Eulogy To The Unknown Campaign Volunteer; Obama Misstates Facts

Obama is getting a bit of a bum rap for eulogizing a campaign volunteer (Melanie Shouse, per this, or this) who Obama claims, incorrectly, died without health insurance but insisted on being buried in an Obama t-shirt.

First, let's grapple with her insurance situation.  Here is how Obama described it (my emphasis):

I got a letter -- I got a note today from one of my staff -- they forwarded it to me -- from a woman in St. Louis who had been part of our campaign, very active, who had passed away from breast cancer. She didn't have insurance. She couldn't afford it, so she had put off having the kind of exams that she needed. And she had fought a tough battle for four years.

That is kind of right, but wrong.  From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, we learn that she had catastrophic coverage with a high deductible and skimped on routine exams:

When Melanie Shouse began feeling ill, eventually finding a lump in her breast, she couldn't afford a doctor. She and her partner had just used their savings to open a business.

A year later, doctors told her she had terminal, stage four breast cancer.

She spent the next 4½ years fighting for health care reform that she didn't live to see pass.

Ms. Shouse died Saturday (Jan. 30, 2010) at her home in Overland. She was 41.

...In a speech in November at the Arch grounds, she spoke about the need to "take on the Big Insurance Monopoly and liberate American families from the slavery of skyrocketing insurance premiums and canceled coverage, which leave millions of us in a state of perpetual fear and insecurity ..."

Using herself as an example, Ms. Shouse said she had put off going to a doctor because her health insurance policy had a $5,000 deductible. She called it "'hit by a bus' kind of insurance."

If I can rely on this, it appears that she chose to invest in her business rather than in routine medical care and missed the news of the looming catastrophe.  Had she been literally hit by a bus, I assume she would have noticed and taken steps.

Jaelithe, a sympathetic blogger, provides a similar description of Ms. Shouse's insurance situation:

And why did she do all this work? It wasn't to save herself from cancer. Melanie's health insurance problems had prevented her from seeking immediate care the day she first noticed a lump in her breast.

When Melanie's breast cancer was finally diagnosed, it was already Stage Four. After her diagnosis — delayed because the only insurance policy she could afford for herself as a small business owner was a catastrophic care policy with a $5,000 deductible — her insurance company denied her necessary treatment on multiple occasions. Her prognosis was grim.

Well, her insurance problem was not that she didn't have any, or was denied treatment due to pre-existing conditions; it is that insurance is expensive, as are routine exams, so she saved money by skipping exams. As to her being denied treatment, the Post story only mentions one incident, which is pretty clearly a late stage experimental therapy, of which there are many.

As to what her example illustrates, I don't know whether ObamaCare offers subsidized insurance to small business owners (frankly, I could believe anything).

[MORE: She would have been 37 when she noticed the lump; her insurance may have covered a mammogram had she been above 40 even with a high deductible (the notion is that a ounce of prevention can be a lot cheaper than a pound of cure).  Of course, a Federal health panel just suggested moving the guideline back to 50, but they were shouted down.

In any case, this site says a typical mammogram costs about $100 for the uninsured.  As an insured patient, she would only be billed the insurer's discount price.]

Now, let's cut back to the bum rap on t-shirts.  This is from Byron York, describing Obama's speech at a DNC fundraiser:

Obama pledged to keep fighting for a national health care system. "We knew this was hard," Obama said. And then he described a letter he received from a campaign worker who suffered from breast cancer and has since died:

I got a letter -- I got a note today from one of my staff -- they forwarded it to me -- from a woman in St. Louis who had been part of our campaign, very active, who had passed away from breast cancer. She didn't have insurance. She couldn't afford it, so she had put off having the kind of exams that she needed. And she had fought a tough battle for four years. All through the campaign she was fighting it, but finally she succumbed to it. And she insisted she's going to be buried in an Obama t-shirt.

Many observers have noted that the president often seems extraordinarily self-referential. It's all about him, they say. But even those critics might be a little taken aback by the "buried in an Obama t-shirt" remark. Is it really that much about him?

