NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday December 11, 2009

Meet the new John McCain: Misinformation, robocalls, ethical lapses

Sen. John McCain is keeping busy during the holidays. Last week, he recorded “scare the seniors” Medicare robocalls that played in Arizona and several states (listen: http://www.azdem.org/page/_/downloads/McCain_Robocall_12.11.09_2.wma.asx). Then on Wednesday he was slapped with an ethics complaint for those same robocalls (see: http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/azdc/69204). And today he’s pushing even more health-reform falsehoods on the Senate floor (see fact check below).

Some Arizonans may think McCain is still the “maverick” they’ve kept in office since 1983. After all, isn’t this the senator who, just after losing the 2008 election, famously pledged to work with President Obama on the tough issues America faces? (see: http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/mccain/1330970,mccain-obama-121408.article)

Despite that pledge, McCain has spent the last year reinventing himself as a GOP attack dog and obstructionist (see: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30476.html).

“It’s a striking shift for someone who was once known for reaching across the aisle,” said Luis Heredia, Arizona Democratic Party executive director. “McCain isn’t on Arizona’s side anymore. The only thing he’s fighting for now is the national GOP agenda.”

At the top of that national GOP agenda is defeating any type of health reform that would benefit millions of Americans instead of big insurance companies. Here’s a fact check on McCain’s comments today on the Senate floor:

MCCAIN’S CLAIM: Republicans don’t want “a government takeover…”

THE REALITY: Democrats don’t want a government takeover either. McCain keeps repeating this GOP talking point, hoping the media will report it unchallenged and the public won’t hear about legitimate studies and stories that verify the Democrats’ position.

A few examples:

•Factcheck.org: “President Obama Hasn’t Proposed A Government-Run [Health Care] Plan And, In Fact, Has Rejected The Idea.” [FactCheck.org, 5/6/09] http://www.factcheck.org/2009/04/government-run-health-care/

•AMA President-Elect Reassured: Physicians And Patients Don’t Need To Fear The Rise Of A Monolithic Health System With No Choice From President Obama. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported that “American Medical Association president-elect Dr. James Rohack told Mississippi doctors Friday…Physicians and patients don’t need to fear the rise of a monolithic health system with no choice, because it’s not something the American people would accept, Rohack said. The president didn’t advocate a single-payer system for the United States at the meeting, Rohack said. Obama said he believes in access to health care for all with a system that is a mix of public and private sources with patients still able to see the physicians of their choice.” [Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 5/30/09]

MCCAIN’S CLAIM: This “massive reorganization of health care in America will destroy the quality of … health care in America.”

THE REALITY: Reform will improve quality of and access to health care in the United States. A few examples:

•AARP: Senate Legislation Will “Improve The Quality, Value And Sustainability Of [Medicare] For Current And Future Beneficiaries,” And “The Legislation Does Not Reduce Any Guaranteed Medicare Benefits.” AARP CEO Barry Rand said in a letter: “With respect to Medicare, AARP supports policies to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse—and to improve the quality, value and sustainability of the program for current and future beneficiaries. The legislation before the Senate properly focuses on provider reimbursement reforms to achieve these important policy objectives. Most importantly, the legislation does not reduce any guaranteed Medicare benefits.” [AARP Statement, 12/2/09]

•Senate Bill Includes “Value-Based Purchasing Programs,” Programs To Measure And Improve Care Quality, Payment Bundling Reforms, A “Host Of Payment Extensions And Improvements.” Health Affairs blog wrote: “The Medicare title of the bill begins with a number of pay-for-performance and quality initiatives that have no exact equivalent in the House bill. These include value-based purchasing programs for hospitals and physicians and payment penalties for hospital-acquired conditions. [Health Affairs Blog, 11/21/09]

•Johns Hopkins Study: Uninsured Children In The Hospital Are 60 Percent More Likely To Die Than Children Covered By Either Private Or Government Insurance Plans, 1,000 Hospitalized Children Die Each Year Because They Lacked Insurance. The New York Times reported that, ”[u]ninsured children who wind up in the hospital are much more likely to die than children covered by either private or government insurance plans, according to one of the first studies to assess the impact of insurance coverage on hospitalized children. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center analyzed data from more than 23 million children’s hospitalizations in 37 states from 1988 to 2005. Compared with insured children, uninsured children faced a 60 percent increased risk of dying, the researchers found. The authors estimated that at least 1,000 hospitalized children died each year simply because they lacked insurance, accounting for 16,787 of some 38,649 children’s deaths nationwide during the period analyzed.” [New York Times – Prescriptions Blog, 10/30/09]