Truth and Lies About "Senior Death Warrants"

Rather listen than read?  Link here for the MP3 podcast version.

Any issue that combines and affects our health and our money sets the stage for plenty of contention, speculation and arguments. Health care reform is one of those issues.

It’s difficult enough that we American citizens have our differing points of view on the subject. Now add the fact that $1.4 million dollars per day are being spent on lobbyists by special interest groups and political action committees, and what do you have? The roots of rumors, innuendo, lies, fear mongering – whatever tools are necessary to sway an audience.

There is no quicker way to spread rumors and lies than through e-mail. Make a few claims – pro or con – and send them to a group of gullible followers. The next thing you know, that digital missive takes on a life of its own.

You may have received one such e-mail titled, “Senior Death Warrants.” It has found its way to my Inbox too many times.

The e-mail suggests that President Obama and his supporters have already decided to move America toward a health system like that of Canada or Great Britain. And, that Senator Tom Daschle stated that “Health care reform will not be pain free. Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them.”

Neither statement is true.

Further, the e-mail states that “In England anyone over 59 cannot receive heart repairs or stents or bypass because it is not covered as being too expensive and not needed.” To find the truth, I contacted six physicians who practice in the United Kingdom. Each one told me that the statement is absolutely untrue. One gentleman wrote to me to tell me he was living in Britain when he had a heart attack at age 63. He was treated with cardiac catheterization and a stent.

There is only one truth about this e-mail: whoever wrote it wants to be sure we don’t understand the real facts about healthcare reform. I expect that’s because reform is going to cost them out of their pockets, and not necessarily ours.

If you receive any e-mail that makes claims about healthcare reform, no matter what direction those claims lean, please check your facts before you send it to someone else. Healthcare reform is going to happen. Far better it be done with truth and collaboration than lies and fear mongering.
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You can read the entire e-mail, deconstructed, highlighting truths and lies here: Senior Death Warrants