Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, is a media darling now that she was the only Republican to break ranks and vote a health care reform bill out of the Senate Finance Committee Oct. 13. "Good Morning America" interviewed Snowe about health care reform on Oct. 14 and didn't challenge a misleading statistic about the number of medical-caused bankruptcies.
Snowe, who backed the $829-billion bill, claimed that "62 percent of all bankruptcies are a result of medical debt. I can't imagine that kind of anxiety. It's one thing to deal with an illness, quite another to deal with the fact you don't have the insurance to cover for it."
The senator did not mention the source of her claim or point out that respondents to the study she cited didn't even agree with that result. CNN.com reported on June 5 that the 62 percent figure came from a Harvard Medical School study that would be published in The American Journal of Medicine.
But CNN also included criticism of the figure including Peter Cunningham, Ph.D., who said "I'm not sure that is correct to say that medical problems were the direct cause of all these bankruptcies." Cunningham is a senior fellow at the Center for Studying Health System Change.
Aparna Mathur, a research fellow for the American Enterprise Institute, pointed out an important fact of that Harvard study that was being overlooked. "The survey clearly states that only 29 percent of the respondents believed that their bankruptcy was actually caused by medical bills."
The Annenberg Public Policy Center's FactCheck.org also disputed a similar Harvard study from 2005 which found "about half" of bankruptcies medically related.
FactCheck pointed out that the figure misleads because it "includes those who lost their jobs or significant income due to illness – even if they didn't cite mounting health care bills as a direct cause of their bankruptcy." They also mentioned other studies that found that in many cases families "spent beyond their means, leaving them vulnerable to even minor disruptions."
—Julia A. Seymour is an assistant editor for the Business & Media Institute.
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Snowe is a ...
October 14, 2009 - 12:51 ET by SentryDanSnowe is a RINO, pure and simple. She puts out information as fact without doing the research just like the other liberals.
Her political judgement day is coming just like it is for the liberals. Hope they have a job lined up.
Remember folks, Freedom isn't Free. It was bought with the blood and sacrifice of the men and women who are serving and who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.
For those who fought for it, Freedom has a flavor that the protected will never know.
Also remember folks, that the way to SUPPORT THE TROOPS is to support their mission. Anyone who says that they support the troops but don't support their mission is lying about supporting the troops. And if you want to know, yes I do have a dog in the fight, he is a United States Marine
i agree Congressman said:
October 14, 2009 - 14:53 ET by w2448hci agree
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"Her political judgement
October 14, 2009 - 16:50 ET by ckc1227"Her political judgement day is coming just like it is for the liberals. Hope they have a job lined up."
If only. Unfortunately, she lives in a liberal state that is perfectly fine with Republicans who act like Democrats. Snowe is going nowhere unless she chooses not to run, or gets defeated by someone more liberal, which would be fine with me. At least then they couldn't make this stupid bi-partisan argument everytime she votes with her Democrat colleagues.
Remember when the economy
October 14, 2009 - 12:51 ET by Six String SpiffRemember when the economy was Terrible?
Yeah, I'm glad those days are gone too...
Now it's a "bi-partisan"
October 14, 2009 - 12:52 ET by ThisnThatNow it's a "bi-partisan" bill, thanks to Snowe (D-Me).
Bi-partisan defined by Dims == when RINOs vote the Dims way; never when the Dims vote for the Repubs position.
__________
"mmm, mmm, mm. Barrack-Hussain-Øbama↓." - The liberals coolaid drinking song
They lie
October 14, 2009 - 12:53 ET by seven75% of bankruptcies that include medical claims have insurance coverage. Not that many aere caused by medical bills. It is the fact they didn't pay on medical but had cable, cellphone and other goodies too good to sacrifice. With mandatory health insurance, we will have people declare bankruptcy because the IRS wants to have access to the bank account and will do electronic transfer. People will increase bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy Insurance
October 14, 2009 - 13:07 ET by tim413So I presume the uninsured really do have health care coverage - via the U.S. Bankrupcy Code. And who is forcing these folks into bankruptcy? The big, bad insurance companies? No!!! It's the folks in the white coats in the Rose Garden! (Probably really the hospitals, but you get the idea.)
When I first started managing employee benefit plans in the early '80s, we self-insured companies had these options when health care costs went up: the company paid, the employees paid, or we shared the increase. Then the "big, bad" insurance companies - especially through the big, bad HMOs - did what individual employers could not do. They negotiated lower rates with all kinds of health care providers.
Accordingly, I have never thought of the insurance companies as the bogey person. The providers were (25+ plus years ago) the small, bad bogey persons. Today, I feel sorry for many doctors who cannot make the kind of money they deserve.
