And the award for the most offensive press release of the day goes to…
Dr. Alieta Eck for a release headlined: “Medicaid is a Poor Substitute for Charity. Charity Helps People Where They Hurt and Cost Taxpayers Nothing.”
Dr. Eck runs a free clinic in New Jersey and serves on the board of Christian Care Medi-Share, “a faith based medical cost sharing Ministry.” Her clinic treats 300-400 low-income patients each month with the help of volunteer doctors and nurses.
No doubt the clinic is a boon to the community, but it’s simply not true that it costs taxpayers nothing.
The doctors and nurses who volunteer there were trained largely at taxpayer expense, and the medications they dispense were developed with government-subsidized research and vetted by government-funded regulators. If the patients get really sick, they will be sent to hospitals built and run at public expense.
How many of the volunteer doctors and nurses can afford to work for free because they’re being paid by public agencies or reimbursed by public insurance at their day jobs?
Charity is great, but using charity to bash Medicare is uncharitable to say the least.
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Lindsay Beyerstein is an award-winning investigative journalist and In These Times staff writer who writes the blog Duly Noted. Her stories have appeared in Newsweek, Salon, Slate, The Nation, Ms. Magazine, and other publications. Her photographs have been published in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times’ City Room. She also blogs at The Hillman Blog (http://www.hillmanfoundation.org/hillmanblog), a publication of the Sidney Hillman Foundation, a non-profit that honors journalism in the public interest.
