In contending America already has health care rationing, ABC's Dr.
Tim Johnson, a universal coverage advocate, on Friday night's World
News asserted “we have a lot of rationing, based on income, the kind of
insurance you have, the way you can navigate the health system” and
“a
recent Harvard study estimated that 45,000 people died each year in
this country because of lack of health insurance. If that's not
rationing, I don't know what is.”
That “Harvard study,” which the CBS Evening News promoted two months ago, was really produced by the
Physicians for a National Health Program
(PNHP), a left-wing advocacy group which touts itself as “the only
national physician organization in the United States dedicated
exclusively to implementing a single-payer national health program.”
Study co-author Dr. Steffie Woolhandler of PNHP is one of five signers
of an “Open Letter to President Obama to Support Single-Payer Health
Care.”
The September 18 BiasAlert item, “
CBS Disguises Single-Payer Group's 45,000 Deaths Claim as a 'Harvard' Study,” recounted:
Trying
to boost the rationale for ObamaCare, Thursday's CBS Evening News ran
two stories from far-left sources, but the network disguised the agenda
behind both. Katie Couric announced that "while the debate goes on over
the cost of insuring everyone, a new study reveals the cost of not
doing it. The Harvard study says nearly 45,000 American deaths every
year are linked to a lack of insurance." Neither she, nor reporter Jim
Axelrod, noted that the report was really produced by Physicians for a
National Health Program, "the only national physician organization in
the United States dedicated exclusively to implementing a single-payer
national health program."
....with
the numbers on screen credited to "Harvard Medical School" and Dr.
Steffie Woolhandler identified on screen as with "Harvard Medical
School," Axelrod reported Woolhandler "was part of a team that tracked
more than 9,000 people for up to 13 years, comparing the health of
those with insurance to those without. After factoring in education and
income, smoking, drinking, obesity, researchers found the uninsured had
about a 40 percent higher risk of death. In 1993, it was 25 percent."
Woolhandler is one of five signers of an "Open Letter to President Obama to Support Single-Payer Health Care"
and the CBSNews.com online version of Axelrod's story provides a link
to a PDF of the "study" – as posted on the Physicians for a National
Health Program's site.
The MRC's Brad Wilmouth caught this exchange on the Friday, November
20 World News on ABC anchored by George Stephanopoulos, following a
story on task forces on breast and cervical cancer which recommended
fewer and later cancer-screening tests:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Tim, let me begin with you. You
know, we see this political debate already beginning. Let's start out
with a little reality check. How much is what we saw this week the
future of health care, and how much is what's being debated now on
Capitol Hill going to accelerate that process?
TIM JOHNSON: Well, George, I'm always amused when I hear a
politician imply that we already don't have rationing, that it's
something in the future. We have a lot of rationing, based on income,
the kind of insurance you have, the way you can navigate the health
system. A recent Harvard study estimated that 45,000 people died each
year in this country because of lack of health insurance. If that's not
rationing, I don't know what is. The real question is, who's going to
do the rationing? Will it be 535 politicians subject to lobbyists and
special interest groups, or experts who really wrestle with objective
evidence? I would vote for the latter.
— Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center