Who Runs Gov

MEET REP. CHARLES BOUSTANY…

BOUSTANY IS IN THE POCKET OF THE HEALTH CARE AND PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

Boustany Has Taken More Than $537,000 In Campaign Contributions From Health Care PACs In His Roughly Four And Half Years In Congress. [Political Money Line, accessed 9/9/09]

Boustany Served As A Director On Health Insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield Of Louisiana’s Physician Advisory Board. [Rep. Boustany 2004 PFD]

BOUSTANY LOVES TO REPEAT DEBUNKED REPUBLICAN CLAIMS ABOUT HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM

DEBUNKED CLAIM: Health Reform Would Lead To Government Takeover Of Health Care

Boustany Criticized the House Democrats’ Health Care Plan for Having Massive Government Bureaucracy and Red Tape, Which Would Lead to Denials in Care and Limited Options for Patients. [Boustany Press Release, 6/26/09]

Ø Bush Medicare Head Debunked Notion That Reform Leads To Rationing: “Just Because There Isn’t Some Government Agency Specifically Telling You Which Treatments You Can Have…That Doesn’t Mean You Aren’t Getting Some Treatments.” [New York Times, 6/17/09]

Ø Politifact: The Claim That Health Care Reform Will Lead To Callous Decisions That Would Allow People To Die If They Face A Costly Treatment Is “False.” [Politifact, 8/4/09]

DEBUNKED CLAIM: Health Insurance Reform Means Cuts To Medicare Benefits

Boustany Claimed House Health Care Bill Would Raise Medicare Premiums by 50 Percent and Cut $500 Billion from Medicare – Said Cut “Could Be Devastating for Seniors Who Depend on Medicare for Quality Health Care. [Boustany Press Release, 7/22/09]

Ø AARP: RNC Statement Is “Misleading And Alarmist,” And “The Proposed Medicare Savings Do Not Limit Benefits, They Do Not Impose Rationing.” [Wall Street Journal, 8/25/09]

Ø AARP Clarified That “Medicare Cuts That Have Been Proposed So Far Would Not Affect Benefits.” [Washington Post, 8/11/09]

Ø FactCheck.org: A Small Number Of Medicare Advantage Would Face Reduced Benefits, But Never Less Than Participants In Traditional Medicare Receive. [FactCheck.org, 8/31/09]

DEBUNKED CLAIM: A Public Option Would Crowd Out Private Insurance

In a Letter, Boustany Warned that a Public Option Would Create an Unfair Advantage and Crowd Out Consumers From Private Plans. [Times-Picayune, 7/18/09]

Ø CBO Said The Public Option Proposed By Democrats Would Not Drive Private Insurers Out Of Business. [Reuters, 7/28/09]

Ø CBO: Only 6 Million Workers Would Leave Employer-Based Private Health Care To Enter A Public Plan – Substantially Lower That The Lewin Group’s Estimate. [CBO, 7/26/09]

DEBUNKED CLAIM: A Public Option Would Affect Over 100 Million Currently Insured Americans

Boustany Claimed the Public Option Meant “Allowing the Government to Replace the Health Coverage That More Than 100 Million Americans Currently Have Through Their Employers. [Republican Weekly Address, 5/16/09]

Ø Politifact Called It “False”: Claiming That Democrats Propose “A Government-Controlled Health Care Plan That Will Deprive Roughly 120 Million Americans Of Their Current Health Care Coverage.” [PolitiFact, 5/19/09]

Ø FactCheck.org Called It “Misleading”: CPR Ad Claimed “119 Million Off Their Current Insurance Coverage.” Fact Check, 6/11/09]

BOUSTANY VOTED FOR THE 2009 GOP BUDGET PROPOSAL THAT GUTTED MEDICARE

Rep. Boustany Voted For The Republican Budget Substitute. 137 Republicans, including Rep. Boustany voted for the Rep. Ryan budget substitute amendment [H Con Res 85, Vote 191, 4/2/09]

Ø AP: The Republican Budget Would “End Medicare As It Is Presently Known.” [AP, 4/1/09]

Ø National Journal: “Nearly Four-Fifths Of House Republicans Voted To Literally End The Program As We Know It For All Americans Younger Than 55.” [National Journal, 8/28/09]

BOUSTANY CRITICIZED HIS OWN PARTY FOR NOT HAVING A HEALTH CARE PLAN

Rep. Boustany Said In The Past, Republicans Could Have Done More To Address Health Care.” [National Journal, 6/27/09]

