Jul 21, 2009 9:09 pm US/Central
Misleading E-Mails On Health Care Flood Inboxes
MINNEAPOLIS (CBS) ―
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President Barack Obama greets health care professionals after speaking on healthcare reform in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, July 15, 2009.
Saul Loeb/Getty Images
Both sides of the health care debate are ramping up for what is essentially a political campaign to pass it or defeat it. And a lot of what we are seeing is questionable, especially what are essentially Internet e-mail hoaxes, CBS station WCCO-TV reports.
The e-mail smear seen most often is directly targeted at seniors. It describes Obama's health care plan as a "Death Warrant for Seniors".
It makes a frightening and completely inaccurate claim:
"In England, citizens over 59 cannot receive heart repairs, stents or coronary bypass surgery because it's too expensive and not warranted, in the eyes of the government... given the age of the patients."
This is
jaw-droppingly absurd and it's completely wrong, WCCO-TV reports.
Here's what is true.
The
government of England by law provides medical care to everyone, including heart repairs, regardless of "gender, race, disability, age, sexual orientation or religion."
Here's another e-mail hoax, related to the actress Natasha Richardson, who died after falling on a ski slope in Canada this year. An e-mail claims she died because of the Canadian health care system; the kind it says Obama wants in America.
Here's the important part:
"It took eight hours to drive her to a hospital. If Canada had our health care she might be alive today. In the United States, we have medical evacuation helicopters that would have transported her to a hospital within 30 minutes."
Like the U.S., Canada does have a
helicopter evacuation network. However, it's true the province of Quebec does not.
Richardson at first refused the medical treatment which might have saved her, however. A second ambulance was called a couple of hours later. It took 38 minutes to drive her to a hospital.
The e-mails claim Obama wants a health care system like Canada and England.
Obama said he's opposed to single-payer health system like those countries.
His mission is to get the House and Senate to pass bills before they break for their August recess, a brisk timeframe that has lawmakers working overtime and Republican critics lashing at the president for rushing and overreaching.
To check the resources for this Reality Check, click on the links below.
The NHS Constitution for England
Richardson death highlights air ambulance woes
Remarks By President In Online Town Hall On Health Care
FaceCheck.Org On E-Mail Hoaxes
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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