GOP Pretends to Care About Patient's Rights

By Lois Uttley . Posted May 18, 2009.

The "single most important language finding" in his work to date, Luntz says, is this phrase: "Delayed care is denied care." Of course, he means for Republicans to say this in order to disparage Canadian-style national health plans that allegedly would lead to long lines at the doctor's office. But, pardon us if we point out that women are already experiencing this problem of "delayed care/denied care" while trying to get reproductive health services when there are no providers in rural areas, or when the services aren't covered by Medicaid. 

With all that polling research at his fingertips, Luntz's offers some recommendations for "words that work" on health reform: 

Now is not the time to play politics with healthcare. Now is the time for everyone to work together to achieve what matters most: more affordable, more accessible, more individualized and personalized healthcare. 

We should ask him (President Obama) to commit to the principle that doctors and patients should be making healthcare decisions, not some Washington bureaucracy.

Don't be fooled when Republican politicians in Washington try to use these messages to eliminate any competition for private health insurers in national health reform or to sell the discredited idea that Americans can buy our own health insurance if we just get tax credits.  

But, women's health advocates would be well advised to remember Luntz's messages when the inevitable battle comes up this year over whether to re-enact the Hyde Amendment, which denies Medicaid funding for low-income women needing abortions. We should have these messages handy today, May 15, when the National Right to Life Organization holds a press conference to demand that abortion services be excluded from national health reform.

Repeat after me: Patient-centered health care. More access to treatments. Protect the sacred doctor-patient relationship. Let people choose the health care they need. Less interference from Washington bureaucrats.  

That's what the Republicans will be saying, and we should hold them to it.

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