just facts please

Just The Facts, Please

Health care today is a massive issue. A quick glance at any

news-oriented media (including this blog) will show the topic being

addressed from every angle as a variety of facts, pseudo facts, and

pure polemic fight for that all important mindshare -- yours.

The catchphrases and keywords of the discussion are bandied about

everywhere: Hillary Care, socialized medicine, single payer plan,

SCHIP, government insurance and many others. How is the average

American to make any clear sense of this media barrage?

Thanks to the pioneering efforts of Annenberg Political Fact Check

from the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of

Pennsylvania, we have a few options available today. A pioneer in

presenting non-partisan fact checking online, the APPC accepts no

funding from individuals, political campaigns, businesses, unions or

lobbying organizations. It also boasts a large team of researchers and

journalists to assist in cutting through the rhetoric.

PolitFact, a project from the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional

Quarterly, and its "Truth-O-Meter," is another site which checks the

veracity of campaign videos and candidates. Particularly useful when

the health care issue comes up. It is always interesting to see the

myriad ways in which the same numbers can be presented by different

sides.

Then there is the new kid on the block: The Washington Post. In early

September the Post launched its new Fact Checker feature, helmed by

distinguished staff writer Michael Dobbs and research wizard Alice

Crites, the backbone of the Post's investigative department for most

of the last ten years. During that decade Crites has worked on three

Pulitzer-winning series. Personally I like the fact they use

"Pinocchios" to rate the magnitude of factual distortion.

Let's take a look at the Fact Checker this morning, where accusations

of socialized medicine levied at Senator Hillary Clinton are

dissected:

According to MIT economics professor Jonathan Gruber, who advised

Romney on his health care reform law and has also advised Clinton,

the Massachusetts law has a lot in common with the Clinton plan.

Both plans mandate universal health care coverage and subsidize

health care for people on low incomes. The main difference is that

Clinton's proposal permits people to switch to a Medicare-type plan

and increases taxes at higher income levels.

Contrary to claims by Romney and other Republicans, the Clinton

plan does not force Americans to accept "government insurance." It

offers people a choice. If they are happy with their present health

plan, they can keep it. Otherwise, they can switch to the plans

offered to members of Congress, or a government-run plan similar to

Medicare.

The column goes into great detail providing quotes and sources, as

well as detailing the lack thereof. It concludes with "The Pinocchio

Test."

The claim that "Hillary care" is tantamount to "socialized

medicine" does not stand up to serious examination. The Clinton

health care plan has more in common with the Massachusetts plan

signed into law by Governor Mitt Romney than the British National

Health system. We award three Pinocchios to Romney.

I wonder if anyone will win the coveted "Geppetto Checkmark," the sign

denoting a complete lack of factual distortion?

SOURCE: "'Hillary Care' and 'Socialized Medicine'" 10/24/07

photo courtesy of Marc Nozell, used under its Creative Commons license

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Posted by George Williams at 10:51 AM