(How Opponents Tried to Use the Mayo Clinic to Undermine the President)
What I find most troubling about the Senate’s decision to delay the healthcare reform bill until September is the fact that some believe that if they manage to slow the process, this could be President Obama’s undoing.
As Steven Benen writes over at the Washington Monthly’s “Political Animal,”:
Benen is referring to the statement that Sen. Jim DeMint (R, South Carolina’s) made on television last week, saying he’d like to see the push for healthcare reform slow down. Friday, he elaborated on what he meant in a "Conservatives for Patients Rights" conference call: "If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him, adding “If we’re able to top Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.”
Regular readers may remember that “Conservatives for Patients Rights” is the group headed by Rick Scott, the disgraced former CEO of Columbia/HCA, a for-profit health care chain whom I wrote about in March. In 1997, three years after Scott became CEO, the FBI swooped down on HCA hospitals in five states. Within weeks, three executives were indicted on charges of Medicare fraud, and the board had ousted Scott.
The investigation revealed that the hospital chain had been bilking Medicare while simultaneously handing over kickbacks and perks to physicians who steered patients to its hospitals. One can only wonder how many of those patients really needed to be hospitalized—and how many were harmed.
The company did not fight the charges. In 2000, HCA (which by then had expunged “Columbia” from its name) pleaded guilty to no fewer than 14 felonies. Over the next two years, it would pay a total of $1.7 billion in criminal and civil fines.
And now, Scott is back, posing as a healthcare expert while running a group that is adamantly opposed to health care reform.
Commenting on the Republican strategy to slow things down, kill real reform and crush President Obama, Bensen pointed out:
Now it appears that Reid and other Democrats have capitulated to the Republicans. I hope I’m wrong. Much depends on the degree of spine Reid shows while weaving the two Senate bills together—with help from the White House—during the month of August.
One hopeful sign: “Addressing one of the most contentious outstanding issues, Mr. Reid predicted there would be some form of an independent advisory board that would make recommendations on Medicare payment rates.”
How Reform’s Opponents Distort the Truth –The Mayo Clinic Story
This is the board of physicians and health care experts that the administration called for in a recent letter to Congressional leaders. Presumably the panel would recommend raising co-pays and lowering fees for less effective treatments—while lowering co-pays and raising fees for those services that provide the greatest benefit to patients.
Commenting on the Council, the Mayo Clinic issued a statement saying, “We applaud the direction" of the Obama administration's Independent Medicare Advisory Council, proposal, adding, "This, and other, bold concepts have the potential to 'bend the cost curve' in U.S. health spending without compromising health.”
Yet, recent media reports have suggested that Mayo doesn’t like the administration’s plans for healthcare reform as much as the administration likes Mayo.
Media Matters tells the story: “During the July 21 edition of his Fox News show, Sean Hannity falsely claimed that the Mayo Clinic "slam[med]" President Obama's health care plan — which Hannity referred to at one point as Obama's ‘nanny state, cradle to the grave, womb to the tomb, nationalized health care socialized system.’ In fact, “Media Matters” observed, “the Mayo Clinic did not criticize Obama's health care proposal. In a June 16 statement, the clinic criticized the House bill for "fail[ing] to use a fundamental lever — a change in Medicare payment policy — to help drive necessary improvements in American health care," but subsequently applauded the administration's suggested revisions to the House bill to address Medicare payment rates. . . .”
Yesterday, I double-checked, talking to the Mayo Clinic’s “JaneJ”—the person who actually issued Mayo’s statement about the House bill. She told me that this is yet another example of misinformation spread by those who oppose reform: “The Washington Times spit out our statement with a headline that was just blatantly untrue. We don’t disagree with the Tri-committee bill,” Jane J. explained. “We only said the House bill doesn’t go quite far enough. Our CEO, DenisCortese is saying: ‘Let’s be bold, step up, get rid of fee-for-service, and pay for value. Then when we saw the administration’s letter about an independent council on Monday we realized that this is what they plan to do, and we issued the second statement.’”
Nevertheless other publications, including the New York Times, picked up the story and repeated it, apparently without checking with Mayo, and without mentioning the second statement. Wednesday, July 22, the Times reported: “ some people who should be natural supporters of reform have become critics. The Mayo Clinic– one of Mr. Obama’s favorite models of care —says the legislation fails to ‘help create higher-quality, more affordable health care.’”
I worry about how many more falsehoods will make their way into the mainstream media during the month of August.
well, August is the month for silly stories because there are generally few real ones. on the other hand, few people read the papers then (or even fewer than those who do now). the key question for advocates is not what the media reports because politicians are smart enough not to take it seriously, but rather what their bosses, the voters, say. they’ll respond to that when they return after Labor Day and it’ll have very little to do with any twaddle the media processes in the interim.