Troubling.  If Obama weren't so awesome I would worry about this hint of a cult of personality. And I am sure that if Bush had said something this daft we would not be subjected to a lot of context from Maddow, Dowd, Olbermann and Krugman (four new horsemen?!?).  However, the Allahpundit takes a more charitable view, which is supported by the tape. Inshallah:

Heard in context here, during a pitch about ObamaCare, it sounds to me like he’s simply using the t-shirt as a symbol of the dream of universal health care, not as some political last rite by which those bearing the mark of the Messiah shall attain salvation. The point, in other words, is that she was so committed to O-Care — not necessarily to O himself — that she chose to endorse it unto eternity by wearing the shirt. Or so a charitable interpretation would have it.

Well, yes. After the crowd laughs about the t-shirt, Obama says, roughly, that the woman wasn't fighting just to get Obama elected, or even just to get herself health insurance; she was fighting for the thousands of people coming behind her who would benefit from health reform.  Let's go live!

But think about this: She was fighting that whole time not just to get me elected, not even to get herself health insurance, but because she understood that there were others coming behind her who were going to find themselves in the same situation and she didn't want somebody else going through that same thing. How can I say to her, "You know what?  We're giving up"?  How can I say to her family, "This is too hard"? How can Democrats on the Hill say, "This is politically too risky"? How can Republicans on the Hill say, "We're better off just blocking anything from happening"?

He did challenge the crowd with this puzzler:

"How can I say to her, you know what, we're giving up?"

How, indeed?  Maybe a corpse-man could make himself useful here.  He corrects himself in the next clause, asking how he can tell her family that Democrats quit because health reform is too hard.

So - a woman walking a tough road kept her commitment to Obama and Obama feels obliged to maintain his commitment to her.  I would say the t-shirt is an overly personalized symbol of that, but the story is fine.

As to why he failed to mention her name?  Hard to believe its a privacy thing, seeing the St Louis Post profile.  It's just Obama's utter absence of a common touch.

Comments

[Rob Crawford]

These postes are really either stupid, dumb, or blind. Clealy insurance failed her.

What she did not use could not have failed her. And, sadly, she had a great big helping of bad luck; a factor which can never be legislated out of existence.

[centralcal]

lol, Captain and Narcisco.

[sylvia]

See what she should have done was enroll in a low deductible insurance and lie on her application. Then go to a doctor after her new ins starts and "discover" the breast cancer.

As to mamagrams starting at 50 not 40. Breast cancer is primarily a disease of menopause. Menopause has gone up from an average age of 42 or 45 or so back in the 60's to an average age 51 now. For some reason, I don't know why. I looked it up. So it would make sense that screening for breast cancer follows that age increase.

[Cecil Turner]

So it would make sense that screening for breast cancer follows that age increase.

Unless, of course, you were talking about some lady who died at 41 from breast cancer. Check me if I'm wrong here Scotty, but screening her at 50 is gonna be a tad late.

[b to tha g]

the caring "tea partiers", or is it TEA-baggers?

It's T-Baggaz, yo.

[Jane]

It's far more likely that she put it off because she was "too busy"

That was my first thought too. I do the exact same thing. If I die don't bother to talk about me Mr. President.

[pagar]

If there is an JOM award for best sentence of the day, it should go to Mike S for his 01:59 PM post.

"He can lie twice as fast as he can be caught lying."

It seems to me that one has to examine every word Obama says to determine it if is a lie. Very few of them appear not to be.

[Captain Hate]

I've held off on mentioning this, but a little over 15 years ago at age 44, Mrs Hate noticed a small lump in her breast and pointed it out to me. There was no hesitation about having it checked out promptly, which revealed that it was malignant and led to the lump and surrounding lymph nodes being removed followed by an aggressive series of radiation treatment and chemo. Thanks to all of the above, she's cancer free. If we hadn't dealt with it promptly, it's hard to believe that we would have had a happy ending. But it would've only been our fault for that; not our insurance provider who was top-notch in working with us to handle it.

Toonces is a moron to try to use this story for political gain. Like everything else he's done in the last year, this won't end well.

