ObamaCare Hoaxes

Beware New York Times Polls, “46 Million Uninsured” and Other ObamaCare Hoaxes

If Barack Obama’s health care overhaul is such a good idea, why must its proponents resort to deception when advocating it?

When something can stand on its own merits, there is obviously no need to prevaricate. And the fact that efforts to socialize America’s health care sector cannot stand on their own logical merits betrays the dangerous nature of Obama’s scheme.

The latest example came this past week, when ObamaCare proponents trumpeted a New York Times/CBS News opinion poll purportedly showing that large majorities of Americans support government-run health care.

The June 12-16, 2009 poll indicated broad, substantive support for Obama’s plan, as 72% of its respondents favored a government health care provider to compete with private insurers. Suspiciously, the poll also reported that by a 57% to 39% margin, respondents are “willing to pay higher taxes for insurance for all.”

Revealing its predictable ideological bias, CBS News’ website could hardly contain its enthusiasm:

Quote :

“A clear majority of Americans – 72 percent – support a government-sponsored healthcare plan to compete with private insurers, a new CBS News/New York Times poll finds. Most also think the government would do a better job than private industry at keeping down costs, and believe that the government should guarantee healthcare for all Americans. The new poll shows the idea of a government-sponsored plan, or ‘public option’ to be fairly non-controversial.”

It turns out, however, that the poll was stacked with a disproportionate number of Obama supporters.
Of the poll’s 895 respondents, some 48 percent stated that they voted for Obama this past November, whereas only 25 percent reported they voted for Senator John McCain. That disproportionate two-to-one margin contrasts with the actual November 2008 election results, in which Obama’s margin was 53% to 46%. If the CBS News/New York Times poll had been representative, Obama would have defeated McCain by a 66% to 34% margin last November.

As polling expert Kellyanne Conway noted, “was the vote 66 to 34? You tell me.”
Of course, this is merely the most recent instance of distortion in the current healthcare debate.
Perhaps the most pernicious deception advanced by those who allege a health care “crisis” and advocate a socialized system is that 46 million Americans are uninsured. But a closer examination reveals the dubiousness of that claim.

First and foremost, approximately 21 percent of that number, or 10 million, are not American citizens. Is it the responsibility of American taxpayers to subsidize health insurance for ten million non-citizens? Of course not.

Second, it’s estimated that as many as 14 million of the 46 million are already eligible for existing government insurance programs, such as Medicaid and S-CHIP, but for whatever reason have failed to -- or have chosen not to -- enroll.

Third, approximately 19 million of the uninsured are people between the age of 18 and 34, according to the National Center for Policy Analysis. As they note in their study, “most of them are healthy, and know that they can pay incidental expenses out-of-pocket. Using hard-earned dollars to pay for healthcare they don’t expect to need is a low priority for them.” Consequently, they have little incentive to insure themselves, and instead refrain from buying coverage unless and until they suddenly need emergency care.
Fourth, 9 million of the oft-cited 46 million live in households with incomes above $75,000 per year, and another 9 million in households earning above $50,000. While nobody would contend that these income levels qualify as “wealthy,” both levels far exceed the federal poverty level.

Together, these realities expose the deceptive nature of the “46 million” statistic routinely cited by advocates of government-run health care. Moreover, scientific polling regularly shows that between 70% and 80% of Americans are actually satisfied with their level of healthcare. In fact, a recent USA Today/ABC News/Kaiser Family Foundation survey reveals that 89% of respondents were pleased with their plan.

Accordingly, improvements to the nation’s health care system must focus on free-market principles and empowering individuals and families, not stifling government takeovers. Through medical tort reform, for example, we can limit the litigation costs and frivolous “jackpot justice” awards that drive up medical costs. We can also allow citizens to purchase insurance policies across state lines, which would drive down insurance costs and provide individuals and families the freedom to choose health care coverage that best suits their needs from a national marketplace.

In any case, beware the fraudulent numbers cited by those who advocate a wholesale government takeover of the American health care system. The fact that they must resort to deception is the surest sign that they’re prescribing the wrong medicine.