Newspapers Continue to Cover Up Liberal Slant of Families USA

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 SaltLake 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.