Conservative Patient Rights Group Launches Attacks On Obama’s Health Plan
Conservative Patient Rights Group Launches Attacks On Obama’s Health Plan
Why should you believe Richard Scott, the former CEO of Columbia/HCA Healthcare who was forced to resign amid fraud charges, when he says that Obama’s health care plan will “ration care” and place patients on “waiting lists”? Well, you shouldn’t, of course, but the $20 million dollar TV and Radio misinformation campaign that Scott’s front group, the so-called Conservatives for Patients Rights is launching, may be hard to ignore. Politico has their first couple of ads:
Their principles are rather ironic. Choice, competition, and accountability are deeply enshrined into Obama’s health care proposal. So much so in fact, that the President builds on the existing employer system, establishes an insurance exchange to enhance competition between insurers (the market is currently dominated by large insurers that don’t really compete with each other) and hold insurers accountable to Americans by ensuring that they can’t cherry pick the healthiest applicants or deny coverage to those who have pre-existing conditions.
The group doesn’t engage with the actual content of Obama’s proposal. Its modus operandi– developed and perfected during Clinton’s failed efforts to reform the health care system — is to launch its attacks against a straw man. In fact, it appears that the group’s public relations guru Brian Burgess, is from the same PR firm that managed the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth; launching concocted right wing fairy tales onto the airwaves is something of a cottage industry for these guys.
The other big irony, of course, is that by misrepresenting Obama’s actual proposal, these “conservatives” are protecting the status quo — in which 46 million Americans are uninsured, 25 million Americans are underinsured and many more are now skipping doctors visits and medications to make ends meet in a worsening economy. In delaying health care reform, they’re helping to realize their own doomsday predictions.
21 Responses to “Conservative Patient Rights Group Launches Attacks On Obama’s Health Plan”
Register
RSSLogin
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog RollAbout Wonk RoomContact Us
Donate
Your first link doesn’t work. Here’s the real irony. Scott used aggressive goals, accoutability and pay for performance as leader of Columbia/HCA.
He shares that with President Obama. It resulted in unethical behavior and a HCA’s $631 million settlement with the feds.
Expect the same thing from President Obama’s management plans, accountability and pay for performance.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:54 amBad management theory applies to the red and blue teams.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:56 amRick Scott had good visions for reforming healthcare. Unfortunately he is an attorney, like our Congress and President, and employed bad management practices. Suboptimization resulted, a chronic condition imposed in corporate board rooms and our hallowed halls of government.
Igor, did you get the Scott fraud lead from my ThinkFast comments?
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:04 pmHey State,
Thanks, I fixed the first link. I didn’t get the lead from your comments but they are very similar!
Thanks for the heads ups!
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:24 pmInteresting that the fine went from $840 million under Clinton to $631 million under Bush. What role did Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist play in that reduction? HCA is a Frist family company. The original Dr. Frist was a true gentleman. The boys, not so much.
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:58 pmIf you are trying to persuade anyone, you might want to stay away from loaded statements. Not everyone thinks John Kerry was a genuine war hero and unselfish man of integrity who just happened to have been victimized by a bunch of bitter vets who made up lies about him for no other reason than to besmirch his good name.
The group doesn’t engage with the actual content of Obama’s proposal. Its modus operandi– developed and perfected during Clinton’s failed efforts to reform the health care system — is to launch its attacks against a straw man. In fact, it appears that the group’s public relations guru Brian Burgess, is from the same PR firm that managed the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth; launching concocted right wing fairy tales onto the airwaves is something of a cottage industry for these guys.
March 3rd, 2009 at 2:56 pmDo you think that “Rick” asa Richard Scott cares a thing about any patient’s rights or any patient’s real health care? Health care was and is still a money making business for him. It was and is all about profit for him and not about the nation’s health. He refers to our allies, Canada and Great Britain with such contempt. He reduces their health systems to waiting lines and health boards. The real people of America not the Ricky Scotts of the world need to get out and shout that healthcare is a right. By the way, all of the best self health maintenance in the world does not insure one a long life and no disease, Rick. Just like, you didn’t get the guarantee of a full head of hair! Is it true that conservatives are acardiac monsters?
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:32 pmIgor,
It is obvious that You have drank the KOOL-AID. We need the Government running Health Care like We need them running the DMV, oh Yea they are, how is that working.
