear these lies, correct them. Let's make sure seniors and all Americans know the truth about health care reform and that lies are spread to block real progress.

Comments

[weatherguy]

Global warming stopped 10 years ago huh? According to NASA's GISS temperature record, the warmest year on record was 2005.

There are many problems with your statement, one of which is, you are cherry-picking. Your statement is just as ridiculous as someone saying that global warming is real since global temperatures climbed between 1988 and 1998. You must take the record in context with the forcing involved. For "global warming", it is within the context of our activities in forest clearing and greenhouse gas production. The temperature trend since 1880 is quite clear.
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/img/climate/research/global-jan-dec-error-bar-pg.gif

To say that global warming stopped in 1998 because temperatures have not climbed upward each year is ludicrous, and shows your lack of understanding. 1998 was one of the strongest El Ninos on record, which played a large part in the extreme temp anomalies that year. In addition, one must look to other indicators. For example, arctic sea ice extent reached a minimum in Sep 2007, and in case you weren't aware, this past July saw the warmest global ocean temperatures on record...ever.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/20090814_julyglobalstats.html

Besides, the climate system has complex feedback and other external forcing mechanisms that must be accounted for to understand annual or decadal temperature fluctuations.

For the small minority that still deny the obvious effects we're having on our climate, they must have their heads in the sand.

[oaktownadam]

"Senior citizens seem to be a particular target for these liars. A lot of the mythology about health reform is designed to scare them. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was on Fox News last month saying that the president's proposals would be paid for "on the backs of seniors through Medicare cuts." That's a lie. As the Alliance for Retired Americans points out, Medicare will benefit from cost-containment across the entire health care system. Furthermore, President Obama has proposed ending the wasteful overpayments currently given to private Medicare Advantage plans. That reform will help ensure that Medicare resources benefit all Medicare participants, and are not diverted to insurance companies."

Uh, what? Talk about self-contradictory. In other words, seniors shouldn't worry about cuts to their Medicare services, except for those pesky private Medicare-supplement plans.

Maybe the "lies" that you're so concerned about wouldn't be as hard to dispel if, you know, you could actually dispel them! Every one of them has a grain of truth in it, or it wouldn't stick around. The Democrats have serious messaging problems, since every time they try to debunk a "myth", they end up strengthening it.

[wordvarc]

The financial industry, big pharma & big healthcare, big energy, and defense companies are elitist 'capitalist' cooperatives that run the US. No political communist party cooperative was ever as rich and politically powerful as these antidemocratic companies.

[DavePalen]

What passes for intellectual thought. How can you argue with someone who thinks communists are less of a threat than capitalists. I suppose it is the type of thought that comforts us by simply stating that terrorism is over.

[BPolite]

DavePalen,
I think what wordvarc was trying to say is that our democracy has been taken hostage by business interests. Look at what happened in the financial industry. The bail outs started under Bush and continued under Obama. The only reason that happened in the first place is because the banking industry holds such power in Washington, power that they virtually bought over the past decade. Unfortunately, our elected representatives more often than not seem to be representing the interests of their large contributors instead of those of their constituents. This is turning our democracy into an oligarchy.

[Philclock]

Oh really, what about Big Government and the self-anointed elitists that are in charge? And Big Unions and their elitist bosses? Your point is you want "capitalist cooperatives" dismantled? No USSR or Mao's China or Fascist Germany/Spain/Italy for me, I'll leave room for "capitalist cooperatives" to work along with everything else a la Dirty Harry: the system sucks, but until someone comes along with something better I'll stick with it, and Big Anything ain't my solution.

[kpal]

Why doesn't the liberal media counter these tactics with film footage from the documentary Sicko ? Interviews done with real patients and real doctors in real medical settings in the UK, Canada and other Western civilized nations with "socialized medicine," whose residents, not incidentally, have a longer average lifespan than Americans.
As for the cost, it's inconceivable that the the all-mighty US of A cannot AFFORD, to provide basic health care to its citizens - even if one rejects the view that the COSTof not doing so is ultimately higher - in terms of workplace productivity, academic excellence, and the countless ripple effects, like increased despression, property crime, bankruptcy, unemployment ...
It's stunning how the RIGHTWING has twisted OBAMA'S UNEQUIVOCAL OBJECTIVE of securing basic, affordable health care for EVERY American while reducing the hugely inflated, COST of HEALTH CARE delivery - into something to be feared as a direct threat to the health and weatth of the nation. WTF??????
With the media coverage of REPUBLICAN ignoramuses --- I refer to the TOWN HALL attendees caught on film, sobbing,"I JUST WANT MY AMERICA BACK" (as in, my pre-post- racial America ??? or my highly despised around the globe America???) and the other bright lights screaming "KEEP GOVERNMENT OUT OF MY MEDICARE" --- it would appear the natin is highly divided on the issue of "Obamacare".
But the the majority of Americans are undivided in their support for Obama and health reform,- they just aren't making idiots of themselves, spreading lies and

[DavePalen]

Yes, show Sicko. It is so intellectual. What a joke.

