Conservative Media Echo Chamber Promotes Right-Wing Health Care Propagandist Betsy McCaughey
Conservative Media Echo Chamber Promotes Right-Wing Health Care Propagandist Betsy McCaughey
On Monday, former Republican lieutenant governor of New York Betsy McCaughey published a commentary on Bloomberg.com, falsely claiming that health information technology provisions in the economic recovery package will have the government “monitor treatments” in order to “‘guide’ your doctor’s decisions.” “This stimulus is dangerous to your health and the economy,” declared McCaughey.
Who is McCaughey? In 1994, she was a key player in the attacks against the Clinton health care plan, writing a “viciously inaccurate” article in The New Republic that claimed the plan would lock people in to government-run care. This claim was “simply false,” but it “completely distorted the debate on the biggest public policy issue of 1994.”
McCaughey’s inaccurate attack on health IT was quickly picked up by the conservative echo chamber of Rush Limbaugh, the Drudge Report and Fox News. Yesterday and today, McCaughey made appearances on two Fox News shows and Lou Dobbs’ CNN show in order to promote her misinformation. Watch it:
On CNN this morning, senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen fact-checked McCaughey’s claims, finding that the bill “didn’t actually, specifically say” what McCaughey claims it says:
COHEN: Now, we asked Betsy McCaughey, because she’s been through this bill page by page, “point us to the language that says that this bill will dictate what your doctor does,” and she showed us language that didn’t actually, specifically say that. It didn’t say that the government will have the right to dictate what your doctor does. But she says it’s vague enough that the government would be able to do that. And, of course, we ran this by the folks who wrote the bill. They said that any accusations that this bill will allow the government to dictate anything to your doctor, they say those accusations are “wildly inaccurate and preposterous.”
Cohen then explained how investment in health IT would allow doctors to “switch over from those paper records that most of them use to electronic records,” which “many say are much more efficient and allow for much more patient safety.”
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Media Matters has already debunked this.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200902110012?f=h_latest
February 11th, 2009 at 4:01 pmJEB! Bush pushed for electronic medical records here in Florida for SECURITY reasons and HIPAA compliance, among other things, like being able to access your medical records from an ER out of state so they don’t kill you accidentally or something. This FEAR FEAR FEAR Republican bleating is getting really, really tedious.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:02 pmThey lost this battle by hanging millions of Americans out to dry. If you can work all of your life and lose everything over one illness then what’s the point….
What’s the difference between what we have now and holding a gun to my head?
February 11th, 2009 at 4:04 pmComputerizing medical records can be done properly, with authentication protocols that already exist. The savings will be enormous. Nobody’s going to dictate your treatment. Geez.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:04 pmWait a minute, let’s stop right there… this is exactly what the insurance companies are doing now.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:07 pmThe only way that I would support a single platform electronic health records system is if, and only if, it came in tandem with a universal coverage single payer system.
Otherwise, your ingrown toenail, benign cyst, history of sinus infections, etc. from 10 years ago follow you around and gives private insurance a reason to bump your rates up, or deny you coverage completely. Trust me, I work in the industry and know how it goes.
PEACE
February 11th, 2009 at 4:08 pmI knew I couldn’t take this seriously when I saw that she cited PAGE NUMBERS as opposed to section/verse like most adults do when they want to be taken seriously.
Or as Jonah said on page 234 of the Bible… “and so the lord saieth on to Betsy that she’s out of hermind/element”.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:12 pmThis person is a health care expert? Hmm, I swear I saw her working at the Bunny Ranch in Nevada.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:13 pmthe GOP Echo chamber is a two-way street…On one hand, the GOP takes talking points from Rush, and Rush and his cronies take their talking points from GOP political hacks
February 11th, 2009 at 4:14 pmAccording to McCauley, there will be someone from the Government that will be “live” and searching through the database and telling the physician what they can and cannot do for the patient. Guess that could be viewed as job creation.