Jim–
It’s not just mainstream newspapers.
Cable television–and some in the blogsphere –also have become inceasingly negative about healthcare, and Obama. (I’m writing a post about this) And in August, I have to believe that people will be watching cable and reading blogs.
I’m finding that liberal voters are being influenced by the media’s negativity. Peole are worried that reform will be too expensive, that they will have to “give something up”, etc. See the Washington Post on polls showing that trust in Obama has fallen sharply.
While many voters don’t trust the media, sublminally, I do think that the media has an effect on what the public believes.
The delay may backfire on the GOP. They will have to answer for what their alternative would be. All they seem to care about is tort reform. Meanwhile, an analysis of who doesn’t have health care shows that Hispanics, young people, and workers making less than $36,000 a year are most vulnerable. The Democrats have stood up for them. Those are some powerful constituencies, now, and especially going forward.
The month will also be useful in beating back so many lies, distortions and omissions so prevalent in the media and right-wing blogosphere.
I think that Jane Jacobs and Denis Cortese need to be very careful about what they say, since, as this shows, the opponents of health care reform are eager to twist their words to fit the opposition message.
Jane’s message that got quoted was a short blog entry, not intended to be a complete statement but rather to raise an issue. Opponents of reform jumped on it.
The Mayo spokespeople need to start every statement by saying that they support reform. Then if they are going to make points — excellent points, BTW — about changes that may be needed, they should be clear that that does not change their support.
People need to be clear that for many opponents of health care reform if the truth doesn’t work, a lie is nearly as good.
John & Pat S.
John–
IT’s still a problem that when Democrats go home in August, they won’t have a single plan to defend.
They’ll have to respond to all sorts of attacks by conservatives putting out misinformation about what is likely to be in tehe bills.
Meanwhile, Obama is slipping in the polls–thanks in large part, I think, to a very negative media failing to explain what’s actually in the House bill and why it’s a very good bill.
Thursday, the NYT called Obama’s press conference “cerebral.”
And we all know that, in America, “cerebral” is a pejorative term.
The only possible silver lining: if Reid takes advice from the very smart people in the White House while weaving the two Senate bills together, we might wind up with a very good bill. But if Reid continues to think that somehow, we can have “bi-partisan” health reform (when the Republicans don’t want real reform) then we are in serious trouble.
The only hope then is that in conference, the House bill trumps the Senate bill.
Or, to put it another way, Rahm Emanuel explains to Reid that this is going to be a Pelosi-Dodge-Kennedy bill. I just hope Ted Kennedy holds on through August. I’m sure he’ll do his best.
Pat–
Yes, I agree. Mayo definitely did not intend to be undermining the house bill.
But they are so powerful (in large part because, as you say, they make excellent points) that they do have to be very careful in the future. Those who oppose reform think nothing about taking their words and twisting them.
“The delay may backfire on the GOP.”
Quad-City Times is reporting that Senator Chuck Grassley referred to a poll showing that if health reform fails, voters would assign blame 30% to the health industry, 22% to Republicans, 11% to Democrats and only 4% to Obama. The nation’s health and the health of the economy will rest, not on the needs of the American people but on whether conservatives instead decide that they care more about their own selfish desire to see Obama fail.
Those evil conservatives, talking about “liberty” when we know it is just code for “insurance profits”.
Do we dare notice that Democrats don’t need any Republican votes?
Come on, folks — the delay is coming from Democrats who need to appear fiscally conservative in the next election. That, and Obama voting “present” as he yells at Pelosi and Reid to give him a bill which pays for everything and costs nothing.
Wow, people on this site are really excelling at the strawman argument. Backfire? The Democrats have the presidency, 60 in the Senate and a large majority in the house and it’s the Republicans fault? If it is so vital to do this now, the Democrats would grow a pair and pass the bill. Say what you want about the Republicans, they stuck by Bush even as it was leading them into the wilderness. Obama’s approval dips and the Democrats go scurrying like cockroaches caring only about their reelection.
Don’t underestimate your ability to screw this up.
Jenga & Gregory–
Jenga–
This time, I have to say I agree with you.
Republicans stuck by Bush–even when he lied to us in order to lead us into a war that many Americans greatly regret, even as he spent money hand over fist, providing tax cuts for the wealthy that helped make the deficit baloon,, outsoourcing the war via very profitable contracts to friends –oh and I almost forgot, while supporting torture of sometimes completely innocent individuals–putting our own troops at much greater risk when they fall into enemy hands.
Despite all of that, the majority of Republicans were loyal.
What has Obama done? He is trying to pass healthcare reform that would provide coverage to the many who need it while reining in healthcare inflation so that healthcare spending doesn’t wreck the economy.,
And somehow, many Democrats can’t seem to find the backbone to stick by him.