Stop federal judges from foisting their notions of "fairness" on the States. Amend the 14th Amendment! - tim413
I work in medical billing
October 14, 2009 - 13:42 ET by Kat Outta the BagI work in medical billing and the number of our (cancer) patients who file bankruptcy, presumably because of medical expenses, is less than 1%.
Most people who file bankruptcy are like my idiot coworker who live beyond their means while trying to keep up with the Joneses and decide it's the only way out of the trap they've set up for themselves with their credit card living.
Agreed, Kat. I subscribe to
October 14, 2009 - 13:49 ET by QueenMumAgreed, Kat. I subscribe to the Dave Ramsey philosophy of having an emergency fund of 3-6 months of expenses in case of unexpected bills. And aren't most docs willing to accept monthly payments, as opposed to a lump sum, for a patient's outstanding costs?
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
- P.J. O'Rourke
QM~~
October 14, 2009 - 13:53 ET by Kat Outta the BagAs far as I know most do, yes. I know we do. As long as they make a show of good faith in paying us even $5.00 a month, we leave them alone.
Kat: Come to think of it, I
October 14, 2009 - 15:53 ET by QueenMumKat: Come to think of it, I recall that when my mil had heart surgery she was able to make an agreement to pay the surgeon $50/month until her bill was paid. At the time, she had no health insurance and, despite having a low income, either didn't qualify for Medicaid or may not have even applied since they preferred not to ask for government help.
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
- P.J. O'Rourke
Congress will NEVER cut medicare.
October 14, 2009 - 13:55 ET by c5thenThey have never done it before and they won't do it now.
Obamacare is going to add a minimum of $400 billion to the deficit each and every year that it is in effect.
10 year prediction is an additional $4 trillion on to the current $11 trillion deficit.
Throw 'da bums out!!!
no incumbent re-elected, with very few exceptions!
www.loyaltoliberty.com
bankruptcies
October 14, 2009 - 15:02 ET by dubuquemanI think they include gambling as a medical cause of bankruptcy.
Yes they did. Gambling is
October 14, 2009 - 19:39 ET by stratmanYes they did. Gambling is an addiction and therefore considered a "medical" condition in the authors methods.
See my post below for more. Their research criteria (and conclusions) are bad on many levels which, surprising or not, they decided to use twice.
Captions
October 14, 2009 - 16:32 ET by SchnikeysYou can tell just by looking at the caption exactly where their hearts lie.
Yes..."ONE STEP CLOSER;
October 14, 2009 - 19:30 ET by BuxomAnnieMcGreggorYes..."ONE STEP CLOSER; theRepublican who voted yes"
a.k.a. The Little Republican Engine That Could. Let me quote my favorite part from that old children's storybook. It's when Olympia Snowe votes on the "unwritten healthcare fiasco" and pushes the bill over the top.... and then suddenly realizes... "I think I'm canned, I think I'm canned, I think I'm canned!" I can't wait till we get to the end of her story!
"STOP THE PRESSES!... No, I don't have any earth shattering news, I'm just sayin' stop the presses."
Hey BAM... That was
October 14, 2009 - 19:33 ET by bigtimerHey BAM...
That was rich.
We just can't rid ourselves of the RINOs who think they are just so damned important...because the leftist msm loves them...that woman was on every show there was today...those that I caught early hours anyway...they love the one of their own that dress in sheep clothing.
'Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea'~Breitbart
OMG, the
October 14, 2009 - 19:32 ET by stratmanOMG, the Himmelstein-Woolhandler Axis of Propaganda is BACK! These Haavaahd Hucksters return using the SAME FLAWED criteria to propagandize the SAME FLAWED conclusions, only now more better conclusions. Same story, different day, both poor science. If the first "cry wolf" didn't work then cry about two wolves and see if it gets traction. What's next? 85% medical causes of bankruptcy in the next installment? 100%?
I posted extensively on these two propagandists' original medical bankruptcy "research" in Blonde's healthcare forum. I recommend those interested in understanding why the Himmelstein-Woolhandler research is so incerdibly flawed read the pro's critique I link at the beginning of the post. Also, several others, such as Par and Blonde, had some great posts on this topic earlier in the thread. Highly recommended for their keen observations.
As always, ask yourself the motivation of the researchers. Himmelstein and Woolhandler are founders of Physicians For A National Health Program, a Liberal/Leftist group who's goal is a Single Payer healthcare system, ie Socialized Medicine.
Recently, Himmelstein and Himmelstein co-authored the "research" paper alledging 45,000 die from lack of healthcare annually.
These folks will twist and shape data to their ends shamelessly. The ends justify the means to these Leftists.
October 15, 2009 - 09:25 ET by jessieHSnowe is wrong. 62% of all bankruptcies is because of the govt. Let her be a liberal. Stupid is as stupid does.