Sunday, April 6, 2008

Fact-Checking Hillary: A Full-Time Job

Well, the inevitable happened again! Hillary got caught in another whopper.

This time it had to do with a pregnant Black woman who was uninsured and she and her baby died because a hospital refused her care. To make it worse, as Hillary told it, if only she had $100, the hospital would have cared for her; and, her life and the life or her baby would have been saved. (See Full Story).

Certainly, Hillary jumped on this story because it was so perfect for her as a Democrat. It had all the elements that a Democrat looks for to paint a bad picture of America. It had a poor, Black, pregnant woman. She had no health insurance. And that mean ogre of a hospital, like all hospitals and health care providers in America, refused her care and she and her baby died. Of course, it was so "perfectly disgusting" as a story that Hillary couldn't wait to tell it before making sure it was accurate. And, so happy with this lie, she continued to tell it for 5 weeks on the campaign trail. After all, it sounded just like the America that Hillary was so familiar with.

Of course, Hillary Clinton, as a United States Senator who has made health care such a prominent issue of her campaign, should have "known" that something didn't smell right with this story. In fact, if it had actually happened as Hillary said it did, it would have been a violation of Federal Law. That's because the 1986 Federal Law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), requires all hospitals and ambulance services to provide care to anyone needing emergency treatment or who is in labor; regardless of their citizenship, their legal status or their ability to pay. That's why so many illegal aliens come here to have their babies. Further, as specified by the law, all hospitals post a placard in their emergency rooms that clearly states the provisions of that law. This law and the guarantee of emergency care is one of the many reasons why we have 47 million Americans without health insurance in this country.

Instead of telling this phony story of "woe" in order to bolster her political agenda, she actually should have been calling for a criminal investigation against that hospital for violating a Federal law. Of course, that too, would have blown up in her face because that action would have been based on a false story. Oh well! Maybe, it would be better if Hillary tried something "original" like telling the truth for a change!

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