At 7:18 tonight (7/18/2012) I received a phone call from my congressman, Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA), to participate in a telephone town hall. As a loyal Democrat, I had to listen in. Boy am I glad I did!
The first caller, "Rob," had a real concern, which sounded very scripted, about the ACA. He was scared that the Independent Payment Advisory Board ("death panels") was going to ration care to Medicare patients to save money. He told a story about his 87-year-old mother that had just completed cancer treatment and he was worried that had she been sick after 2014 that the IPAB would not allow her to have treatment.
I sat there screaming at my phone, "NO, NO, NO, YOU IDIOT!!!! THAT'S NOT WHAT IT DOES!!!!" Hoping to hear Mr. Fitzpatrick say the same thing in nicer terms, I was sorely disappointed. He reinforced this man's beliefs by LYING to him! He told him that he was correct. That the IPAB would ration healthcare to save money.
Well, I was so angry that I had to write my congressman and, of course, share it with you. The email I just sent to Mike Fitzpatrick is below.
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