This woman is a fool. The bill refers to a government database where the physician can find information that could be life saving particularly if the attending physician is unfamiliar with the patient’s medical history. McCauley obviously knows nothing about the medical or health profession otherwise she would realize how stupid and ridiculous she sounds. The MSM must be desperate to invite ill informed people on their shows to analyze information where they are not experts.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:15 pmSince we already have low level HMO clerks dictating medical treatment to protect their jobs in the present system, whats the problem?
February 11th, 2009 at 4:18 pmWhat’s new a Repuke getting on national TV & lying.If only I would be paid a dime every time a Repuke pull the facts out of his/her ass,I will certainly make more than Bernie Madoff.Think of what a gold mine Faux news would be.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:20 pmi almost posted the googlenews headlines about this earlier, but there was no appropriate thread…
i wonder if this is the person i heard on the randirhodes show the other day… nancy skinner was the host and she was pushing back as fast as the guest could dish it… and then some…
is mccaughey affiliated with some think tank type group?
February 11th, 2009 at 4:27 pmthat guest on monday (?) claimed to be, but i don’t know which…
She’s one of the morons who will believe anything Rush the Dominican Republic Boy Prostitute Abuser says…
…maybe Billo has a falafel with her name on it.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:27 pmCats r Flyfishn Says:
You took the words right from my finger tips.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:30 pmWhat is she really afraid of? Who is she working for?
February 11th, 2009 at 4:31 pmANY 3rd party payer already has the authority to dictate what a doctor does, albeit “indirectly” for the most part, i.e., do what you will, but you may not get reimbursed if our reviewers don’t like it. Only patients who totally pay cash are exempt. So, that’s really just irrelevant to the issue of EMR systems, a complete red herring.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:33 pmHate to tell you, but a few years back the repub prez sat down with potential CEOs for HMOs and developed a system that was gonna provide better healthcare at a lower cost (and divert all the money to the CEO salaries).
Likewise, every hospital is monitored for its effectiveness – much of it being based on performance measures (do you tell you patients to take an aspirin? do you …..?)
Doctors expecting to be paid back by private insurance companies have to meet certain standards of care.
At most, the EMR may make it easier to datamine this. But the insurance companies are already gathering this data.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:33 pmGEE! Another new member of the Faux NoNooz Blonde Bimbo Brigade(TM). I am shocked!!!!
February 11th, 2009 at 4:38 pmupside;
(:-D)
February 11th, 2009 at 4:44 pmThe company I work for has been forced to deal with at least 5 different insurance providers over the 7 years of my employment. Each and every one wanted to know every little tidbit of my personal medical history. (All were very concerned about the kidney stone I passed in 1996. That many people do this in their life seems to be inconsequential. I’m not up on the stats but I don’t think many people die from passing a kidney stone. They just feel like they wish they could.)
So now there are at least a half dozen companies who are not bound by the patient/doctor privacy who know I had gas in the 9th grade. My privacy ranks right up there with Brad and Angelina. Myself, I would trust the government to have this info over any private company.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:45 pmthis wench is a dead wringer for angry trannie annie coulter, after trAnn got her diploma from the anorexia/bullimia 12 step recovery program.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:45 pmBobbyG Says:
ANY 3rd party payer already has the authority to dictate what a doctor does, albeit “indirectly” for the most part, i.e., do what you will, but you may not get reimbursed if our reviewers don’t like it.
Yep, I just finished a “preauthorization request” to an insurance company so I can continue to provide psychological treatment to someone.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:45 pmAnother day another stupendous Repignican lie. Next.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:45 pmYankeluh;
Are you sure it was the Bunny Ranch?
Maybe, it was the best little whorehouse in Texas.
or was that Hong Kong?
If’s been a fun, and productive day, but it’s time for me to go. Keep up the troll-whacking.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:50 pmI love the way the internet throws right-wing memes back in their faces, often within minutes. It has rendered the multi-million-dollar slime machine largely impotent.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:51 pmCats r Flyfishn Says:
Wait a minute, let’s stop right there… this is exactly what the insurance companies are doing now.
and for a PROFIT too!
February 11th, 2009 at 4:51 pmdid deep enough and i am sure you will find one of two things
February 11th, 2009 at 4:53 pma) her old man is a big wig in the insurance agency or
b) she was the insurance agency’s well compensated best friend during her tenure as lieutenant gov.
