https://thehill.com/homenews/admini...association-rips-trump-claim-that-doctors-are Just 3 days left so he's almost out of time to come up with an effective conspiracy theory to run on. Once again showing he's the most presidential president since Abe Lincoln though.
Like the poster, the Hill article is very shallow on this issue. They make a claim, do nothing to prove it, then deflect quickly to a general slam on Trump. This from USA today Hospitals and doctors do get paid more for Medicare patients diagnosed with COVID-19 or if it's considered presumed they have COVID-19 absent a laboratory-confirmed test, and three times more if the patients are placed on a ventilator to cover the cost of care and loss of business resulting from a shift in focus to treat COVID-19 cases. We rate the claim that hospitals get paid more if patients are listed as COVID-19 and on ventilators as TRUE. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...ore-covid-19-patients-coronavirus/3000638001/
So are you also baselessly accusing doctors of committing fraud by inflating the cases to line their pockets? That's what Trump was doing.
Let's read the statement from the AMA... https://thehill.com/homenews/admini...association-rips-trump-claim-that-doctors-are The following statement is attributable to: Susan R. Bailey, M.D. President, American Medical Association “Throughout this pandemic, physicians, nurses, and frontline health care workers have risked their health, their safety and their lives to treat their patients and defeat a deadly virus. They did it because duty called and because of the sacred oath they took. The suggestion that doctors—in the midst of a public health crisis—are overcounting COVID-19 patients or lying to line their pockets is a malicious, outrageous, and completely misguided charge. COVID-19 cases are at record highs today. Rather than attacking us and lobbing baseless charges at physicians, our leaders should be following the science and urging adherence to the public health steps we know work—wearing a mask, washing hands and practicing physical distancing.” ### Editor’s note: In response to similar accusations, the AMA highlighted the excess COVID-19 deaths our nation is facing, and published an AMA Viewpoint from Dr. Bailey,“ The Assault on Science and Physicians Must Stop”.
Trump baselessly claims doctors are inflating coronavirus death counts for money as cases again hit record levels https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/30/politics/trump-doctors-covid/index.html President Donald Trump on Friday baselessly claimed that doctors are inflating the coronavirus death count for monetary gain while cases, hospitalizations and deaths surge across the country. "Our doctors get more money if someone dies from Covid. You know that, right? I mean our doctors are very smart people. So what they do is they say 'I'm sorry but everybody dies of Covid,' " Trump said, without citing any evidence, at a rally in Waterford Township, Michigan. There is no evidence for the President's claim and the statement represents a stunning attack on medical workers as the country faces its worst public health emergency in more than 100 years. As of Friday evening, more than 90,000 Americans have been diagnosed with Covid-19, a new daily high, and at least 929 deaths have been reported, according to a count from Johns Hopkins University. Two states, South Dakota and Wyoming, reported their highest daily death tolls on Thursday. Medical experts have long predicted that the fall and winter would bring spikes in coronavirus cases as temperatures dropped across the country and people began spending more time indoors, where the virus can more easily spread. The country is now experiencing that spike -- the five days with the most reported Covid-19 cases have all come in the last week. There is no evidence that suggests hospitals or doctors are inflating their coronavirus numbers. According to new research published this month, there were 20% more deaths from March 1 through August 1 than normally would be expected. The American Medical Association, without naming the President, condemned claims that physicians inflate the number of Covid-19 patients they treat -- calling such rumors "malicious, outrageous, and completely misguided." "The suggestion that doctors -- in the midst of a public health crisis -- are overcounting COVID-19 patients or lying to line their pockets is a malicious, outrageous, and completely misguided charge," Dr. Susan Bailey, president of the American Medical Association, said in a written statement. "Throughout this pandemic, physicians, nurses, and frontline health care workers have risked their health, their safety and their lives to treat their patients and defeat a deadly virus," Bailey added. During his campaign stop, Trump claimed that other countries attribute deaths among coronavirus patients with underlying conditions to other factors, but in the United States, doctors choose Covid-19 because they get additional funds. "In Germany and other places, if you have a heart attack, or if you have cancer, you're terminally ill, you catch Covid, they say you die of cancer, you died of heart attack. With us, when in doubt choose Covid. It's true, no, it's true. Now they'll say 'oh that's terrible what he said,' but that's true. It's like $2,000 more so you get more money," Trump said. RELATED: CDC official affirms coronavirus deaths really are coronavirus deaths However, if someone who has a pre-existing condition gets Covid and then dies, their cause of death would be Covid-19. Even if that person could have eventually died from the pre-existing condition -- for example, heart disease -- coronavirus will have been what killed them and would be determined as their cause of death. "The underlying cause of death is the condition that began the chain of events that ultimately led to the person's death. In 92% of all deaths that mention Covid-19, Covid-19 is listed as the underlying cause of death," Bob Anderson, chief of mortality statistics at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said last month in a statement provided to CNN. It's not the first time that Trump has baselessly questioned the accuracy of the US Covid-19 death count. "We report them and you know -- doctors get more money, and hospitals get more money. Think of this incentive," Trump said last Saturday. "This country and their reporting systems are really not doing it right."
Perhaps some substance can be supplied by the fact the CDC had to significantly walk their numbers back related to COVID specific deaths. There are certainly inflations going on. Whether it is the doctors, the CDC, or CNN's death counter that runs 24/7 on live television - there's a veritable golden goose laying eggs and it's name is COVID. Fear drives profits. If it's not the doctors inflating numbers - it's certainly CNN. The exact people criticizing citrus hitler for "playing everything down". If you dig far enough back in the history of the news articles eventually you find Snopes "debunking" it. This sort of dismissive attitude at a legitimate question is precisely why the left is criticized as anti-intellectual. Moreover trusting Let Me Google That For You (TM) aka Snopes to do actually journalistic verification is really the rallying cry of every debooooonker that spends 3 minutes on Google to become an expert at whatever shit they are talking about at the moment. When will you realize that just because you link a news article it doesnt make what you say true? Especially from the place that has been shilling hellfire and brimstone since March in order to bolster election numbers? Remember back in February when CNN was saying Trump's travel bans were xenophobic racism? Man....anti-intellectual doesnt even begin to describe it.
The CDC never had to "significantly walk their numbers back related to COVID specific deaths". This is complete nonsense. If you are going to push the "only 8% of death certificates listed COVID as the cause of death nonsense" -- this had already been completely debunked. As with most diseases the actual cause of death is listed as respiratory, failure, heart failure, etc. -- COVID is listed as what led to the cause of death. The CDC has outlined that the number of deaths related to COVID is under-reported and may be over 300K at this point in the U.S.