Here They Go Again: More Misinformation and Class Warfare from the Left

On August 11, President Barack Obama said the following at a town hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire:

“Right now if we paid a family -- if a family care physician works with his or her patient to help them lose weight, modify diet, monitors whether they're taking their medications in a timely fashion, they might get reimbursed a pittance. But if that same diabetic ends up getting their foot amputated, that's $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 -- immediately the surgeon is reimbursed. Well, why not make sure that we're also reimbursing the care that prevents the amputation, right? That will save us money.”

Dr Joseph Zuckerman the President of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons sent President Obama a letter (view letter) pointing out several inaccuracies in the President’s statement. He related that, in actuality, orthopaedic surgeons: 1) are actively involved in non-operative preventive care for diabetic foot problems (and paid at the same rate for counseling as a family care physician I should add), 2) are paid a small fraction of the hyperbolic numbers quoted by the President when amputation is required for the welfare of the patient, and 3) spend time and money (making care more expensive) to comply with the significant administrative burdens imposed by Medicare to get paid, in a very non-immediate fashion.

Because they do not have truth and logic on their side in this healthcare debate, the proponents of the welfare state must instead rely on misrepresentation and emotion. President Obama has argued that this new entitlement of “healthcare for all” will be paid for by wringing out inefficiencies in the current system. The truth is that Federal, state, and local government healthcare spending accounts for half of all healthcare expenditure. (Source 6-16-08 CRS report http://aging.senate.gov/crs/medicaid7.pdf) If they have a plan to make the system more efficient, why wouldn’t they start with this 50%? At this time, Medicare is projected to be insolvent in 8 years.

Rather than trying to make the implausible argument that government healthcare reform will be paid for by increased governmental efficiency and will not add to the enormous national debt, instead there is a deliberate effort to sensationalize the debate. One tried and true strategy of the left for whipping up emotion and pushing reason aside is class warfare and scapegoating. In this particular situation, President Obama does so by suggesting a gross inequity of the financial status of the family doctors who “get reimbursed a pittance” with that of the (implied) “greedy and undeserving” surgeons.

There is no doubt that our healthcare system, which draws people from all over the world because of its premier status, would benefit from reform to decrease expenses and improve access; however there is no problem so bad that it can’t be made worse by doing the wrong thing. More government involvement in healthcare is the wrong thing.

We must all fight to prevent the wrong kind of healthcare reform and the dangerous expansion of government control and debt. Every individual can make a difference. Write your congressman and senators (contact info found at http://www.conservativeusa.org/mega-cong.htm); and join and contribute your time, energy, and money as you are able to grass root organizations such as the American’s for Prosperity http://americansforprosperity.org/national-site, American Liberty Alliance http://americanlibertyalliance.com/, and/or other free market based grass roots organizations.