A case study lying about health care

[barnesfoto]

... To paraphrase Twain, a right-wing talking point can travel the media world, while the truth is still getting its pants on. We've seen a classic example over the last 48 hours.

On Monday, Bloomberg ran an opinion piece from Betsy McCaughey, a staffer at a conservative think tank who also used to be a Republican Lt. Gov. of New York, attacking the economic stimulus plan. Specifically, McCaughey insisted that the policy would create a "new bureaucracy" called the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, which will "monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective." McCaughey said the federal government would then "'guide' your doctor's decisions," adding, "Keeping doctors informed of the newest medical findings is important, but enforcing uniformity goes too far."

The claim, not surprisingly, isn't true. The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology isn't "new"; it was created by George W. Bush five years ago. More importantly, the measure is about medical records, not limiting physicians' treatments.

In fact, the language in the House bill that McCaughey ... referenced does not establish authority to "monitor treatments" or restrict what "your doctor is doing" with regard to patient care, but rather addresses establishing an electronic records system such that doctors would have complete, accurate information about their patients "to help guide medical decisions at the time and place of care."

So, the opinion piece Bloomberg ran was wrong. Ordinarily, that's hardly worth getting excited about; news outlets run misleading opinion pieces every day. But what's interesting about this particular story is they way in which it spread.

Step One: Rush Limbaugh told his minions audience on Monday about McCaughey's piece, insisting that a "national coordinator of health information technology will monitor treatments that your doctor gives you to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost-effective."

Step Two: By late Monday, Drudge was trumpeting McCaughey's mistake with this headline: "'National Coordinator of Health Information Technology' Slipped in to Stimulus..."

Step Three: Fox News and members of the Wall Street Journal editorial board got in on the act on Tuesday morning, arguing that the government will "essentially dictate treatments," thanks to the "secret" provisions in the stimulus bill. FNC's Megan Kelly said the non-existent language "sounds dangerously like socialized medicine," while FNC's Bill Hemmer said the recovery plan includes "new rules guiding decisions your doctor can make about your health care." All of this, of course, is patently and demonstrably false.

Step Four: Limbaugh took a bow yesterday, taking credit for the misinformation campaign, and telling listeners that his show "uncovered" all of this. "I found it," Limbaugh said. "I detailed it for you, and now it's all over mainstream media."

Remember, McCaughey got it wrong. Limbaugh and Drudge took the wrong information and exaggerated it further. Then Fox News took Limbaugh's lies, and stretched them even further still. That none of this is grounded in reality in any way was of no importance to any of these clowns. Untold thousands of Americans, who don't know better, get their "news" from these people, and have no idea they've been lied to.

more:http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/arc..._02/016841.php

[[and that's why some of us refer to these people as a "sick cult".)

[rb336]

Fear spreads like wildfire

[elganned]

It's all part of the misinformation campaign necessary to establishing a fascist system in America. Instill fear in the populace through half-truths or outright lies, tell them they're under attack by nefarious forces, then present your party or leader as the only one who can save them from the spurious undefined "enemy".

Worked for Hitler. His "enemies" were the Communists and the Jews. The current "enemies" are the "socialists" as defined by Limbaugh, Hannity, Ann Coulter, and their ilk.

There is nothing new under the sun.

[Mikeg]

More lies about health care:

MSNBC: The Place for Made-Up Numbers of Uninsured Women


The co-host makes the claim that "we have more than 64 million women who have lost health care due to loss of job or a spouse that has lost a job", which if true, would mean that more than half of all adult American women would have lost their health insurance since the Dec. 2007 reference point of the study they were discussing.

Sounds fishy to me - I better tell the President that Angela Burt-Murray is poisoning the health care debate by spreading "disinformation".

According to the Joint Economic Committee, "over one million women have lost their health insurance because their spouse lost their job". Their report puts the actual number at 1.4 million women who have lost health insurance since Dec. 2007.

[Lorax]

It's no wonder these massively funded "stink tanks" in Washington are employed to turn out rancid lies on behalf of any number of issues.

This Bloomberg troll needs to somehow defend the private insurers who have been bilking Medicare for decades now, and that's a tough tightrope to walk.

I'd be in favor of additional Medicare control over private insurers since 45 bucks for a couple of Tylenol is the problem here, it's corporate thievery.