Sorry I got on the worng web site and could not leave without sharing.
March 3rd, 2009 at 6:42 pmAh, Conservatives for Patients’ Rights… what a joke. And they have the nerve to say that government run health care will have a bunch of bureaucrats make health care decisions. This is exactly what happens with insurance companies. Hope Americans aren’t duped again by these lying conservatives.
March 4th, 2009 at 7:12 pmFOR RIGHT Says: blahblahblah
March 4th, 2009 at 7:13 pmSTFU you dont know what the hell your talking about dittohead
DMV? Automobile accidents are down, but so is total miles driven. That’s more of the manufacturers fault, using internal combustion instead of plug-in hybrids. That’s being worked on. Instead of a Car Czar we’re getting a Carmittee.
March 4th, 2009 at 7:48 pmMartin Luther King said, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane.”
Only a single-payer approach will end the inhumanity of our failed healthcare insurance system, where profits are more important than patients’ health.
Only a single-payer approach will end the current disgraceful practice of insurance companies refusing to pay for medical treatment, denying claims, and engaging in rampant price gouging that discourages patients from going to the doctor and has resulted in 50 million Americans without healthcare.
The solution? NON-PROFIT, UNIVERSAL, SINGLE-PAYER HEALTHCARE. It works well in many, many countries around the world.
HR 676, The United States National Health Insurance Act, would ensure that every American, regardless of income, employment status, or race, has access to quality, affordable health care services.
The solution? The United States National Health Insurance Act, H.R. 676. You can read about it here: http://www.healthcare-now.org/hr-676/
Ask your Representatives to co-sponsor HR676.
March 4th, 2009 at 8:32 pmFor Right says:
“We need the Government running Health Care like We need them running the DMV, oh Yea they are, how is that working.”
Actually, pretty well. Last time I had to go to the DMV, I walked in without an appointment on a Monday, was greeted courteously by the Information Desk dude who directed me to the right counter for what I needed to do. The woman there was pleasant, knew her stuff, and had me out of there with everything done within 15 minutes, no problems.
Could America stand to have health care work like that? I can think of worse things… like HCA running things, for example.
March 4th, 2009 at 8:34 pmWe now know that one third of Americans under age 65 — 86.7 million people — went without health insurance at some point during the past two years! http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/04/uninsured.epidemic.obama/index.html?eref=rss_health
March 4th, 2009 at 8:41 pmHealth insurance companies play a major role in our current healthcare crisis. These companies make huge profits and their CEOs make millions, while the rest of us face skyrocketing healthcare costs, impossible bureaucracy, and life-threatening insurance denials.
HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY PROFITS IN 2007:
1. UnitedHealth Group — $ 4.654 BILLION. UnitedHealth Group owns Oxford, PacifiCare, IBA, AmeriChoice, Evercare, Ovations, MAMSI and Ingenix, a healthcare data company
2. WellPoint — $ 3.345 BILLION. Wellpoint owns BLUES across the US, including Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin, Empire HealthChoice Assurance, Healthy Alliance, and many others
3. Aetna Inc. — $ 1.831 BILLION
4. CIGNA Corp — $ 1.115 BILLION
5. Humana Inc. — $ 834 million
6. Coventry Health Care — $626 million. Coventry owns Altius, Carelink, Group Health Plan, HealthAmerica, OmniCare, WellPath, others
7. Health Net — $ 194 million
The huge insurance company profits—BILLIONS EACH YEAR—could be used to provide quality healthcare for millions of people, and to pay physicians adequately for their work.
We need to get the insurance companies OUT of healthcare . The only solution is a NON-PROFIT SINGLE-PAYER HEALTHCARE SYSTEM – and the single payer should not be an insurance company or a group of insurance companies.
