Washingtonpost.com joins growing list of media perpetuating McCaughey's health IT falsehood
SUMMARY: Washingtonpost.com blogger Ed O'Keefe uncritically quoted Betsy McCaughey's false claim from her Bloomberg op-ed that provisions in the House-passed recovery bill would permit the government to "monitor [health] treatments" and restrict what "your doctor is doing" with regard to patient care. In fact, the provisions McCaughey referred to address establishing an electronic records system such that doctors would have complete, accurate information about their patients "to help guide medical decisions at the time and place of care."
In a February 11 entry on the washingtonpost.com Federal Eye blog, blogger Ed O'Keefe asserted that "[f]ormer New York lieutenant governor Betsy McCaughey has caused a stir with a Bloomberg op-ed that raises questions about parts of the economic stimulus package concerning health care and the Department of Health and Human Services." O'Keefe proceeded to uncritically quote McCaughey's false claim that under provisions in the House-passed economic recovery bill, "[o]ne new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and 'guide' your doctor's decisions." In fact, the language in the House bill that McCaughey referred to does not establish authority to "monitor treatments" or restrict what "your doctor is doing" with regard to patient care but, rather, addresses establishing an electronic records system such that doctors would have complete, accurate information about their patients "to help guide medical decisions at the time and place of care."
Indeed, CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen reported during the February 11 edition of CNN Newsroom, "I had a PDF of the bill up on my computer. I said, 'Show me where in the bill it says that this bill is going to have the government telling your doctor what to do.' And [McCaughey] directed me to language -- it didn't actually say that." Cohen added, "Now when we asked the folks who wrote this bill, 'Hey, is this bill going to allow the government to tell doctors what to do?' they used words like 'preposterous' and 'completely and wildly untrue.' "
As Media Matters for America has documented, numerous media figures have advanced McCaughey's misrepresentations of the recovery bill's health care provisions, including nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh, Internet gossip Matt Drudge, CNN host Lou Dobbs, Wall Street Journal senior economic writer Stephen Moore, Fox News host Glenn Beck, and Fox News anchors Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly.
O'Keefe proceeded to uncritically quote McCaughey's false claim that under provisions in the House-passed economic recovery bill, "[o]ne new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and 'guide' your doctor's decisions."
I did a Google search on "National Coordinator of Health Information Technology" yesterday, and found a page on the Department of Health & Human Services website that described the position and its responsibilities. A notation at the bottom of the page said it was last updated in 2005, meaning this position is around four years old and was NOT thought up as part of the stimulus bill.
Yet another example of conservative misinformation.....
So, that means it was Bush's idea. Well, not exactly Bush's idea, since Bush never really came up with ideas on his own...but it was his administration that came up with it.
Bush had an idea on his own once. But Cheney opined that barber-pole columns on the white house was probably not appropriate, so Bush had the paint returned and never saw his idea come to fruition.
Maybe this is just me, but I'm wondering how much the health-insurance industry is bankrolling O'Keefe and McCaughey to be some of the point-people on the war against universal health care?...
Wonder no more, at least as far as McCaughey is concerned.
She asked to be funded so she could peddle her influence. In a sane world, that would be the end of the entire "controversy".
More right wing lies. These people have absolutely no moral standards. If Rush says it, they run with it.