Rep. Boustany: Republicans Have Been Saying, “Let’s Beat The Democrats To The Punch” On Alternative Health Plan. [Congress Daily, 4/28/09]

Ø Republicans On Health Care Are “Without A Cohesive Strategy,” With An “Array Of Options” That “Might Add Up To Nothing.” [Politico, 6/2/09]

Ø Rep. Burgess On GOP Health Reform Plan: “I Thought We Would Have Been Much Farther Along Than We Are.” [Politico, 4/20/09]

NOW – Rep. Blunt Gave Up On Health Reform Alternative: “Our Bill Is Never Going To Get To The Floor,” So Why Bother? [The Hill, 7/22/09]

Ø THEN – Rep. Blunt: Republicans Are “Drafting Our Own [Health Reform] Legislation.” [House GOP Health Care Solutions Group, 6/25/09]

BOUSTANY CO-SPONSORED PROVISION HIS REPUBLICAN COLLEAGUES CALLED “DEALTH PANELS”

Boustany Co-Sponsored The End-Of-Life Counseling Provision In The Health Care Bill. “Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., a heart surgeon and a co-sponsor of the counseling bill, says the legislation is aimed at promoting important discussions between doctors and their patients about critical end-of-life issues, such as having a living will. He says those discussions are a ‘good medical practice,’ and doctors who spend time counseling their patients about their wishes should be reimbursed through the Medicare system, as the legislation allows. Now, Boustany says proponents may have to ‘back off’ and reconsider the issue ‘at some point when the temperature had cooled down.’ ‘Frankly, this thing got really out of hand,’ he says.” [USA Today, 8/18/09]

BOUSTANY WAS SUED IN MALPRACTICE CASE

Boustany Was Sued At Least Three Times In Medical Malpractice Suits. “Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.), who is scheduled to deliver the GOP rebuttal to President Obama tonight, has been the defendant in at least three malpractice suits over his two decade career, according to lawsuit records obtained by POLITICO. … In a 2000 case, Geraldine Arceneaux, the sheriff of Carencro, La., was awarded $1.2 Million in damages from a state compensation fund after complications emerged following a 1997 bypass surgery by Boustany and a team of physicians at Lafayette General Medical Center. Prior to filing suit, Arceneaux — whose leg had to be amputated — filed a complaint before the state’s Medical Review Panel, which found his conduct to be ‘below the acceptable standard of care,’ according to a petition for damages filed by the plaintiff’s lawyers. [Geraldine Arceneaux v. Dr. Charles Boustany et. al., Docket No: 2000-2007, 15th Judicial District Court Parish of Lafayette]. In 1992, Melanie Malagarie sued Boustany’s team for medical malpractice stemming from surgery performed on her young daughter, who underwent two surgeries for a condition called Tetrology of Falot — the second resulting in complications. Again, the state review panel found in the patient’s favor, awarding the family $600,000 in damages through the compensation fund. [Melanie Malagarie v. Dr. Charles Boustany, Dr. Shannon Turney, Dr. Geeta Dalal, Lafayette General Hospital et. al, Case No: 92-5260, 15th Judicial District Court Parish of Lafayette] Three years later, another Boustany patient, Delila Hays, sued him after complications arising from an angioplasty which resulted in the amputation of several toes, according to documents. The medical panel didn’t rule on the case but an unspecified settlement was paid out after mediation, the documents show. . [Delila Hays and Charles Hays v. Dr. David Baker, M.D., Lafayette General Medical Center, Dr. Guillory, Dr. Charles Boustany, Case Number: 95-0836]. [Politico, 9/9/09]

BOUSTANY SUPPORTED “BIRTHER” MOVEMENT

Boustany Said There Were “Questions” About Whether President Obama Was Born In America. “Back on July 27, guerilla videographer Mike Stark posted a video on this site in which he sought out the ‘Birthers on the Hill.’ As you will see, Charles Boustany shows up at about the 0.27 mark. BOUSTANY: ‘Well, it’s certainly being looked at.’ STARK: ‘What do you personally believe, I mean — do you think there’s a question here?’ BOUSTANY: ‘I think there are questions, we’ll have to see.’” [Huffington Post, 9/9/09]

Ø Politico: Boehner Said He Knew Nothing About “Boustany’s Apparent Flirtation With The Birther Movement.” “House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) defended the pick of Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) to deliver tonight’s GOP rebuttal to President Obama — saying he knew nothing of Boustany’s apparent flirtation with the birther movement. ‘I’m not familiar with it at all,’ said Boehner, referring to video in which Boustany says ‘I think there are questions’ about Obama’s birth certificate.” [Politico, 9/9/09]