Truth is Victor (in health reform!)
A quote from the Jewish tradition teaches us: “But above all things truth is victor.” I Esdras (ch. III, v. 12).
Psalms 5:6 in the Bible says “Thou destroyest those who speak lies; the Lord abhors bloodthirsty and deceitful men”
Our friends at AARP have compiled a great website to inform citizens and dispel myths about health care reform.
There has also been a nasty chain email going around promoting more myths and disinformation. You can find a detailed point-by-point truth telling by CLICKING HERE.
If you haven’t done so already, sign onto A Faithful Vision for Health Care and make your voice heard.
The health care debate has gotten more intense over the past several weeks. Those who are opposed to real health reform always revert to the same tactic—spread misinformation and scare us into thinking that reform is bad. It’s a political tactic designed to protect self-interests and perpetrate the abuses in our health care. Reform will stop the abuses and greed currently in the insurance industry such as denying us coverage due to a pre-existing condition, or dropping our coverage because we are sick.
Below I’ve pulled together information to reveal how reform opponents use lies and distortions to scare folks into opposing reform.
Myth: RATIONING
A recent TV ad called “The Danger of Government Run Health Care” scares people into thinking health reform will be a giant government takeover of medicine and that bureaucrats will control your life. This ad was fact checkedby the Kaiser Family Foundation:
Politifact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning accuracy arbitrator run by the St. Petersburg Times, has judged the ad “false” and a “distortion.” While overhaul backers certainly hope to discourage Medicare and private insurers from paying for ineffective treatments, that’s a continent away from the binding — and lethal — cost-benefit analysis that the ad suggests.
These outrageous and disingenuous claims are ubiquitous. A July 31st editorial by Investor’s Business Daily claimed that:
People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn’t have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless.
These opponents of reform were caught red-handed for distorting the truth and humiliated because Dr. Stephen Hawking is alive and well in the United Kingdom thanks to their health care. Dr. Hawking is quoted responding:
I wouldn’t be here today if it were not for the NHS,” he said. “I have received a large amount of high-quality treatment without which I would not have survived.
Such a blatant and shameless lie shows how truth and rational civic discourse are not the goal of reform opponents. They are intent on making mischief and playing games while Virginians wait for jobs and health care.
(**NOTE: Investor’s Business Daily has since removed this passage from their editorial, but it’s been recorded and noted by many journalists.)
Myth: TAX-FUNDED ABORTION
Another myth is the one about government funded abortions. The Family Research Council has started running a TV ad claiming that health reform would use tax-payer money for abortions.
This is a lie. CNN fact checked this TV ad and found that “The current bill does not contain any provision for taxpayer-funded abortions.”
Catholics United, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting the message of justice and the common good found at the heart of the Catholic Social Tradition, has released a statement decrying spreading this falsehood:
In fact, President Obama told CBS’s Katie Couric on July 21 that the government should not try “to micromanage what benefits are covered,” and should continue to uphold a tradition of “not financing abortions as part of government funded health care.
Either the Family Research Council is seriously misinformed, or it is intentionally distorting the truth in order to derail health care reform,” said Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United. “If the Family Research Council was truly committed to human life it would focus its efforts on ensuring that the tens of millions of Americans who currently lack heath insurance can get the care they need. This attack ad is unhelpful, untruthful, and not at all pro-life.”
Myth: DEATH PANELS
Another myth is the one supported by politicians, who claim that health care reform would create “death panels”. This myth has been thoroughly debunked. ABC News investigated this claim in an article called “Health Care ‘Death Panels’ a Myth”. The article found that “the provision would create no such panel. It calls only for a “consultation between the individual and a practitioner.”
In fact, the intent of the measure is not for doctors to tell patients what to do, but to give doctors more incentives to talk to patients about all of their options.
In La Crosse, Wis., such “end-of-life consultations” are already common because of a program put in place by a local hospital.
In fact such end-of-life counseling has been championed by a conservative Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA). The Washington Post interviewed him about this. Senator Isakson responds to the “death panel” claim in the quote below:
…I just had a phone call where someone said Sarah Palin’s web site had talked about the House bill having death panels on it where people would be euthanized. How someone could take an end of life directive or a living will as that is nuts. You’re putting the authority in the individual rather than the government. I don’t know how that got so mixed up
Sojourners has a great blog post about “Truth Telling in Health Care”.
…in recent weeks, conservative radio ads have claimed that health-care reform will kill the elderly (it won’t), that it will include federal funding for abortion (it doesn’t), and that it is a socialist takeover of the health-care system (it isn’t). The organizations promoting these claims, including some Religious Right groups, are either badly misinformed, or they are deliberately distorting reality.
PROMOTING HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM
These are just a few of the things health reform likely will achieve:
- Provide access to Medicaid coverage to poor families up to $28,000 a year (for a family of four)
- Create a health insurance exchange, with subsidies for lower income Americans, for small business workers and the uninsured to purchase affordable health insurance coverage
- Prevent insurance companies from denying coverage for a preexisting condition, or discriminating based on health status
- Include an individual mandate, and perhaps an employer mandate, to ensure that all Americans purchase or have access to affordable health insurance.
It’s time to stop playing politics and solve the health care crisis. Health care reform will stop the insurance companies from denying coverage for an illness you had 5 years ago or some other pre-existing condition, or denying you care because of your age. It will be a uniquely American solution that gives you the peace of mind of knowing you will always have quality, affordable health care.
Sign onto A Faithful Vision for Health Care and make your voice heard.