[Ignatz]

--Thanks to all of the above, she's cancer free.--

Very cool CH.

--I have, as a former healthe insurance worker, you would not be praising Health insurance if you were.--

That is quite possibly the most back-asswards, ungrammatical sentence I have ever read.

[PD]

That is quite possibly the most back-asswards, ungrammatical sentence I have ever read.

Perhaps it explains the state of the health insurance industry? Or at least, if these are the people that leftists associate with in their hives, it explains why they think what they think about the health insurance industry.

[cathyf]

Suppose the story was that there was this woman who froze to death in the cardboard box she lived in, and she lived in a cardboard box because her apartment cost $420/month.

Wouldn't we all expect some explanation for why this woman was so impoverished that she couldn't afford $5000/year in rent? Some explanation as to why she didn't go to the homeless shelter or to stay with friends when the snowstorm approached?

But somehow we accept this as a reasonable thing -- that someone who has the thousands of dollars to spend on other things couldn't possibly be expected to spend some money on her own health care.

[Janet]

That was my first thought too. I do the exact same thing. If I die don't bother to talk about me Mr. President.

Well said Jane...IMO Obama and the whole "I" generation is gonna have trouble with death. We'll have to change laws, outlaw products, and stop whatever we're doing to commemorate these individuals. The over-the-top obsession with youth, healthy living, and "any tragedy is someone's fault" will not allow this group to go gracefully.

[Jim Ryan]

but I haven't heard any alternatives from republicans

Don't beat yourself up over it. My next door neighbor didn't even know that the Dems had a bill, and he bloviates on blogs all the time.

[My name here]

People get buried in weird ways -- such as in a recliner with a tv remote in hand. But stuffing a corpse into an Obama t-shirt has uniquely weird vibes.

[Neo]

OK. If you must.

You can put the "Nixon Now" sticker, that I've been saving, on my casket.

[Janet]

Oh, we could have fun with a T-shirt contest...
"I was a vegetarian...lotta good it did me!"

[ken in sc]

This sounds a lot like the ‘bloody shirt’ tactic in Latin American politics. The new leader of the masses waves the bloody shirt of a martyr to the cause to rally the faithful to the barricades. It’s a third world thing, you wouldn’t understand.

[Janet]

I have a t-shirt that says "I ♥ Halliburton!"

[Jim Ryan]

These days lots of the ladies want to be buried in chick magnet and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orszag shirts.

[jimmyk]

There's no insurance policy in the world that can make you go to the doctor. And that would be true under Obamacare (may it rest in peace) as under the current system.

[glasater]

I have a John Connally for Prez campaign button--to be placed with my remains....

[Jane]

There's no insurance policy in the world that can make you go to the doctor.

Exactly.

[Ignatz]

--These days lots of the ladies want to be buried in chick magnet and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orszag shirts.--

Are those the ones he's taking off our backs?

[Porchlight]

OT,

Happy 99th Birthday, Ronald Wilson Reagan!

Borrowing this pic from Mitch Berg's post at HotAir:

"That millions of Americans are channeling the best of Reagan as we approach his centenary – he’d have been 99 today – is perhaps the best legacy of all."

Miss you, Mr. President.

[Porchlight]

Oops, the pic worked in preview...sorry, folks. Mitch's post is worth a read!

[Tom Maguire]

Check me if I'm wrong here Scotty, but screening her at 50 is gonna be a tad late.

Darn, I have misplaced my calculator...

[hit and run]

RIP,Melanie Shouse. At least her family and friends can be comforted by the fact that she did not suffer at the hands of http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2009/08/as-the-debate-winds-down/comments/page/3/#comment-6a00d83451b2aa69e20120a53dcdf6970c>state-run health care,even if she wanted to be subjected to it.

I always used to go round to see my mother each day to make sure she had everything she needed. One morning I got the urge to ring her for some inexplicable reason,she sounded hoarse,so it seemed a good idea to pop round and check her out.She was unwell so I called the doctor out,he prescribed some antibiotics and said "keep an eye on her". Since the carers were due at that time it was possible to collect the prescription and get some shopping done. Having done that,I went home,her cleaner was there,she was also a friend.

