Wednesday, August 26, 2009
"Surgical Strike: Surgeons' Group Blasts Obama's $30K-$50K Foot/Leg Amputation Claim"
These factual "errors" are pretty frequent.
Unfortunately, far more people hear the original statements than hear corrected versions or rebuttals.
I wouldn't be surprised that the misinformation is calculated and intentional?...
Unfortunately, far more people hear the original statements than hear corrected versions or rebuttals.
I wouldn't be surprised that the misinformation is calculated and intentional?...
Tom Blumer discusses this one at NewsBusters.org:
"CHICAGO—The American College of Surgeons is deeply disturbed over the uninformed public comments President Obama continues to make about the high-quality care provided by surgeons in the United States. When the President makes statements that are incorrect or not based in fact, we think he does a disservice to the American people at a time when they want clear, understandable facts about health care reform. We want to set the record straight.
Yesterday during a town hall meeting, President Obama got his facts completely wrong. He stated that a surgeon gets paid $50,000 for a leg amputation when, in fact, Medicare pays a surgeon between $740 and $1,140 for a leg amputation. This payment also includes the evaluation of the patient on the day of the operation plus patient follow-up care that is provided for 90 days after the operation. Private insurers pay some variation of the Medicare reimbursement for this service."