[ccbatson]

Yes EMR mandates have been hinted at by folks on both sides for a while. One of the biggest and most surprising advocates is/was Newt Gingrich. Until now however, the incentive for the government to push this was vague and perhaps slightly well intentioned. Now, with the rationing implicit in the proposed health care reform bill, the uses of this technology and private information for the government is becoming more clear and very nefarious...namely, the use of information to determine the specifics of rationing.

[gazhekwe]

Worked for Hitler.

OMG, that is so true. I just toured the Holocaust Memorial Center in FH yesterday, and that was all I could think of as the docent described Hitler's methods, and showed how his information campaign fomented fear and hatred against the Jews. It kept pounding through my head how it most certainly could happen here and is happening right now.

[Lorax]

Hitler's tactics are old as the hills. Even he didn't invent them. But as people forget history, everything old is new again. It's the circular nature of nature itself.

Collective memory is what fades, then reasserts itself over time. We must teach, or we forget.

The fascists in America have taken a page from the playbook of the Reich by utilizing some of the same tactics, and since each era is different in some respects, the basic tactics used to foment change remain the same.

Just be vigilant, and assume we've heard it all before, and just ignore it.

[Bobl]

cc:

"...Now, with the rationing implicit in the proposed health care reform bill, the uses of this technology and private information for the government is becoming more clear and very nefarious...namely, the use of information to determine the specifics of rationing..."

Your concern is late and misplaced. Rationing on a larger scale is with us now. Those with no insurance or preexisting conditions are already being rationed out of health care, while CEOs of health care providers are paid enormous salaries and bonuses for letting it happen.

[rb336]

Now, with the rationing implicit in the proposed health care reform bill, the uses of this technology and private information for the government is becoming more clear and very nefarious...namely, the use of information to determine the specifics of rationing.

talk about your paranoid delusions

[Lorax]

cc:

"...Now, with the rationing implicit in the proposed health care reform bill, the uses of this technology and private information for the government is becoming more clear and very nefarious...namely, the use of information to determine the specifics of rationing..."

Your concern is late and misplaced. Rationing on a larger scale is with us now. Those with no insurance or preexisting conditions are already being rationed out of health care, while CEOs of health care providers are paid enormous salaries and bonuses for letting it happen.

Excellent point, not often mentioned.

With the current rationing, the medical charts of those with pre-existing conditions are simply out of luck, under any system. Does anyone think that any shred of collected information goes to waste in this society?

Hell, if they can solicit me through popups that have knowledge of which websites I've visited, then nothing is sacred, or secret. There isn't one individual out there who's social security number can't be located and used.

This begs the larger question of how we're going to continue as a fiscal society, when there is such rampant identity theft and intrusion of privacy. I contend that credit scoring will have to be tossed out and revamped, or scrapped entirely.

I have told any business entity that has my social security number that if it's found to be compromised, and my credit is adversely affected, each an every one of the organizations [[banks, mortgage company, etc.) that have my social will be billed equally for the time and effort it takes me to correct any identity theft.

What most Americans can do is simply pay cash when able, and live within your means, and corporate America will shake out the dead wood, and the savings rate in the country can return to healthy levels. Walmart and dozens of other "too large to fail" businesses need to be knocked down a couple of notches, and the best way to do that is stop buying crap we don't need.

[ccbatson]

Prexisting condition exemptions are rarely the problem that they are made out to be. How so? let's say that a person had a treatable form of cancer, AND was stupid enough to let their insurance lapse after that [[meaning you do whatever it takes not to lapse unless you are ignorant), Now they are denied coverage of treatment for that condition ONLY. If you have a relapse, you pay for the treatment out of pocket, if you don't have the funds you apply for charity care [[and almost always get it) via hospital funds set aside for just such a possibility and drug company programs that function similarly. If they don't have a recurrence, the point is moot.

Notice how even the liberal media has yet to trot out a story of someone that was truly hung out to dry and didn't get care. All they bring out are people saying they don't have coverage [[for care that they currently don't need). On the other hand, the examples of deadly rationing in socialised systems like Canada's are commonplace.

[Detroitej72]

The elitist right wing considers the current rationing by HMOs and other for profit companies acceptable, yet they are the first to scream that a government system would do the very same... what a bunch of hypocrites!

Unfortunately, the radical right wing have become masters of deception and employ the usual smear and deceive campaign whenever a policy change they are opposed to comes along. They bet on the fact that a large percentage of Americans don't bother to read the bills for themselves and rely on sound bites from the talking heads who lie and distort the facts. Just yesterday, Hannity referred to them as "health care terrorists". If that isn't playing on people's fears, then I don't know what is.

