The Fact of My Ignorance

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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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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