Governor Richardson is pushing a single payer healthcare system for this legislative session (read: Government Run and Mandated Healthcare). So, we can expect to see more and more articles popping up in the press regarding health insurance.
However, beware of the spin. For example, an article in today’s Albuquerque Journal has the misleading headline, Small Businesses and HR Offices Explain What’s Wrong With the Way We Pay (subscription) and begins:
University of New Mexico public health researchers asked human resource workers and small business owners what is wrong with the way health care is financed.
Among their answers: The present system encourages injustice and inequity.
Business people who took part in a UNM Institute for Public Health series of focus groups earlier this year said they don’t feel qualified to choose the right health insurance plan for all employees and say they have very little leverage when negotiating with insurance companies.
Now, I read the article all the way through because I’m a small business owner, and I found it hard to believe the picture that was being painted here. Namely, that small business was supporting the Governor’s efforts.
You see, most small business owners don’t like anything mandated by the government. Actually, we don’t like “mandates” in general, government or corporate – it’s just part of the entrepreneurial spirit.
Ok, back to my point…
It’s not until the last paragraph of the article that the real sentiment of small business comes through:
Wiese detected no groundswell of support for a government takeover of health care.
That’s the journalistic equivalent of burying the facts in the fine print. The paper is showing their bias. That important fact should have been headline (i.e. Small Business Does NOT Support Government Health Care Takeover), instead of being buried at the end of the article.
Watch out for more shenanigans on this issue in the weeks to come.