Can't Afford Health or Heat...in Liberal Hub of Boston

There's economic trouble in the land with people unable to afford proper health care or heat for their homes ABC and NBC contended on Wednesday night. And where did the network journalists travel to find the heart-rending anecdotes of people in pain thanks to the awful Bush economy? Some Republican area with harsh conservative politicians who have slashed government funding to the poor? No, to Boston, a veritable liberal nirvana of big government for decades, the home of John Kerry, with a Democratic Mayor in a state with an Obama ally, Deval Patrick, as Governor.

ABC's Gigi Stone looked at how “many Americans” supposedly now “find themselves...forced to choose between short-term survival and long-term health.” She asserted: “Doctors here in Boston say they're seeing an increasing number of patients who cannot afford the most basic preventive health measures.” So much for the wonders of the Bay State's mandatory health insurance law.

NBC anchor Brian Williams acknowledged “record levels of government help available” for heating bills, yet “communities around this country are worried people will simply not have enough money to keep warm in the cold winter during this cold economy.” Michelle Kosinski showcased a Normandy veteran in Boston who “sometimes” can't afford to eat before she turned to John Drew of Action for Boston Community Development who fretted people “do not have enough income,” so there are “infants who are at risk” and “as a national government, as a national priority, we've got to do better.”

Trying to prove the situation is dire, Kosinski reported: “One study showed 73 percent of low-income families have cut back on necessities to afford heat, 35 percent went without medical care, 20 percent without food for at least a day.” But that “study,” really a poll, was taken three years ago!

The National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association's “2005 National Energy Assistance Survey” was released in September of 2005, long before the current economic troubles. (Key findings, press release.)

And Kosinki's number aren't as ominous as they sound. Yes, “20 percent reported that they went without food for at least one day,” but that's sometime “in the past five years.” The poll did find that “35 percent of respondents went without medical or dental care in the five years prior to the survey, due in part to their energy expenses.” Again, over five years and only “in part” due to energy prices. Plus, that 35 percent was actually down from 36 percent in 2003.

From Stone's story on the Wednesday, November 12 edition of ABC's World News:

GIGI STONE: ...check ups are being canceled, surgeries postponed. Doctors here in Boston say they're seeing an increasing number of patients who cannot afford the most basic preventive health measures like a blood test, which makes it more likely controllable conditions will escalate into major medical problems. And then there's the expensive trip to the pharmacy.

GEORGIANNA EACMAN: My co-pay is $247.

STONE: That's a month?

EACMAN: That's a month.

STONE: With bills mounting, diabetic Georgianna Eacman stopped filling her prescriptions for insulin.

EACMAN: It is very humiliating to admit not only could I not support myself but I didn't even know how I was going to get the medication for tomorrow.

STONE: Eacman is now finding more affordable medicines at a low-income health center in Boston. It is a wrenching situation so many Americans find themselves in today, forced to choose between short-term survival and long-term health. Gigi Stone, ABC News, Boston.

NBC Nightly News:

BRIAN WILLIAMS: If you've looked at the price of oil lately, then you've seen it falling hard. That would be good news, but home heating oil prices have been slow to follow. And despite record levels of government help available, at least to pay heating bills, communities around this country are worried people will simply not have enough money to keep warm in the cold winter during this cold economy. Our report from NBC's Michelle Kosinski.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI:  82-year-old veteran John McPherson loves his independence. He was on the beach at Normandy as a teenager. Now, he faces a different battle. Sometimes, his entire Social Security check goes to the heating bill.

KOSINSKI to McPHERSON: Was it really cold this morning?

JOHN McPHERSON: Oh, god.

KOSINSKI: He's been cutting back-

McPHERSON: Sometimes I don't eat.

KOSINSKI: -on food.

McPHERSON: You'll be so hungry, you don't feel like eating, you know what I mean?

KOSONSKI: That's what it takes to pay the heating bill?

McPHERSON: Yeah. I get these cup of soup things.

KOSINSKI: But this winter could be worse. Just as more Americans are facing financial tough times and a cold winter is predicted, the U.S. Department of Energy says we will still be paying more than the five-year average to heat our homes this winter, even with falling oil prices. For electric heat, you can expect to pay nearly 10 percent more than you did last year. Natural gas, over 3 percent more. And though your heating oil bills could be as much as 13 percent lower, that's still $500 more than that five-year average. At this Boston non-profit, people have been lining up to apply for aid since summer. Not all will qualify.

JOHN DREW, ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: People do not have enough income. I'm gonna get really upset. Do not have enough income to live on, who worked hard all their lives. There's infants who are at risk. And as a national government, as a national priority, we've got to do better.

KOSINSKI: One study showed 73 percent of low-income families have cut back on necessities to afford heat, 35 percent went without medical care, 20 percent without food for at least a day.

ROBIN SHERMAN, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS DONAHUE INSTITUTE: It's hard to imagine a situation where we could afford to buy fuel for all of the people who are gonna have difficulty.

KOSINSKI: The winter feels longer for Americans who will be struggling to stay warm. Michelle Kosinski, NBC Nws, Boston.