Later that day,the cleaner phoned to say my mother had "crawled upstairs" and gone to bed. She was like that very independent.

She was in bed and having trouble breathing and could not lie down,it appeared to be heart failure,a familiar condition. I gave her ten minutes to decide on an ambulance or a cup of tea.She opted for the ambulance.

The ambulance was rapid,since they had a description of the problem,the paramedics dealt with the situation efficiently and professionally. Unfortunately I could not go in the ambulance with her,because,it was night,my money and medication were at home,all I was wearing was trousers and a T shirt.

On arrival in the ward the following morning,a doctor ushered me into a side room.

"We treated her for heart failure not knowing she had bad kidneys" "She has about a month,all I can tell you is when it happens it will be quick"

All I could think of saying was "Have you anything else to say to me"

The doctor hesitated "No", he said and left the room with his assistant,(witness)

Visiting was Hell! It was a fight to get flexible visiting times,the jobsworths fought it every inch,despite my being the only family member.

I watched my mother die alone, in a side room,the nurse was on her tea break,the pain killing drugs that had been promised, unadministered. She was eighty four.

Fuck the National Health Service!!!!
********************
Kidney failure is horrendous. Victims literally die before your eyes as the salt builds up in their bodies,the faculties decay, one by one. I watched her go blind an assume the characteristics of dementia.

One sister said,when I asked her to help her move."She can do it herself"!

Whilst General Practitioners know their patients,hospitals can be on the level of battery chicken factories.
********************
Terrible indeed. Medical have to be impersonal to a certain extent to stay sane,but that doesn't help the patient or their families.

A friend of mine,a philosopher,says that the moral component has disappeared from medical ethics. Everything is now distilled down to utilitarian and legal considerations

This,I think, removes the humanity from medicine,and indeed many other areas of life.
********************
It wasn't about me,I just did what ever was best for my mother.If it took grovelling the so be it,if it took a temper tantrum,off we go.Plenty of schmoozing the nurses who looked after her. Whatever creates the best environment.
********************
I've never talked about it before,I sense it is a more common experience.There needs to be a greater concentration on medical ethics,doctors aren't fixing clunkers,but human beings.
********************
The worst was watching the end,despite promises, my mother did not die easy.She was obviously in great pain when the salt reached her heart.As she went her false teeth came out.I put them back and stroked her hair into place,gave her a last kiss on her forehead,spent some time,I know not how long,with while the nurses came and pronounced her dead.

Then I rang my lift who had gone home,not thinking it would be so quick,and walked the four miles back to her house,locked up and went home.
********************
I was alone with her in the room.They always wheeled them into that side room to die.It was the absence of nursing or other staff that was appalling,that and the lack of any palliative medication.
********************
She died the 8th July 2003.
********************
Not hard to keep calm.I'm neurotic about things like losing a pair of glasses,but anything serious and I go ice cold efficient. Just made that way I suppose.
********************
Amazing how the human race adapts to the most cruel afflictions.That is why the "death panels" are so obscene,people can live a life even under the most difficult conditions. Who is some little Nazi like Emanuel to withhold treatment?
********************
This is the story of the human race,it is all our stories,they should be taken into account in any health system.

The quality of their lives and magnitude of their losses should be factored into the equation.We should start a movement for morality and humanity in medicine.

[Marty]

A sad story but she chose to spend her money on other tyhings and opted for a hi-deductible policy, then she didnt folow up when problems arose. The hi-deductible policy probably would have been quite appropriate for cancer.

So she had a plan to eat the small costs in the interest of funding other things, but have coverage against catastrophe. Then, then didn't follow thru to find out why she was feeling bad.

Sad, but her foolish gamble is no reason to tear the insurance system apart.

[hit and run]

Rob Crawford:
WTF is the "Big Insurance Monopoly"?

It's money in your pocket,that's what! As long you're willing to oppose Obama's health care plans be a stooge of the Big Insurance Monopoly.

