Clinton tale is part truth, part errors (Liar Liar, pantsuit on fire..)

AP on Yahoo ^ | 4/7/08 | Charles Babington - ap

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has stopped telling a story of a pregnant woman's medical tragedy after an Ohio hospital challenged its accuracy last weekend.

But recent accounts of the episode have omitted key details that suggest there was more truth in the essence of Clinton's tale than her critics, and even her presidential campaign, have acknowledged.

Since early March, the New York senator has often told campaign audiences a heartbreaking story of a young Ohio woman who began having problems with her pregnancy. She said the woman was twice turned away by a local hospital because she had no health insurance and could not pay a $100 minimum charge.

Clinton, who advocates health coverage for all Americans, put it this way in Terre Haute, Ind., on March 20:

"I'll tell you a quick story that I heard in Ohio when I was campaigning there," she said. "A deputy sheriff told me about a young woman who worked at the pizza parlor there and she worked for minimum wage, she didn't have any insurance. She got pregnant, went to the hospital — and I don't blame the hospital. The hospital said, 'We can't take any more charity care. You have to give us $100 before we can examine you.' She didn't have $100. Went back another time, they told her the same thing."

Sen. Clinton said the woman returned a third time "in an ambulance. And they worked hard to stabilize her, and she lost her baby. Then they airlifted her to Columbus to the medical center, and for 15 days they tried to save her life, and she died."

THE SPIN:

Because Clinton never named the woman or the hospital, the story generated only gasps and tears at campaign stops. But on April 3, The Washington Post named the woman, Trina Bachtel, 35, of Middleport, Ohio, who died last August. The Daily Sentinel, a paper published in nearby Pomeroy, Ohio, cited Bachtel's name the next day.

With the patient's name now publicized locally and nationally, officials at O'Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens, Ohio, feared their facility would be falsely accused. Bachtel was indeed treated in August at O'Bleness, where her baby was stillborn. But Bachtel was never refused treatment there, and she even had medical insurance, the officials told The New York Times in a story published Saturday.

"We implore the Clinton campaign to immediately desist from repeating this story," Rick Castrop, chief executive officer of the O'Bleness Health System," told the Times.

Media outlets and political Web sites began criticizing Clinton for retelling the unsubstantiated story. By Saturday night, Clinton's campaign said she would drop it from her speeches.

"Candidates are told stories by people all the time, and it's common for candidates to retell those stories," said campaign spokesman Mo Elleithee. "In this case, we tried but weren't able to fully vet the story."

THE FACTS:

Clinton said she heard the story from Meigs County Deputy Sheriff Bryan Holman during a visit to Pomeroy, before the March 4 Ohio primary.

In a March 26 phone interview with The Associated Press, Holman said he had told Clinton the story in essentially the same way she was retelling it in her speeches. He said he knew the Bachtel story only second hand, and lacked several details.

The AP then spoke with Bachtel's aunt, Susie Casto of Middleport, who helped raise the woman. She said Bachtel, who worked at a pizza parlor, did in fact have health insurance when she and her baby died.

But at an earlier time, Casto said, Bachtel lacked health insurance and ran up unpaid bills when treated at a clinic near her home in Middleport. When she returned for treatment when pregnant, the clinic demanded $100 per visit to help retire the outstanding debt, Casto said. Because Bachtel could not afford the fees and found it difficult to travel, her aunt said, she postponed receiving treatment.

Bachtel eventually went to O'Bleness, about 30 miles to the north, for attention.

Casto declined to name the clinics or hospitals involved, and said she felt medical professionals did all they could to save Bachtel and her unborn child.

Pomeroy has about 2,000 residents and two medical clinics. One is affiliated with O'Bleness, the other is the Holzer Clinic, part of a nine-facility chain.

O'Bleness Health System spokeswoman Lynn Anastos said Monday that Bachtel was not a patient at their Pomeroy facility and "she would not have been turned away for lack of payment" if she had sought treatment there.

