BrianGarst.com

NPR has finally decided to stop lying about health care statistics:

NPR’S deputy senior supervising editor Joe Neel drafted an e-mail that was sent out Oct. 14 to member stations addressing the number of uninsured. The e-mail clarified proper use of Census Bureau statistics and advised staff to “avoid the construction ’46 million Americans.'” That number has been a flashpoint throughout the health care debate.

The NPR e-mail said, “We are sticking with the 46 million number issued by the Census Bureau in September (for 2008). It’s the number of people in the U.S. who lack insurance coverage at any point during the prior 12 months. It includes citizens, legal residents and undocumented immigrants.”

The e-mail went on to explain how not to report the issue. “Better to say ’46 million uninsured in America,’ or ‘the nation’s 46 million uninsured people,’ or any other formulation that does not label all 46 million as citizens,” the e-mail continued.

Although it’s nice that they caught on, however belatedly, to the fact that it’s a lie to label a group as Americans when it includes people here illegally, the 46 million figure is still dishonestly misleading.  As the email says, it is the total number “who lack insurance coverage at any point during the prior 12 months.”  This necessarily includes a large number who merely transitioned from one plan to another.  Why, exactly, should these people be included in the same group with those who can’t afford coverage? And then there’s always those who can afford it but don’t buy it – also included in the NPR preferred figures.

How exactly does this mishmash of groups into one statistic inform the debate? There is no good answer to that, and NPR won’t bother trying to find one.  They’ll continue to regurgitate the Democratic talking points that there are 46 million people in America that justify a government takeover of health insurance. Their figures are wrong, and so are their solutions.