Opinions Please: Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren Out-Journalisms CBS News on Florida Woman’s Junk Insurance
Actually, it doesn’t cover any hospital stays, unless Dianne suffers complications from pregnancy. Then, it pays fifty bucks. It doesn’t cover any outpatient care, except for mammography, osteoporosis screening, diabetes self-management, and complications from pregnancy. For that handful of services, the plan pays $50, and Dianne pays the rest.
Greta agreed that “Trying to figure out insurance is extremely confusing in the best of circumstances,” but even without a shred of research, was able to tell that “your policy is like, you know, if you are walking across the street and someone runs a red light, you are in deep trouble under your existing policy.”
Greta’s right, health insurance is very confusing, and Dianne’s plight probably wasn’t helped by a plan document that lists the “amount member pays” in confusing fashion, giving the dollar amount the plan pays, and the member’s liability as “Balance up to Allowed Amount.” At a glance, it could easily be mistaken for a $50 copay.
Dianne told Greta that she still isn’t sure how much she’d save with a subsidy, but that she’s been getting lots of emails offering to help. “That’s something I would like to look into,” she said, because she’s a consumer, not a reporter. Reporters are supposed to do that before they report things.
Greta sympathized, and made the legitimate criticism that the Healthcare.gov website is not the best place to get help right now, but again stressed that “You have a real stripped-down policy here, and I think you need to find someone who understands this stuff. It’s pretty confusing, I concede.”
In a news cycle that has seen the supposedly “objective” news media churn out misleading, false, and deliberately incomplete reports on the health care law, Greta’s segment was the most honest reporting I’ve seen. Some more research would have been nice, but it’s an interview program.
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