The House Subcommittee on Energy and Commerce is holding a hearing on “Making Health Care Work for American Families: Ensuring Affordable Coverage” today and health care crisis denier Sally Pipes — who recently wrote The Ten Top Myths of American Health Care — is testifying at the invitation of the Republicans.
She’s busy propagating the myth that “the long-term goal of the new Administration and the Democrats in Congress is “Medicaid for All.” In her prepared remarks, Pipes compares Obama’s plan to the Canadian model:
My view is that the government plan will be priced lower than the private plans. The result will be “crowding out” of the private plans and a fateful turn down the road to a Canadian style “Medicaid for All” program. We may have universal coverage but not universal access. Taxes will increase significantly and weaken the entrepreneurial spirit in this country.
This is the same Sally Pipes who, in 1998, wrote an article to dismiss global climate change as an imaginary “hobgoblin” created by “propaganda” from the Environmental Protection Agency. The article also criticized the Clinton Administration for advancing the notion that efforts to reduce greenhouse gases could be harnessed to spur economic growth.
So this is who the Republicans invite to discuss reforming the health care system? An old global warming denier who caricatures the health care debate without engaging in the substance of the proposal? Things sure have changed since 93….
Update
During the hearing, CAPAF Senior Fellow Judy Feder confronted Pipes:
As I listen to Ms. Pipes, I wonder whether she’s truly following the plight of Americans who can’t afford health care and whether she’s following the kind of American health reform that we’re really talking about. You mentioned President Obama’s campaign plan — he has talked about his commitment of the choice of health plan, of quality care, and affordability for all Americans. So I’d like to get our attention back to the problems Americans are facing, as 14,000 Americans are estimated every day to be losing their health insurance, as they lose their jobs, and as benefits are shrinking even for those Americans who have health insurance.
Listen:
Update
,Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) asks Pipes, “who is suggesting that health care is free?” Pipes tries to respond by quoting Michael Moore.
Listen:
Update
,Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) points out that the U.S. already rations care and asks Pipes if she knows of any data that indicates that a new public plan would increase waiting times. Pipes promises to look into it.
Listen:
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