The only problem is,my bank doesn't cash "giant checks".

Dang it.

[Danube of Thought]

" Has any of the posters been in a meeting when coverage for a person is discussed?"

Perhaps if we had we would understand why the private insurance industry rate for claims denials is 3.5%, whereas that of Medicare is 6.8%.

[Captain Hate]

The hi-deductible policy probably would have been quite appropriate for cancer.

Exactly; and another reason why Toonces doesn't know WTF he's talking about regarding any aspect of health insurance.

Btw, even though I like to use Mrs Hate's story as a positive thing regarding cancer and early detection, I've had two close friends that did all the right things but it was just dumb luck that produced the ultimate bad results. In the case of one who lived around the block from me, when I went to visit her to see if I could help with anything, it was hard to look her in the eye and see the defeated look; and know that she knew what I saw. I'm really disgusted about any politician, and particularly this one, trying to make points on this.

[RhameyManuel]

Small business can get their own insurance at reasonable rates, if only for the owners since they are primarily responsible for generating revenue AND PROFIT.

Once can always find anecdotal evidence of unfairness or problems. But, do not fall for the liberal's total commitment to FEELINGS over LOGIC.

Liberalism is a disease which must be eradicated. The first remedy will occur during 2010 elections. The final remedy will be in 2012. FREE AT LAST!

[Ignatz]

--Btw, even though I like to use Mrs Hate's story as a positive thing regarding cancer and early detection, I've had two close friends that did all the right things but it was just dumb luck that produced the ultimate bad results.--

Very true Captain.
I bumped into two close friends of ours in the hospital in 2006 when my wife was very sick and in ICU. He was there for a biopsy because he was suddenly jaundiced and his wife's face was ashen with fear. Liver cancer.
He did chemo with my wife several times but only lived a year or two.
We are still very close to the wife and go over to her house every couple of weeks. But I always feel an uncomfortable type of survivor's guilt that my wife is still here and healthy and he is gone. They were childhood sweethearts with a long inseperable marriage and both were/are saints.

[John in CA]

Why does Obama assume she would be able to afford a mandatory high-coverage policy under Obamacare? If she couldn't afford it now, maybe she would have chosen to pay the fine and gone completely uninsured. Her "income" from her business may have disqualified her for much if any of a subsidy. Different scenario, same result.

[Rob Crawford]

Why does Obama assume she would be able to afford a mandatory high-coverage policy under Obamacare?

Immaterial. The anecdote is not intended to show the superiority of his plan, but rather to inspire the audience to anger.

[ithought]

I thought the Obama administration told us 41-year-olds don't need routine breast cancer examinations anyway. Or at least, not unless they make for good applause lines in an Obama speech

[RandalZipper]

There are two sides to this womans story. Her blame the insurance industry excuse was not justified, she made a choice to save money, a choice she would deny everyone else. If there was universal coverage, however, she would have gotten a Mamogram.

The real question is this. She chose to skip responsible health checkups because she needed the money to get her small business off of the ground. Does that mean that with Universal Health Care more small businesses will fail?? If she needed the money so do they.

[caro]

Zippy-

Does that mean that with Universal Health Care more small businesses will fail?? If she needed the money so do they.

BINGO!

[cathyf]

hit -- there is something I just figured out about that link to PUK's description of his mum's death. When Tom jiggered the JOM typepad settings, he changed how many comments appear on the page. If you look at your link, it was on page 3 when originally posted, but now it's on page 2.

Typepad is evil.

[teapartyatperrysburg]

She wasn't even BURIED in it...she was CREMATED in it!

[Machifer]

The idea of burying an Obama worker in her Tee shirt, to identify her shame for all eternity, is symbolically satisfying. I would be happy to see all Obama supporters buried similarly and soon. That is kinder that the fate they have desired for us.

[Mycroft]

The proposed Federal Guidelines also stated that self-exams weren't effective and should no longer be encouraged.

[FiddlerBob]

It wasn't her fault. Obama promised her he would take her to the doctor as soon as he found his birth certificate.

[clarice]

HEH