The solution? The United States National Health Insurance Act, H.R. 676. You can read about it here: http://www.healthcare-now.org/hr-676/
FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://www.insurancecompanyrules.org/learn_more/the_roster/ and http://www.pnhp.org/
March 4th, 2009 at 8:42 pmA NEW STUDY SHOWS THAT SINGLE-PAYER REFORM WOULD BE MAJOR STIMULUS FOR THE US ECONOMY and would provide:
** 2.6 Million New Jobs,
** $317 Billion in Business Revenue,
** $100 Billion in Wages, and
** $44 Billion New Tax Revenues
You can find out more about this study here: http://www.CalNurses.org/
The press release is here: http://www.calnurses.org/media-center/press-releases/2009/january/nurses-to-congress-expanding-medicare-could-reverse-job-losses-and-repair-our-broken-healthcare-system-and-safety-net.html
March 4th, 2009 at 8:43 pmHow can you “people” sleep at night when many Americans
March 6th, 2009 at 12:05 pmgo without Health Care? O’ you can, because you do not have
to worry about it because you have health care that being a
politician (referring to Congressman) is basically paid by taxpayers.
When the issue was brought up by Pres Clinton over 15 years
ago, let me repeat that OVER FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, you
failed to address the issue which now has went out of control.
If Health Care is a “free market” business, it has not been able to prove that they can control its costs,so many Americans of no fault of they own due to low wages for most, can afford it.
So if you think health care shouldn’t be socialized read
Luke 16:19-31.
Let me briefly tell you what it says…. The rich man went to Hell because he didn’t care about the poor man who had DOGS
LICKING HIS SCORES. If money is more important then
people-you “people” surely will end up in Hell.
I believe that those in Washington DC should stop believing that they have the best solutions for every problem. They should also stop treating the American public like little children who must be controlled and always be under constant supervision. They work for us and they should return to being public services instead of arrogent self-serving politicians. Socialized medicine does not work in Canada or in Great Britian and it will only lead to over priced rationed care here.
March 9th, 2009 at 6:59 pmMy friend has a senior citizen father living in Canada who has been waiting 7 months for an operation. SEVEN MONTHS!I am sure this is not an isolated incident. I think we could come up with something better than socialized medicine for our country.
My husband and I went through periods when we couldn’t afford health insurance and paid our $30-$50 (cash) when we really needed to see a doctor. Then one day, we were told that that same office visit was now going to cost $60-$120. Seems the insurance companies got mad because the doctor’s office was charging people one price for cash and billing them double, in hopes of getting close to the cash price they get from others. Funny, we had to start paying double but the insurance companies still payed their paltry amounts. It is crazy that the doctors have to bill $125 a visit to receive sometimes a fifth of that. Why aren’t the cash customers allowed to pay what the insurance companies end up paying, not what they are actually billed. That seems fair to me.
I don’t know about other areas but we have had free clinics and charity care at our hospitals as long as I can remember. You go into the hospital and show your income and they bill accordingly. I don’t know why that is not good enough. That way, the people who need help get it. Immigrants are included.
Another thought is who will set the salary for doctors under this new socialized plan, maybe students will decide it is not worth all the education and time.
I certainly don’t claim to have the answers and these are just a few thoughts and comments.
March 17th, 2009 at 3:51 pmIt is astounding how many posters defend government run health care. Here’s some clues: Read a history book not written by Howard Zinn. Look at how well the Soviet Union worked. See how many Cubans have fled Castro’s workers’ paradise in Cuba. Read how the communist Chinese are abandoning state controlled economy for free market capitalism. It is a sad and sorry state of affairs that American education has brainwashed two generations of Americans into being ignorant of their country’s history, economic success, and societal values. With recent historical evidence of the failure of state run economies staring you in the face, you parrot the notions propagated by fools and liars like Michael Moore. Here is a man from a working class background who has made MILLIONS through the free market economy, who claims that healthcare in Cuba (are you nuts?) is superior to that in the U.S. While you all whine about insurance, and ignore the evidence of rationed health care in Europe, Cuba, Canada, ad infinitum, you appear to be completely ignorant of the fact that ANY person who goes into a hospital WILL BE CARED FOR. That just doesn’t happen when waiting lists, and rationing in the hands of bureaucrats. A society that carelessly disguises the murders of infants as some concocted “right” of one person to kill another, has crossed the Rubicon where euthanizing the elderly as a utilitarian cost-cutting method, is how your government will solve not only the “health care issue”, but will make Social Security solvent. Wake up folks. You’ve bought into a lunacy that has nothing but tragic endings for each of us. The cost of health insurance pales in comparison to the cost of stupidity.
March 21st, 2009 at 11:34 amMike–#20 I absolutely argee with you. You said it so well!
March 28th, 2009 at 8:32 pm