An Aug. 14 Newsmax article by David Patten recounts claims by “analysts” that President Obama is unleashing a “litany of misstatements and dubious assertions” regarding health care reform without making clear that those “analysts” are all conservatives who oppose health care reform. Suggesting that partisan conservatives are nonpartisan “experts” and “analysts” is a longtime trope at Newsmax.
Patten also obfuscates on at least one claim, writing:
The president promised no policyholder will lose his or her current coverage. But a study commissioned by the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank concluded that more than 88 million individuals would have to shift to a new plan, if the current proposals on the table are adopted. Other estimates issued by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Urban Institute estimate the number will be lower, but still in the millions.
The CBO estimate is, in fact, dramatically different from the Heritage-commissioned study (done by the insurer-owned Lewin Group): 2 million would switch from private coverage to a public plan. By saying only that the CBO’s estimate was “lower … but still in the millions,” Patten hides the huge disparity.
Needless to say, Patten makes no mention of the “litany of misstatements and dubious assertions” made by health reform critics, i.e., “death panels.”