Tuesday, August 25, 2009
After months of closely following the public debate over health care reform, a trio of reporters from Congressional Quarterly decided to expose the half truths and outright lies promulgated by both Democrats and Republicans and their support groups. The variance between fact and fiction has been so great that truth seems to have taken a “vacation,” in the words of the CQ writers. In addition to the much-refuted claim about “death panels,” the following are some of the inaccuracies pushed by each side that stem from language in the current reform bill in the House:
Health care will be rationed, especially care for seniors.
Congressional Republicans and conservative groups have made this erroneous claim, even though the legislation does not set limits on how much health insurance plans can spend on each patient. Also, seniors would still be covered by Medicare, and its benefit levels remain untouched by the reform plan.
The government would have “real-time access” to individual bank accounts and create a “national ID health card.”
Conservative groups, including Family Security Matters, have promoted this falsehood. Insurers would be required to make it easier for patients to calculate the cost of their care, but that’s a far cry from accusing the government of accessing people’s checking accounts. The House bill also would allow (but not require) insurance companies to issue a “machine-readable health plan beneficiary identification card” which is similar to the cards most people already receive for the HMO and PPO plans.
Legislation restructuring the health care system will not add to the federal budget deficit.
This inaccuracy has been pushed by President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). An analysis by the Congressional Budget Office found the health reform plan would produce a deficit of $239 billion over 10 years.
A health care overhaul will lower premiums for people buying insurance.
Again, Democratic leaders are responsible for this claim. President Obama used this argument to help launch his reform effort, but CQ says premium costs may only slow, not decline.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Vetting the Health Care Rhetoric (by Meghan McCarthy, Drew Armstrong and Alex Wayne, Congressional Quarterly)
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