People need to be clear regarding what the EMR is — it’s simply the “mid-office” piece of medical practice computer software (the actual clinical stuff, histories, diagnostics, procedures, Rx, etc). Nearly all practices have long had the “front” and “back office” apps — the PMS – “practice mgmt systems” for scheduling and billing; the latter being the most important. You can already infer a ton just off the coding, in terms of “dictating what a doctor does,” (they typically don’t do stuff they won’t get paid for) so, again, stoking fear of integrated EMRs is simply bullshit.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:56 pmkaty -
is mccaughey affiliated with some think tank type group?
that guest on monday (?) claimed to be, but i don’t know which…
I think it was on yesterday’s OT that Dynamoron cited this droopy faced shill RE: tthis very meme…
she is part of the Hudson Institute, a “stink tank” that has a lot of coporate ties…among them, Eli and Lilly which gives us boner pills (cialis) and happy pills (prozac).
The Hudson Institute is supported by donations from companies and individuals. Corporate contributors include Eli Lilly and Company, Monsanto, DuPont, Dow-Elanco, Sandoz, Ciba-Geigy, ConAgra, Cargill, and Procter & Gamble.[6]
February 11th, 2009 at 4:57 pmBozo The Neoclown Says:
did deep enough and i am sure you will find one of two things
a) her old man is a big wig in the insurance agency or
b) she was the insurance agency’s well compensated best friend during her tenure as lieutenant gov.
She’s an adjunct for the Hudson Institute. The tool of lobbyists for the Big Pharma and Agri-Business sectors…
February 11th, 2009 at 4:58 pmTweedster Says:
“She’s an adjunct for the Hudson Institute. The tool of lobbyists for the Big Pharma and Agri-Business sectors…”
that was easy. didn’t have to dig at all.
February 11th, 2009 at 5:04 pmI am glad they debunked it, but I still don’t like this approach at all. I don’t want the government to have any kind of access to my medical history. I don’t want anyone but my physician to have this. It will be too easy for someone who shouldn’t have the information to hack into your medical records and what’s to stop employers from having access to the information before they hire you. Look how easy it was for government employees to access Obama’s passport files. Do you really want anyone in the government to have access to your medical history?
February 11th, 2009 at 5:06 pmWow…So a lady who was a liar back in ‘94, still is a liar? And beyond that the GOP, knowing she is a liar, will employ her to keep spreading the lies the GOP wants spread around. At least she is a blonde, white lady. The GOp’ers seem to crave the blonde, white woman thingy. Frankly, I think the GOP should party a little bit more because they seem to have heterosexual blonde, white lady ‘cabin fever’.
February 11th, 2009 at 5:10 pmBilbo, one, they already have it. As does every insurance company in the country. The government has access to every bit of info on you in the past 30 years. Medical, professional, you name it.
Good news is you aren’t in prison because of it.
February 11th, 2009 at 5:27 pmStratRat,
According to her wiki-page, in 1997 she officially became a Democrat (in order to run against Pataki, after he announced he was running with someone else; it was the first time they had talked to each other in months.)
If anyone woud like to write to Betsy, she was kind enough to provide her e-mail in the Bloomberg News article she wrote.
To contact the writer of this column: Betsy McCaughey at
Betsymross@aol.com
February 11th, 2009 at 5:29 pmBetsymRoss? I need a new hat.
February 11th, 2009 at 5:32 pmUnfortunately, this is only the tip of the mis-info propaganda campaign iceberg. FOX is doing teasers asking, Is Big Brother going to tell your how doctor how to treat you, or some such – which is pathetic because Fox is Big Brother’s favorite lap poodle. It boggles the mind.
February 11th, 2009 at 5:39 pmHoodathunk,
She actually married a guy named Ross, who she thought would finance her campaign for governor. He withdrew his money, and I think they’ve split since.
February 11th, 2009 at 5:41 pmIts all kinda too late to worry who knows you business.
