The Fact of My Ignorance

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I found this comic (on PHDComics.com) the other day and just had to post it because it really hits the nail on the head.  While this process is easiest to identify in science news, where original sources are relatively easily available, I think this fear amplification and exaggeration process applies to most things you see reported in the news.  Drill down to original sources and actual data, and everything is always far more nuanced, moderate, and sensible than the story that’s delivered to media consumers.  Of course these days many people don’t even read the news, they get their information through the filter of opinion commentators, radio pundits, or cult-like internet personalities.  So perhaps the cartoonist could have made the cycle more complete by adding an additional step before the paranoid granny where radio/tv/internet pundits tell you that the government/big business/unions are secretly trying to slip “A” into legislation/biased media/your water supply.

When protesters marched on washington a few weeks ago, one of the most common rallying cries was that congress was disconnected from the opinions of the American people.  They argued that Americans were outraged that congress was (among other things) shoving a healthcare bill down American’s throats that they don’t want.  I found this to be a curious charge, considering the bipartisan calls for healthcare reform that have grown louder over the last few decades.  But maybe the protesters had something there.  Perhaps it’s true that congress has become disconnected from what mainstream Americans want out of all this healthcare reform talk.  Fortunately, a few polls have been released recently which give us some insight into how the public feels about the public option , perhaps the most famous, most misunderstood, and most contentious element of the healthcare plans proposed thus far.

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Today the Senate Finance Committe (made up of both republicans and democrats) released their long-awaited “compromise” healthcare bill.  Since Obama’s healthcare speech last week (Read or watch the speech here) this seems to be the bill everyone’s been looking to as the hope for the future.  Some of that may be warrented but there’s still a long road ahead.  I’ve provided details and links after the jump

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As the battle for healthcare reform rages on, many of the myths that I once expected to quietly die have instead become stronger and more entrenched. In particular, the degree of misunderstanding surrounding the “public plan” portion of healthcare reform proposals continues to astound me, both on the Right and the Left. I addressed some of those concerns in a post last week entitled “All About the Public Plan” and I think some of the misconceptions I discussed in that article have pertinence to the discussion of alternate reform mechanisms as well. Especially in regards to Co-ops, I think misunderstandings on the part of the Left have hobbled any chance at real discussion of this viable public plan alternative. So hopefully this will help clear some things up:

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For those who didn’t get to see it last night, I give you Obama’s healthcare speech, in both video form and text form (after the jump).  Frankly, it was better than I expected.  He effectively summarized the rational for many of the most controversial reform elements, and added in enough personal stories and emotional appeals to keep it from becoming too dense with policy details.  I also thought he did a fair job of criticizing some of the tactics that have been used by his opponents, while promoting cooperation.  I sincerely hope that the olive branch of tort reform Obama extended last night was in good faith, and that the republicans will actually become more cooperative as a result.  It would be nice if it felt like congress was actually trying to do what they thought was best for the country and not what they thought was best for their party or their political future.  Hit the read link to see the full text.

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In all my discussions with people about current healthcare reform proposals, by far the Public Plan is probably the most thoroughly misunderstood.  I have encountered very few individuals, amongst either reform supporters or opponents, who have anything close to a correct conception of what the “public plan” is or what it’s designed to do.  I read an article on the Huffington Post the other day in which the author admitted that until very recently, he had thought the public plan being debated was a “medicare style unrolled plan”.  This is probably the general public’s perception as well.  A part of me feels that there’s very little excuse for this since the bills and summary sheets have been available for months now, but I acknowledge that this issue has been so skewed and twisted by politicians, pundits, and the media that finding the truth can be difficult.  So here are the facts, as best as I can find:

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Ok, those who have been following the healthcare reform battle have surely noticed that things have gotten nasty in the last couple of weeks.  And I mean seriously nasty.  I’ll admit, I’m still young, and I’ve only been following politics with intensity for the last 5 years or so, but I’ve done a fair amount of research on controversies of the past and I feel I’m fairly informed about the history of American politics over the course of the last century.  But the healthcare debate that’s going on now seems to be shaping up to be among the most vitriolic policy battles of recent history.  And along with that vitriol has come a slew of misinformation and purposeful misrepresentations that have far exceeded anything I would have expected to see in modern America.  With the advent of the internet and increased access to original sources, it’s perplexing to me how these smears can spread so quickly, and maintain such staying power.