The problem it that, in the past 10 years, intelligent Democrats with integrity have given up and left Washington.
First, the disappointments ments of the Clinton administration (some self-inflicted), plus the media orgy focusing on the president’s sexual follies– when so many issues were so much more important–then 8 years of GWB. It was too much.
But I still believe that the brain trust in the White House (Orszag, Emanuel, Emnanuel and, of course, Obama himself) will figure out a way to pass real health care reform.
And they do have some help on the Hill: Dodd has done an excellent job. Kennedy has been heroic. Pelosi has delivered. Reid, by contrast, has not.
AS for Max Baucus, when he stands for re-election, he deserves NO support from the Democrats. I hope they find someone to run in the primary against him.
Perhaps a young, very smart, progressive woman who could deconstruct Max Baucus– with an irresistable smile.
Gregory–
I agree. I don’t think this is about disagreements about healthcare reform.
I think it’s about a desire to bring Obama down.
And the stench of racism has become part of the story.
I realize that’s a “third-rail” topic, but I’ve decided to address it.
Obama is not entirely without blame on to why there is less loyalty. You even touched on it in your answer about wistfully wishing for Baucus to have no democratic support. It remains to be seen, but he may have even made a tactical error by naming Rahm Emanuel his chief of staff coupled with hostile actions against members of his own party.
Simple rule: To get loyalty you have to SHOW loyalty. You can’t use force the second things may not go your way.
Can you imagine Bush engineering ad’s against McCain in Arizona, because he voted against his tax cuts? Why would you support him if he’s going to turn his “grassroots” orgainization against you at the drop of a hat. That shows its all about him and his agenda not your constituents. He said this isn’t about him. Wrong it’s been all about him. The line “you are going to ruin my presidency” tells you everthing you need to know.
jenga–
I represent many Americans who want politicians to be loyal to one thing: the pubic good.
I don’t care whether they are loyal to a political party–and I certainly don’t want them to be loyal to memembers of their party who betray the public good while taking money from lobbyists.
In the past, when Max Baucus has voted with the Republicans he has betrayed progressive values that favor equality (and reject tax cuts for the wealthy that make wealthy distribution even more lop-sided) as well as values that say that tax-payers dollars should not be used for corporate welfare (the Medicare Modernization Act.)
There is no reason for the White House to be loyal to politicans who have not been loyal to the citizens they serve.
For those who still have health insurance and think you’ll lose it with an “option” program, your premiums nearly doubled over the last eight years, and the health care system controlled costs by dropping coverage for many workers: a safety valve of uninsured to dump out of the system. If you can increase prices and have relatively inelastic demand (people forced to drop out), you’ll find enough people stay paying into the system so that the total amount paid in goes up. Are you next?
In another five years, the $10,000 cost of family insurance will be $15,000, and more and more employers will have dumped people either into higher-deductible health plans or into the uninsured pool. This is really going to hurt before it’ll create a constituency that will support universal health care. The increases in health care costs will have impacted virtually everyone.
In the meantime, your family doctor has to become an employee of your local hospital, instead of being independent. And you’ll continue to have a corporate bureaucrat between you and your doctor.
Gregoroy–
You are right. And if we wait until things get worse, the cost of health care for middle-class and upper-middle-class paients will be mucn, much higher.
Yes, I stand with Barack Obama in his reforms for the health care system. There are many reasons why his reforms must be be quickly implemented, firstly more than 47 million U.S. residents have no health insurance, and the numbers keep growing. Secondly our Working families are experiencing double-digit increases in the costs of their health insurance, more out-of-pocket costs for doctor visits and skyrocketing prices for prescriptions, forcing many to delay getting needed medical care or worse…last but not least the failure of the previous health care systems will demand for new reforms such as this, playing politics at the time when millions of citizens life is at stake will certainly hamper the well-being of the country.
Interesting report below:
Link :http://en.oboulo.com/the-failure-of-america-s-health-care-system-65187.html
Fingers crossed!
Yes, I stand with Barack Obama in his reforms for the health care system. There are many reasons why his reforms must be be quickly implemented, firstly more than 47 million U.S. residents have no health insurance, and the numbers keep growing. Secondly our Working families are experiencing double-digit increases in the costs of their health insurance, more out-of-pocket costs for doctor visits and skyrocketing prices for prescriptions, forcing many to delay getting needed medical care or worse…last but not least the failure of the previous health care systems will demand for new reforms such as this, playing politics at the time when millions of citizens life is at stake will certainly hamper the well-being of the country.
Interesting report below:
Link :http://en.oboulo.com/the-failure-of-america-s-health-care-system-65187.html
Fingers crossed!