Tag Archives: health care

Malpractice: Savings Reconsidered

In 2004 we accused President Bush of using “dubious statistics” to support his claim that limiting malpractice awards to injured patients could save the economy between $60 billion and $108 billion per year. Ever since, we’ve said most independent research indicated little if any savings from limiting malpractice liability, and just a few weeks ago …
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TGIF

President Obama’s unexpected Nobel Peace Prize may end up being the story of the week, but it was the third-party groups that occupied most of our attention here at FactCheck.org. Once again, health care dominated the discussion, though we also saw some new ads on taxes and on climate change. …
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Going Out of Business?

A new health care ad from a conservative group claims that “Medicare will be bankrupt in eight years.” That gives a false impression. The program does have huge financial problems, but there’s no reason to think it’s going out of business as the word “bankrupt” implies. And …
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Targeting Ensign

We’re not ones to doubt that money can influence politics. But uncovering a paying-for-favors scandal takes more than a mere list of campaign contributions and a few committee votes. That tactic, however, is being used – again – in the health care debate, this time in an ad from the liberal …
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Health Care Overhaul: Constitutional?

Q: Are the health care overhaul proposals that are pending in the House and Senate constitutional? A: Legal experts agree that requiring citizens to buy something is a novel concept that has not been tested in the courts.

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Grayson’s Iffy Claims

Florida Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson is facing rebuke from House Republicans for saying that "Republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick." In a Sept. 29 speech on the House floor, Grayson said that the Republican health care plan is: "Don’t get sick. And if you do get …
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The DNC and Senior Scare

The Democratic National Committee has released a new TV ad about health care legislation, this time on the Senate Finance Committee proposal. In the ad, the DNC takes on Republicans for "trying to scare seniors about health reform," saying that news outlets had called their claims "dishonest" and "scare-mongering." The ad’s …
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RNC Tax Attack Goes Too Far

The Republican National Committee claims in a new Web ad that Democratic health care plans propose taxes on “charities and small businesses. A doctor’s tax. Taxes on your health insurance. Even a tax on medical supplies.” It’s perfectly true, as the ad says, that “hundreds of billions” in taxes are being proposed – spread over …
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Too Good to Check?

Slate writer Tim Noah ‘fesses up to, and dissects, his erroneous telling of an anecdote about an Illinois man whose insurance company canceled his coverage while he was in the middle of chemotherapy. Noah’s July 27 column – which said, wrongly, that "the delay in treatment eliminated [the man's] chances …
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Denial of Claims

Insurance companies aren’t very popular these days, and it’s certainly not too difficult to dig up a horror story or two of how a patient’s medical claim was denied unfairly. But do companies really "deny payment for 1 out of every 5 treatments doctors prescribe," as a new ad says? …
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