And the pervasiveness of these myths is likewise surprising.  I’ve been watching videos of town hall protesters lately and it is extremely rare to see a protester carrying a sign that isn’t littered with false claims about the healthcare bills.  And some of them are so shockingly confused as to deal a serious blow to my faith in humanity (A sign I saw recently reading “keep your government hands off of my medicare” comes to mind).  And in casual conversations I’ve had with others about the bill I have yet to talk to an opponent who has actually cited something that’s really in the bill as justification for their opposition.  Once again, to be clear, every single person I’ve talked to who opposes the bill, when asked about their reasons, has cited nothing but provisions that are not actually in this bill.

So for the last few days I’ve been working on this article:  a feeble attempt on my part to correct 7 outlandish myths that are out there about healthcare reform.  In reality there are several claims being thrown about that are probably more shocking than these, but I tried to pick 7 that were both blatantly false, and commonly held.  Even many of the moderates in the audience may be unaware that the things mentioned below are, in fact, untrue.  I’ve tried to cite original sources wherever possible.  And for those who aren’t familiar with the methods of internet bloggers, the underlined text indicates a hyperlink to a source for the underlined statement.  This article is quite long, but I believe its topic is vitally important.

In the interest of full disclosure I should also point out that I’m currently a voting delegate to the California Medical Association (CMA) and American Medical Association (AMA), and I hold positions on the CMA’s Council on Legislation and the AMA’s House Coordinating Committee.  While these positions have certainly helped increase my understanding surrounding this bill and healthcare policy in general, I am speaking purely for myself in this article and nothing I say should be construed as reflecting the positions of those organizations or committees.

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Of all issues in politics, this one is probably most dear to me.  No I’m not talking about healthcare, though that may be a close second, I’m talking about maintaining and improving the quality of our political dialogue.  For those who don’t know, healthcare town hall meetings have been held over the last week all across the country, and small groups of radical protesters have shown up at many of them with the express goal of “shouting down” their elected leaders.

To be clear, I have absolutely no problem with somebody being against the current healthcare bills being developed in congress.  If they’ve researched the issues thoroughly and have cut through the mists of misinformation and still come out thinking its not the best idea for America then more power to them.  I would welcome those people at a healthcare town hall and I would encourage them to go and speak their mind, even forcefully if they feel its appropriate.  But that’s not what this is.  This is just mobs of people screaming slogans and platitudes.  It’s people who are clearly unfamiliar with the content of the healthcare bill chanting things like “read this bill” for half an hour while their elected leader tries in vain to explain to them that they actually have read each and every iteration of the bill.  This news article, after the jump, will give you a picture of what’s going on: Continue reading

Well needless to say there’s a lot going on in the healthcare arena lately.  In case you missed it, the House of Representatives released their healthcare bill last week.  I’m planning on writing up my analysis of it but unfortunately I’ve got midterms early next week so you’ll all have to wait a week or so for that.  But in the meantime I thought I’d provide some basic information about what the bill contains since I’ve had several people recently express frustration to me that they don’t know where to get an objective description of the contents of the bill.  So I’ve provided some helpful links after the jump. Continue reading

Well its been a while hasn’t it?  Sorry about that.  I’ll be posting with more regularity in the future.  As many of you know I recently got back from an AMA conference in Chicago and it was a surprisingly eye-opening experience in a lot of different ways.  There’s no way I can cover it all in one post so I’m just going to talk about one of the issues that was discussed at this meeting.  There is a now-famous article that was recently published in the New Yorker entitled “The Cost Conundrum” which analyzes some of the drivers of high healthcare costs.

Everybody was talking about this article.  The President of the AMA called the article a “watershed moment” for healthcare reform.  Supposedly President Obama had everyone on his healthcare team read the article.  So if you have even a passing interest in healthcare policy and reform, you should probably read it too.  So for your enjoyment I’ve posted a link to it after the jump.

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