Americans for Prosperity, the free-market group backed by millions from the Koch brothers, are recycling an anti-public health care ad they ran in 2009 that was thoroughly trashed at the time for its loose interpretation of fact.
In 2009, a TV spot was put out by a sub-group of AFP calling itself "Patients United" that told the story of a Canadian woman named Shona Holmes who, facing a life-threatening brain tumor, opted to go to a private clinic in the United States for treatment.
Patients United used Holmes' story at the time to argue that the U.S. private health care system was far superior to the Canadian government-run health care system. You can watch the 2009 ad here, where Holmes claimed that the Canadian health care system would have left her to die.
The ad was met with a ton of critique, even warranting a rather thorough Wikipedia entry. It turned out that Shona Holmes did not have a life-threatening brain tumor as the ad claimed, but instead a benign cyst on her pituitary gland which are not true tumors, as Ottawa Citizen investigative reporter Julie Mason reported.
Mason wrote at the time:
There's no doubt Holmes had a problem that needed treatment, and she was given appointments with the appropriate specialists in Ontario. She chose not to wait the few months to see them. But it's a far cry from the life-or-death picture portrayed by Holmes on the TV ads...
Flash forward to this election cycle and Americans for Prosperity has a new ad featuring none other than Shona Holmes telling the same story that was debunked in 2009.
The AFP is hoping we have a short memory.
But someone sent me an amazing post yesterday about Shona and the AFP's 'truthiness' written by a Canadian named Ian who has an actual life-threatening brain tumor that he describes as:
... a brain stem tumour that has spread throughout the area around my brain stem, around my throat, below my nose, on my spinal chord and flopping around next to my carotid artery.
Ian's story is a sad one, but it tells of his experience with both the Canadian medicare system and the U.S. private system. Ian was sent to to a U.S. hospital because Canada did not offer the very complicated treatment procedure he needed -- the Canadian Medicare system paid for Ian's treatment at the U.S. hospital.
Ian writes:
It will probably kill me [the tumor], not now, but someday. But more importantly, I'm alive because of our Medicare system. Friends I made during treatment in the States didn't have Canada's options. They died. Let me tell you about that.
Ian goes on to tell a story of a U.S. system where fellow brain tumor patients spent their time pleading with U.S. insurance companies for just one more week of treatment. The friends Ian made at the hospital had to leave treatment early because they had run out of money and the insurance companies would no longer cover the procedure.
Ian is still alive. But his friends are dead. And Shona is still alive which I am equally grateful for because her story is also a sad one and I am so happy to see that she came through her own health condition.
But there's no excuses for AFP because they know that Shona's story is much more nuanced than they make it out to be in their new TV spot. AFP also knows that if they spend big bucks on TV spots, that regardless of reality, Shona's story will become fact in the minds of voters.
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| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
What a bullsh*t ad -- and it's playing almost nonstop in so-called battleground states, at the rate of three or four times an hour.
I *wish* we had access to the same care that Holmes has -- most of us can't afford even the most basic care here in the US.
So this is just another lie from the right-wing. She actually had a benign cyst on her Pancreas (I think). It wasn't life threatening and that is actually why she had to wait in Canada to see a doctor.
The right is nothing more than a bunch of reprehensible LIARS.
but then again it may have been impossible to turn down Koch money.
I'd like to think that I wouldn't lie, but 100K in unnecessary medical bills is a huge problem.
I guess it gets pretty bad when you see a political ad on TV and you have to check if it is true or not. This is going to be the scariest election in the past 40 years. So many lies told and only people that actually check them out will know the truth. People will be voting without knowing facts.
Had her first physician determined that she needed immediate care, I can guarantee you she would have gotten it. That's what the system does here does. And so it should: I want the specialists and emergency care physicians dealing with people in immediate need.
My father has battled bladder cancer for over 30 years: if we had had to do this in the States he'd be dead or we'd be broke.
I wish every American had healthcare like that. It should be a basic right in a country as wealthy as the US. But people like Romney don't agree: your bad luck should be the markets -- and specifically the insurance companies -- gain. Your CHILD's cancer should be the gain of physicians and insurance companies. Why would you vote for someone who sees illness as a profit making device?
include everyone involved in the groups including the TV stations and networks, let them buy their way out of the suits. Use the proceeds to run the truth about Koch Bros and their shenanigans.
I now just assume that all TV ads supporting GOP issues are lies. It is easier than trying to prove them true.
I also assume that everything Mitt and Paul say is a lie or at the very least a stretch of the truth.
That gives much less to sift through when making decisions on issues.
So far DNC 100, RNC, (GOP) 3
I no longer care who the candidates are, I am going to vote a straight Democratic ticket.
It'a a cycle that will not change until we get universal healthcare. Paying a portion through taxes now, we create a system where nobody's turned away. You love the insurance you have, keep it. But if unfortunate enough to not have the means, at least there'd be options. Please, give me a line to wait in!
My Canadian relatives spend a portion of the year here. It is actually cheaper for them to get on a plane at the last minute for unexpected healthcare than to be treated here.
As pure self-interest, consider this... The world's shrinking and diseases are crossing borders, infecting us. Those with insurance get care. Those without become ill. They're your childcare workers, grocery clerks, cooks at your favorite restaurant, baristas at your coffee shop, lawncare folks, receptionists at hair salons, etc. Maybe your adult children who cannot afford insurance for themselves. Are you willing to risk your family, friends and others because you don't want to re-direct the dollars you're already spending?
OBAMAcare's not perfect, but it's a start.
Fred Koch helped him fuel his mass murder machine.
Our healthcare system is one of the things that makes us Canadian, and we consider it something we do together. We know that emergency care is available for everyone right away, and urgent care is provided next, so that even though bellyaching is a national sport like curling (wikipedia) we mostly understand when some procedures and specialists have long waiting lists, like total knee replacement. The government we elect in each province (state) determines the budget of the ministry of health, and how high a priority health care for the public is. A right-wing government like the Conservative Party in power now federally, sees nothing wrong with the well-off paying privately for better care, leaving public healthcare to deteriorate.
People don't die for lack of medical care because they have no money.
People go to doctors if they think they have a problem and many diseases are caught early, costing less in the long run both in $$$ and lives.