CBS’ Healthcare Full Court Press

As the election approaches, with Iraq basically off the table as a talking point the Democrats and the media have to turn to domestic issues - notably health care. CBS has replayed this little propaganda piece at least twice this morning, discussed the Democratic candidate’s plans to help these poor victims at length, and (quelle suprise!) run several on-message commercials about the 47 million uninsured, the high cost of insurance, and the difficulty getting insurance in this country.

The 47 million uninsured figure has already been quite handily debunked:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKCWbq18bNk[/youtube]

The CBS piece is so bad it’s difficult to know where to start. Texas has the highest number of uninsured. Could that be because of the huge number of illegal aliens in Texas? Could it be because of demographics - a lot of young people who don’t want to spend the money on insurance because they don’t feel they need it? Is Rosie Perez, the CBS poster child, really representative? The question isn’t even addressed.

Drugs are cheaper in Mexico. Why are the cheaper? Is it because of the eeevil, greedy drug companies who want a (gasp!) profit? Or could it be because

The reason that Rx drugs cost less in countries like Canada is that international laws on commerce treat prescription drugs differently from other consumer products. U.S. pharmaceutical companies are required under a 1994 treaty to sell their drugs at drastically cut prices to countries with drug price controls. Any pharmaceutical company that fails to comply can be punished by having its patent protection taken away. It is as if you were selling books in the United States for $10 and when you offered them to Canada, officials there told you that they would either give you $4 or violate your intellectual property rights and make copies of the book without your permission, in the name of educating Canadians.

I think that’s pertinent information in this debate. Pharmaceutical companies which spend billions on research and development are having their profits artificially stripped away. The end result of this is that Americans subsidize cheap drugs for the rest of the world. That’s a lousy situation and I’d like it to be addressed. But if our manner of addressing it is to join the rest of the world in failing to pay in full for a product we want, we should not be surprised when companies stop providing the product. The real solution is to make the rest of the world pay in full. But since the question of why drugs are cheaper elsewhere isn’t even addressed, that solution will never be proposed or implemented. CBS also fails to address legitimate reimportation safety issues like counterfeit drugs.

Instead, we’re told that the system which provided the technology that other countries are discounting is a “travesty.” We hear about the “dark reality.” We learn that Ms. Perez’ doctor of four years “will no longer see her.” Is it because he’s mean, or is that because she’s not paying the bill? Should he be conscripted into providing free care because he once provided paid care? Are there any other care options in Brownsville? Is there a university or charity hospital? Is there a clinic? Since the problem she complains of in the news story is diabetes, has she availed herself of the discount and free pharmaceutical programs that are available right now? We’re not told.

Another question which is not asked is whether any new medical technology has emerged from these countries with the oh-so-superior free healthcare. Or are they just enjoying the benefits of American-funded technology?

Finally there’s a smooth segue into promoting both Democratic campaigns, because both candidates want to save us from this terrible fate. Neither candidate really satisfies CBS, because neither one of them plans to provide unlimited totally free care for Ms. Perez - who is earning about $400 a month for doing odd jobs, instead of taking several part time jobs until she can acquire a full time job or selling her house and moving where the job market is better than Brownsville’s evidently is. But either one of them is more palatable than McCain, who goes completely unmentioned.

Interestingly, the CBS propaganda piece bears a striking resemblance to this Al Jazeera feature from early February 4, 2008. We’re going to be seeing a lot of this particular media narrative until November.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkDhmVBOB7g[/youtube]