News agencies across the country are still largely refusing to inform readers of the liberal-leanings of Families USA. The organization has a fresh crop of new news articles thanks to its latest study.
In March, Families USA published a report which attributes lack of health care coverage with premature death. Local newspapers across the country are attracted to this report because it includes state-specific data that give the number of fatalities in each state which are linked to a lack of insurance.
You might remember Families USA from its advocacy for expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) which would have increased the income eligibility limit from 200 percent to 300 percent above the Federal Poverty Level and started a contingency fund which would serve to come to the rescue of states who spend over the amount of their federal allotment. Needless to say, liberal Democrats including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) and Sen Barack Obama (D-Ill.) make up the organization’s political allies.
Its Web site also denounces conservative proposals such as Health Savings Accounts while promoting “affordable, high quality health coverage for all through shared responsibility,” which essentially equates to socialist-style healthcare coverage.
In reporting the results of the group’s study, the Boston Globe framed the story as a simple report on a new study and identifies Families USA as a “national healthcare advocacy group based in Washington.” The Atlanta Business Chronicle published a five paragraphs-long article and simply referred to the group as a “Washington, D.C.-based organization.” And, Hartford Business Journal, like numerous other local papers, simply picked up an AP story in which writer Dave Collins calls Families USA “a nonprofit health care consumers group.”
Even more specialized publications such as Medical News Today, left out Families USA’s politics. The Medical News article was more detailed in its look at the Families USA study, but simply described the group as “the national organization for health care consumers. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan and advocates for high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.”
Even papers in reliably “red” states like Utah aren’t immune. Take the Salt Lake Tribune. In its article on the new study, writer Lisa Rosetta took a more personal approach by incorporating the stories of a few uninsured Utahns in order to give the story a more emotional appeal. Families USA is referred to as a “consumer health care advocacy group.”
NewsBusters recently reported on other newspapers who failed to recognize the liberal leanings of Families USA. Those publications include the Palm Beach Post, the Orlando Sentinel, and the Washington Post.















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I could be wrong, but I
April 9, 2008 - 19:33 ET by motherbeltI could be wrong, but I seem to remember not 300, but 400% of poverty level, which would mean families earning $82,000 would be eligible!
“affordable, high quality health coverage for all through shared responsibility,” translates to free for some, with the responsibility shared by "the rich."
The 400% was actually
April 9, 2008 - 19:43 ET by stratmanIIRC, the 400% was actually incorporated into New York's SCHIP program. Some other states were sniffing around this value as well prior to the recent continuance of the program.
Creeping Socialism in play.
RRAM Tough!
Paper on Families USA's push for socialized medicine
April 9, 2008 - 20:53 ET by Matthew VadumAt Capital Research Center we did an article on Families USA's push for government-run healthcare...
"HillaryCare Again: Families USA, SEIU, Big Business Push for Socialized Medicine," by Dr. David Hogberg
Summary: A strange-bedfellows alliance of liberal advocacy groups, labor unions and Big Business is trying to resurrect “HillaryCare.” Major corporations, which will benefit if government picks up the tab for their employees’ health care, are joining with the liberal group Families USA to press for more government health care spending. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is in on the deal too. Its partner? Wal-Mart!
—Matthew Vadum is Editor of Organization Trends and Foundation Watch at Capital Research Center
Major corporations, which
April 9, 2008 - 21:22 ET by motherbeltMajor corporations, which will benefit if government picks up the tab
for their employees’ health care, are joining with the liberal group
Families USA to press for more government health care spending. The
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is in on the deal too. Its
partner? Wal-Mart!
Does anyone think that, when they no longer have to provide health insurance plans, that they will pay even a portion of what they have saved, in wage increases to their employees?
And the funny thing is that the usual activists who normally have a meltdown at anything that benefits those "big, evil corporations" will be silent about their almost "windfall" profits on this one.
If you recall...
April 10, 2008 - 06:26 ET by Joe C.Their methodology was based on combining 2 other flawed methodologies, and they refuse to release the actual "report" for review. They just send out their scare releases, but no facts. This organization has a well-deserved reputation for alarmist press releases based on shotty research. They are to be ignored.