CSaction, along with
a coalition of many healthcare reform groups like HealthCare for ALL Colorado,
PeakDems, AARP, SEIU, UFCW, African American Voice, Coloradans for Peace,
and independent reform advocates, attended representative Lamborn 's Thursday
healthcare town hall on August 27, 2009
Representative Lamborn had just sent out an estimated 70,000 mailers "prepared,
published and mailed at taxpayer expense" that were full of LIES and disinformation
about the healthcare reform bills. It's only estimated to be 70,000 because,
when asked about the total number mailed, LAMEborn's Communications Director
Catherine Mortensen, "I have the figures, but I don't have the authority to
give that to you."
Actually they don't have the authority to withhold that information because
it's public record, given that this pack of LIES was "prepared, published
and mailed at taxpayer expense."
The mailer says "114 million could lose their current health care coverage
under the bill".
This is a LIE!
This absurd figure comes from "The Impact of the House Health Reform Legislation
Coverage and Provider Incomes," by the Lewin Group.
The Lewin Group is a "research" and management consulting (lobbyist) firm
owned entirely by the second largest health insurer in the nation, UnitedHealth
Group.
Furthermore, the "research" does NOT say 114 million LOOSING healthcare but
CHANGING insurers. The 114 million was a figure the Lewin Group published
in June, which they revised DOWN to 88.1 million in July, so it's not even
their most current LIE.
The Congressional Budget Office completely refutes that, saying that enrollment
in the House Democrats' proposed public plan would total 10 to 12 million
people.
The Lewin Group is part of Ingenix, a wholly-owned UnitedHealth subsidiary
that was accused by the New York attorney general and the American Medical
Association of helping insurers shift medical expenses to consumers by distributing
skewed data. Ingenix supplied UnitedHealth and other insurers with data that
allegedly understated the "reasonable and customary" doctor fees that insurers
use to determine how much they will reimburse consumers for out-of-network
care.
In January, UnitedHealth agreed to a $350 million settlement with the AMA,
and a $50 million settlement with the New York attorney general, covering
conduct going back as far as 1994, when they were distributing skewed information
to fight President Clinton's healthcare reforms.
Next LIE in this mailer:
"4.7 million jobs that could be lost as a result of tax hikes on small businesses".
This absurd figure comes from an op-ed piece written by House minority leader
John Boehner, who admitted to distributing bribes from Big Tobacco on the
floor of the House. He says got the figures according to the methodology developed
by Christina Romer, the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. She NEVER
said such a thing, and he obviously he doesn't understand her methodology.
What did she really say?
"The current healthcare system does not work well for small businesses."
"They pay about 18% more for comparable coverage than a big firm, and that
puts them at a competitive disadvantage."
"Healthcare reform is ABSOLUTELY aimed at easing those burdens."
"The plan has a tax credit for small businesses."
Lewin Group Vice President John Sheils admits 114 million would NOT lose their
employer-sponsored coverage AND they wouldn't be forced into a government-run
health plan. Rather, they would be able to choose between the public option
and other private options, through the exchange, and "they might very well
be better off," he said.
But not all of the firm's corrupt reports see the light of day. For example,
a study for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association was never released, Sheils
said.
"Let's just say, sometimes studies come out that don't show exactly what the
client wants to see. And in those instances, they have [the] option to bury
the study -- to not release it, rather," Sheils said.