February 11th, 2009 at 5:46 pmCredit History, Purchase history if you use credit/debit cards, Travel history if you have a passport, medical history if you have insurance, SS#, DL# ……et al.
Its all available to anyone who is intent on getting it – Including the government. The down side of this thing called Computer technology, but the time to worry about restricting its deployment was 20 years ago. Yep, 1984 was a warning, not a novel.
That’s weird. I’ve never seen anybody talk or move before who was brain dead. I can only imagine where her USB port was.
February 11th, 2009 at 6:09 pmdoesn’t the VA already do this. I’m a disabled vet and recently moved. When I went to a new clinic they had all my records right there.
February 11th, 2009 at 6:18 pmCouldn’t have been easier.
should have said they were able to access all my records.
February 11th, 2009 at 6:20 pmI swear, every time I watch Lou Dobbs he tells at least one lie. And he combines the mendacity with such pompous arrogance I just can’t stand it and shake my head at how far CNN has fallen from being a respectable news organization.
Unless you’re watching CNN International, those days are long gone.
February 11th, 2009 at 6:34 pmAll right wingers can do is lie and steal! The MSM is owned by right wingers, so expect lies.
February 11th, 2009 at 7:15 pmI am not surprised that you lefties cannot see the bigger picture, Just what does this program need billions for????. Will it employ thousands of people? Is this what you really want??? More goverment spending and more blaming someone else. Also less transparency? Boy now this really is a change, Wow a change you can beleive in. Tell BO to get back to work and get something decent done. I am very sick of him campaigning. Tell me when it is over.
February 11th, 2009 at 10:16 pmAll you bitter people should really take a break. You Won
Enjoy!!!!!
McCaughey sounds too much like “McConaughey” in my opinion.
Not a lucid talking point at all, probably has a kid or two named after a beer.
February 11th, 2009 at 10:50 pmjeanette deldin Says:
I am not suprised you ignorant wingnuts dont understand, well, ANYTHING. You are stupid. If Rush didnt say it. YOU dont know it.
February 12th, 2009 at 12:42 amYeah!!! Jeanette the insufferable witch will be leaving us for the next four, er I mean eight years. “Tell me when it is over.”
Yeah, I will be sure to wake you in 2024 when the GOP is nothing but a bunch of self-immolating morons. Oh wait, they are that now. Good night jeanette you lazy cow.
February 12th, 2009 at 12:43 am.
#46 jeanette deldin,
Wow…
… Who’s bitter, now?
.
February 12th, 2009 at 1:15 amShe’s another lying evil right wing w(b)itch!!!
February 12th, 2009 at 2:38 amWhat is conservativism? Is it not the adherence to the old and tried against the new and untried?
Abraham Lincoln
February 12th, 2009 at 2:41 amThe anti-national health care crowd is rolling out the troops, girding for a long fight..
http://jackrabbitcafe.blogspot.com/2009/02/much-of-problem-for-plan-seem.html
February 12th, 2009 at 10:10 amJeanette Deldin:
You ask “Will it employ thousands of people?”
Ask a nurse: http://jackrabbitcafe.blogspot.com/2009/01/untitled_16.html
February 12th, 2009 at 10:13 amI don’t understand your reply’s. You agree with the premise that is defined. The government is setting up a database to store all of your health information to be shared among multiple entities across the nation. Yet you claim to disagree with her? YOUR INFO is being made public. Your privacy is being compromised. YOUR ability to make decisions about YOUR health care is in danger of being limited or outright taken away. And you glibly say it’s no big deal.
I am a computer professional and I have never seen a database setup that was not “mined” for information at a later date. No matter what the initial idea had been. THIS IS GOING THAT WAY. The government is going to be monitoring the system. Doesn’t that scare you?
In the past I have worked on a system called Medical Insurance Bureau (MIB). I imagine it has grown or morphed by now. Health IT is MIB on steroids. To be modified at political whim. The MIB system collected health info on patients from multiple companies based on claims. This information was available to any other member company. The main purpose was to provide pre-existing condition information to new insurers. You say that the stimulus health care database is not going to be used for this?
February 24th, 2009 at 12:05 pm