Holzer associate administrator Jim Blevins said his company has no record of Bachtel being a patient for the past five years. About half of Holzer's patients are "charity cases," he said, and the company tries to work out payment schedules with those who fall behind on their bills.

In some cases, Blevins said, Holzer clinics place "credit restrictions" on patients believed to be able but unwilling to pay their bills. That would not apply to patients needing immediate or emergency care, he said.

Clinton erred in telling audiences that the Ohio woman lacked insurance when seeking help for her troubled pregnancy. But according to Casto's account, Bachtel's medical tragedy began with circumstances very close to the essence of Clinton's now-abandoned account: the lack of insurance created a $100 barrier to needed medical attention close to home.

[NormsRevenge]

ap out spinning for Hillary.. there’s still a couple kicks left in the HildaBeast..

[unkus]

The Beast will look like a rabid dog cornered by the time Denver rolls around.

[NonValueAdded]

Remember that Hillary! is a trained lawyer in addition to being the smartest woman in the whole darned Universe. She surely knows what hearsay is. Yet after all the lies that came before, she chose to go with it anyway. Yeah, smartest.

[Michael.SF.]

You do rabid dogs a disservice, sir.

;)

[blackdog]

Sheriff Holman had better watch out for that gang drive-by shooting activity. The Clintonista Cryps might be seeking revenge.

[blackdog]

A cornered rabid dog looks pretty good compared to Hillary right now.........

[SERKIT]

False but semi-inaccurate. Good enough for a left-leaning reporter.

[unkus]

I stand corrected and apologize to all breeds. And there is NO sarcasm in my apology.

[NormsRevenge]

What I meant to say.. Oh, wait! Was that a rifle shot?

Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.,
speaks at the Montana Democratic Party Mansfield-Metcalf Dinner at the
Butte Civic Center in Butte, Mont., Saturday, April 5, 2008.
(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

[umgud]

"Candidates are told stories by people all the time, and it's common for candidates to retell those stories," said campaign spokesman Mo Elleithee. "In this case, we tried but weren't able to fully vet the story."............... So, we ran with it anyway.

[Wiseghy]

This is pretty good example of the entire movement toward single payer and healthcare reform overall. Mostly, legislators and their staffs are pummeled by stories that are incorrect, misleading or missing key facts.

There is plenty to correct in the the current healthcare market, but mostly I find that legislators do not what to buckle down and study the details. They PREFER these mythical stories, because they know that they appeal to voters and that the reality of healthcare reform will likely confuse them and voters, while providing little political benefit.

[DustyMoment]

The truth of the story is that the young woman who is the subject of Hillary’s “story”, is actually a Clinton staffer who suffered as the result of HRC not paying her staff’s health insurance premiums. That’s the “Rest of the Story”!!!

[dbacks]

I hereby swear to tell a lie, just a lie and nothing but a lie.

[Husker8877]

Very simply, one more “fake but accurate” story which of course will have no negative effect in the long run.

I’d love to see The Beast barking like that rabid dog by convention time, but with these Clintons, they are never out, and we won’t see it, I fear.

I think what we’ll be seeing come Denver-time is her b*tt-fugly face smiling at all the little people, the pretty balloons falling down around her as the rabid democrats swoon over their victorious successor.

I will never count the evil Clintons out, and I will never underestimate their otherworldly influence among their supporters. They will never go away. Sh*t.

(And I do hope I’m totally wrong on my feelings in this regard.)

[lowbridge]

Another example of bias from Babington:

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/009324.php

[chris_bdba]

I can’t believe that her campaign didn’t bother to check to see if this was a rumor before swallowing it hook line and sinker! I have no idea why but in this area (SE Ohio) rumors take on a life of their own and it gets worse the further south you go around here.

[Loyal Buckeye]

The story smells. A hospital not caring for an individual for $100. Not buying it.

[COBOL2Java]

So, in other words, the story was fake, but accurate?

[red flanker]

Not only that, but why not get all of the story?

First of all, what were the circumstances where Bryan Holman was picked out of all the residences where her royal Thighness would sit and talk? Hint: Hillery and her campaign loves plants.