http://www.seiu.org/2009/02/any-time-you-read-something.php3:42 PM Eastern - February 10, 2009
Limbaugh Doesn't Get IT
By Jessica Kutch
Any time you read something as ludicrous as "the stimulus is dangerous to your health," you know it's time to get some fresh air.
An opinion piece by Betsy McCaughey on Bloomberg.com says just that - and, thankfully, caregivers are stepping up to set the record straight.
Health care professionals nationwide are writing to their newspapers today to refute claims by McCaughey and-get this-Rush Limbaugh on two provisions in the stimulus package: comparative effectiveness research and health IT. Both are designed to provide health care professionals with objective, up-to-date information on treatments, tests and procedures available to them.
So why are opponents suddenly crying wolf?
Because this latest partisan flap isn't about your health care. It's not about electronic health records or comparative health research. No, this is about politics. It's a desperate attempt to turn practical, cost-cutting provisions into a news media boogeyman.
Even those in the Bush Administration understood the need for health IT. In 2006 the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality / HHS (led by Bush appointee Mike Leavitt) conducted a study (.pdf file) and found tremendous potential for improvements to our health care system through the use of health IT.
FULL story at link.