Politifact: Beware Health Care Distortions

Non-partisan fact-check website Politifact.com issued a warning about the following distortions in statements about the proposed health care reform plans.

Distortions from opponents of the reform plans:

Critics have portrayed the Democratic plan as a government takeover of health care, as a system that would prey on the elderly, use tax dollars to pay for abortion, and expand health care coverage for illegal immigrants. But in many cases, they have misstated the facts, or taken a grain of truth and exaggerated it.

Politifact's rulings on critics' claims about the proposed plans:

• Not a government takeover of health care.
• No death panels for Granny.
• No new benefits for illegal immigrants.
• No taxpayer subsidies for abortion.

Politifact also says "supporters of the health care reform plans have offered plenty of exaggerations and falsehoods of their own."

These include:

• Exaggerations about costs.
• The villains. Health insurance companies have been a favorite target for supporters of health care reform, and the attacks are often wrong.

Politifact.com and factcheck.org remain indispensible tools in ferreting out the truth about the health care debate.

--Ballard Burgher