[Gistok]

Prexisting condition exemptions are rarely the problem that they are made out to be. How so? let's say that a person had a treatable form of cancer, AND was stupid enough to let their insurance lapse after that [[meaning you do whatever it takes not to lapse unless you are ignorant).

Boy that comment really takes the cake CC.... maybe folks who are out of a job should rob banks in order to get money to prevent their insurance from lapsing....

Or would that be even more stupid?

[ccbatson]

If you have a serious pre existing condition, it is wise to do anything within legal boundaries to maintain insurance. Now, it doesn't have to be top shelf insurance...high deductible, managed plans, whatever it takes to bring the premium down.

Why is it so important? Health insurance portability [[HIPPA) requires that so long as a person is covered in continuity, they cannot be denied coverage based on pre existing conditions because the condition did not pre exist the original coverage.

Useful advise, If I do say so myself....you are welcome.

[ccbatson]

Denials by current insurance companies does not stop someone from receiving/paying for care. Universal health care does....Huge distinction.

[Lorax]

If you have a serious pre existing condition, it is wise to do anything within legal boundaries to maintain insurance. Now, it doesn't have to be top shelf insurance...high deductible, managed plans, whatever it takes to bring the premium down.

Why is it so important? Health insurance portability [[HIPPA) requires that so long as a person is covered in continuity, they cannot be denied coverage based on pre existing conditions because the condition did not pre exist the original coverage.

Useful advise, If I do say so myself....you are welcome.

So what's your answer when the private insurer drops you anyway? It happens every day, because United Health Scare's CEO needs to make 10 million per week, it's a goal he's trying to meet, so I would suggest they step up the denials, and tie up claims in court until the patient dies, which is standard practice with fascist health care.

[ccbatson]

Sigh...Who is it that you know that has been dropped without cause? I'll answer for you...nobody...How can I say that? Because it is illegal to do so [[under HIPPA).

[Mikeg]

Here's another case of "lying about health care".

During a recent "town hall" meeting, Sen. Snarlin' Arlen Specter [[D-PA) fielded a question from a union member who claimed that he thought opponents of Obabacare in the audience were spreading lies by saying that bills being proposed in Congress would force every person to take health care coverage, even if they did not want it. Specter assured the questioner that they were mistaken, saying that “We're trying to go as far as we can on universal coverage, but in a free society, if people absolutely insist on not being covered, that’s ultimately going to be their choice.�

Either Sen. Spector [[or his staff) hasn't read the bill or he was caught in a bald-faced lie because Section 401 of HR3200 does in fact impose individual mandates and assigns penalties for non-compliance.

If HR3200 becomes law as it is now written, on Jan 1, 2013 any individual "without acceptable health care coverage" shall have imposed upon them a tax penalty:

equal to 2.5 percent of the excess of–
‘[[1) the taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income for the taxable year, over
‘[[2) the amount of gross income specified in section 6012[[a)[[1) with respect to the taxpayer.

If it wasn't for the Federal law that requires him to permanently keep my e-mail, I'd write President Obama and let him know about the fishy answer given by soon-to-be ex-Senator Spector!

[ccbatson]

Of course they haven't read the bill...don't be silly.

[Mikeg]

I heard some "fishy" health care information this morning. Today on the Sunday morning news shows, certain government bureaucrats were out there spreading a rumor that the Obamacare bills will not include the "public option".

I better report this to the White House "reality check" web site so they can inform President Obama, even if that gets my name and e-mail address on a mailing list and I start getting junk mail from David Axelrod. This is too nasty of a rumor to ignore!

Oh wait, maybe he already knows about it:
White House appears ready to drop 'public option'

[ccbatson]

A crack in the armor...see the thread I just started on the same subject.

[rb336]

Sigh...Who is it that you know that has been dropped without cause? I'll answer for you...nobody...How can I say that? Because it is illegal to do so [[under HIPPA).

Where in HIPPA does it make that illegal? it is not an insurance regulation law

[gibran]

Losing HC: one is too many!
1.1 one million women are 1.1 million too many...the numbers may be off but the reality isn't.

[Lorax]

Sigh...Who is it that you know that has been dropped without cause? I'll answer for you...nobody...How can I say that? Because it is illegal to do so [[under HIPPA).

LOL!!!

Personally, three people I know have been dropped for getting sick. And none of them even maxed out their lifetime benefits for the procedures involved.

You really think the law has a chance against billionaires? Give me a break.