[wifi13]

Your obtuse, sarcastic, and senseless banter is the joke!
You and your ilk can "NEVER" understand the truth.

[jemborg]

Look, I'm not that big a fan of Mike Moore, his sensationalism and his self-aggrandisement but Private Health Insurance insiders have said he hit the nail on the head with Sicko.

[ProfElwood]

Why can't anyone be honest about this? There ARE reasonable limits to what should be paid for. Just because a drug or treatment has been invented doesn't mean it has to be covered. That's a truth that liberals, conservatives, Democrats and Republicans will all need to face, eventually. Medicaid and Medicare can get away with it for now, only because there's a much larger group paying in than are in the system. That's changing, and putting off the truth only means that the next generation will face even bigger problems.

[wordvarc]

Canada and the UK have single payer public health that costs less, covers everyone, and is better than any insurance one can buy in the US.

The same rovian double speak fear-mongerers are working hard to spin a manachean paranoia that brought you the Iraq war and w's economy. They are paid well to serve the needs of our wealthy health insurance companies and convince lawmakers and John Q. Public to be very afraid of what can most help.

[GH]

Not true. Millions purchase private insurance to protect their health and life in those counttries. Just like here. Take our one major governement run single payor system, Medicare.

Medicare has never been a comphrehensive health care plan. That's why seniors run out first and buy Medicare Part B (coverage for Doctors - not included in Part A); then purchase a Medicare Supplement plan from a private insurance company. Then they purchase Part D - the prescription Rx plan (thank you Pres. Bush - before you seniors did not have prescription benefits). Others take private insurance plans like the HMO Medicare plans. How's that work? The government sells the senior's health care to a private insurance company, which in turn promises to provide comprehensive health care and drugs to the seniors. This saves the government money, and the seniors money - and lives, as the private plans must actually cover all their needs - something that Medicare never has done.

Not to forget that the cost of this incomplete Medicare coverage (as incomplete as it is) has risen much faster (per member) over the past 25 years, than has the cost of private insurance (per member). And Medicare is looking at a $27 Trillion insolvency. The private insurers are delivering more - for much less.

And yes, we still need reform - but, let's require congress to fix Medicare first - for our seniors.

[DavePalen]

Absolutely. Just look at all the Americans running to Canada and Britain to get top notch care.

[wifi13]

Now, this is the solemn truth.

[wordvarc]

"The House bill would require Medicare to cover voluntary consultations between individuals and their doctors about end of life care, including whether or not to write a living will. Several Republican lawmakers have endorsed the idea in past legislation. "

Dittoheads have twisted this bipartisan wisdom into a 'soylent green' scenario.

These rovian "be very afraid" doublespeak statements by the RNC/GOP are very effective in the short run. It is a standard tactic by greedy elitist fear-mongers but will doom the party in the long run.

I'm reminded of the most notorious recent example of this self serving deceit in Alabama when the state was united across party lines to relieve the ridiculously high burden of state taxes on the extremely poor. The RNC defied the Alabama GOP and bought radio and TV ads in the two weeks before the public vote and lied to those who would be helped most with similar fear tactics that they could not trust government or their lawmakers and that the bill would actually make life worse for them.

The poor carried the vote to maintain their crushing tax burden and the RNC crept away smiling.

[mikerobinsonpc]

Not a surprising article from a Union Boss. The Obama Health Care fiasco so far wants to hire doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants to pitch end-of-life services to seniors even if they aren't sick. If the senior citizen falls for this pitch, they do an "Order regarding life sustaining treatment" that does the exact opposite, i.e. limiting medical interventions, putting them in a hospice to die, etc.

The Dems trot out the Senior fear of Social Security loss each election year. Now they can anxiously await 2010 when the GOP says "Don't let Obama kill your Mama". By by Pilosi. Hello lame duck Obama.

[wordvarc]

Good luck when you get sick.

[DavePalen]

That response makes no sense unless you are referring to Obamacare

[CaitlynBee]

Well, Senator Chuck Grassley continued to spread the blatant lie, that Health Care Reform would lead seniors to be put to death, at his Town Hall held in Winterset Iowa this morning: This from the Radio Iowa News:

"The last question came from a woman in the crowd who told Grassley she fears if health care reform passes, the government will get the authority to make end-of-life decisions for the elderly. Grassley told the woman her fears were justified.

"You shouldn't have counseling at the end of life. You ought to have it done 20 years before you're going to die. You ought to plan these things out," Grassley said. "I don't have any problem with things like living wills, but they ought to be done within the family. We should not have a government program that determines you're going to pull the plug on grandma."

http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=0F78C833-5056-B82A-37135F8761AFC269

[BobLablah]

Did you miss the memo? There is no health "care" reform anymore, it's health "insurance" reform now. Same deal with global warming. It hasn't been warming for 10 years so they call it climate change now.

[DavePalen]

Excellent! Just like abolishing secret ballot elections during union organizing drives is called "employee free choice." Orwell rules!