Thursday, August 13, 2009

Top Five Health Care Reform Lies—And How to Fight Back

Lie #1: President Obama wants to euthanize your grandma The truth: These accusations of "death panels" and forced euthanasia are completely false; out and lout lies, in fact.
Reform legislation includes a provision, supported by the AARP, to offer senior citizens access to a professional medical counselor who will provide them with information on preparing a living will and other issues facing older Americans.
Offer them a chance to make informed decisions regarding their health care.
Sorry, Quitter Palin, your attempt to scare people into goosestepping behind you is just another one of you lies. oh, I know you backtracked from this statement, but you can't unring a bell, and you got what you wanted: to scare people into going against the Democratic health care reforms.
Lie #2: Democrats are going to outlaw private insurance and force you into a government plan With reform, choices will increase, not decrease.
Obama's reform plans will create a health insurance exchange, a one-stop shopping marketplace for affordable, high-quality insurance options, including a nationwide plan with a broad network of providers that will operate alongside private insurance companies, injecting competition into the market to drive quality up and costs down.
Quality up, costs down. remember that; it's important.
And if you're already covered and like your plan, you can keep it. This new plan simply gives you more choices, and gives those choices to people who, right now, don't have a choice because they have no health insurance.
Lie #3: President Obama wants to implement Soviet-style rationing Health care reform will expand access to high-quality health insurance, and give individuals, families, and businesses more choices for their own , rather than let big business, those who profit from the health care and health services industry, from deciding whether to cover you, what doctors you see, and whether a particular procedure or medicine is covered.
Health care reform will do away with some of the most nefarious aspects of this rationing: discrimination for pre-existing conditions, insurers that cancel coverage when you get sick, gender discrimination, and lifetime and yearly limits on coverage.
Lie #4: Obama is secretly plotting to cut senior citizens' Medicare benefits Health care reform plans will not reduce Medicare benefits.
Say it with me: Will.Not.Reduce.Medicare.Benefits.
Better?
Reform includes savings from Medicare that are unrelated to patient care; the savings comes from cutting billions of dollars in overpayments to insurance companies and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.
Remember Rick Scott who is anti-health care reformed once headed a company that was fined $1.7 BILLION for Medicare fraud. This is what we need to stop.
Lie #5: Obama's health care plan will bankrupt America We spend more than $2 trillion dollars a year on health care. We need health care reform now in order to prevent bankruptcy, to control spiraling costs that affect individuals, families, small businesses, and the American economy.
The average family premium is projected to rise to over $22,000 in the next decade, and every year, nearly a million people face bankruptcy because of medical expenses.
Reform, with an affordable, high-quality public option that can spur competition, is necessary to bring down skyrocketing costs.
Also, President Obama's reform plans would be fully paid for over 10 years and not add a penny to the deficit.
Not.One.Cent.
If you have questions about health care LOOK IT UP. Don't put all your eggs in the basket of those who are against everything Obama wants to do; don't pin all your hopes on a fading has-been ex-governor who quit mid-term. Read. Think. Listen.
And for the love of god, stop shouting. What does that accomplish?
Full article HERE.

5 comments:

  1. Thanks Bob, I needed this post.

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  2. Too bad this information doesn't make it to the "Town Hall" meetings.

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  3. The Republican party is a party of FEAR. They FEAR terrorism, they FEAR marriage equality, they FEAR healthcare reform. Just like a cult, the Republican party uses FEAR to control its members. The hysteria over the much-needed healthcare reform is just another example of this.

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  4. Excellent post! Really excellent!

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  5. I like this. It puts the major contentions right out there where I can see them and enumerate them.There are a lot of versions out there...and mountains of misinformation.
    this is succinct and clear.

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