Obama errors at townhall meeting

Fact Checking Obama's Errors at Healthcare Reform 'Town Hall'
DateWednesday, August 12, 2009 at 07:18AM
As expected, Barack Obama told some fibs about healthcare reform to his adoring supporters at the staged ‘town hall’ meeting in New Hampshire. Here are just a few: (Pres. Obama’s quotes are taken from the White House transcript of the town hall meeting)
On AARP endorsement of Democrats health care reform:
OBAMA: We have the AARP on board because they know this is a good deal for our seniors. Another myth that we’ve been hearing about is this notion that somehow we’re going to be cutting your Medicare benefits. We are not. AARP would not be endorsing a bill if it was undermining Medicare, okay?
AARP Chief Operating Officer Tom Nelson responded that the AARP does not endorse this health care reform bill.“While the President was correct that AARP will not endorse a health care reform bill that would reduce Medicare benefits, indications that we have endorsed any of the major health care reform bills currently under consideration in Congress are inaccurate.”
On end of life care for elderly on Medicaid crediting Republican Johnny Isakson from Georgia for co-sponsoring the bill:
OBAMA: A provision in one of the House bills that allowed Medicare to reimburse people for consultations about end-of-life care, setting up living wills, the availability of hospice, et cetera. So the intention of the members of Congress was to give people more information so that they could handle issues of end-of-life care when they’re ready, on their own terms. It wasn’t forcing anybody to do anything. This is I guess where the rumor came from. The irony is that actually one of the chief sponsors of this bill originally was a Republican — then House member, now senator, named Johnny Isakson from Georgia — who very sensibly thought this is something that would expand people’s options. And somehow it’s gotten spun into this idea of “death panels.”
Senator Johnny Isakson blasting Obama for this fib:“This is what happens when the President and members of Congress don’t read the bills. The White House and others are merely attempting to deflect attention from the intense negativity caused by their unpopular policies. I never consulted with the White House in this process and had no role whatsoever in the House Democrats’ bill. “I categorically oppose the House bill and find it incredulous that the White House and others would use my amendment as a scapegoat for their misguided policies. My Senate amendment simply puts health care choices back in the hands of the individual and allows them to consider if they so choose a living will or durable power of attorney. The House provision is merely another ill-advised attempt at more government mandates, more government intrusion, and more government involvement in what should be an individual choice.”
On paying $6,000 more per year per person on health care than any other advanced country:
Obama: So we want– if I’m a customer, if I’m a consumer and I know that I’m overpaying $6,000 for anything else, I would immediately want the best deal. But for some reason, in health care, we continue to put up with getting a bad deal. We’re paying $6,000 more than any other advanced country and we’re not healthier for it – $6,000 per person more, per year. That doesn’t make any sense.
Fact Check says it’s $2500 more per person per year: In fact, the U.S. spends about $7,000 per person per year in total, according to OECD figures. We spend about $2,500 more per person than the next highest-spending country, not $6,000.
On 46 Million Uninsured in America:
OBAMA: I don’t have to explain to you that nearly 46 million Americans don’t have health insurance coverage today. In the wealthiest nation on Earth, 46 million of our fellow citizens have no coverage.
Actually, there are 21.5 million, 7%, legitimately without health care coverage in the U.S.
* There are over 9.7 million non-citizens (both illegal and legal workers) living in America who are not insured. Take the non-citizens away and there will be 37 million uninsured, 12 percent of our population.
* Take away the 9.1 million who can afford insurance but don’t get it from the 37 million who are American citizens and we’re left with 27.9 million Americans who can’t afford medical insurance, 9 percent of our population.
* Then, there are the so-called Medicare and Medicaid undercounts. The undercounts were acknowledged in the Current Population Survey (CPS). They said that estimates of Medicaid enrollment are 43 percent lower than raw Medicaid program enrollment counts.
Some say the government insurance undercount is as high as 6.4 million, which would mean that up to 6.4 million either don’t know they are on Medicare, Medicaid, S-CHIP, or other state insurance or that they don’t know it is considered insurance. If we go with that amount, we can subtract the 6.4 million from the 27.9 million Americans who cannot afford health insurance. Our new total is 21.5 million, 7 percent.
And these are just a few.