Baucus plays ‘mythbuster’ on healthcare

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who introduced President Barack Obama at a town hall in his state Friday, said he is traveling Montana as a “mythbuster” on healthcare reform.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who introduced President Barack Obama at a town hall in his state Friday, said he is traveling Montana as a “mythbuster” on healthcare reform.

Baucus said he has been mimicking the work of the television show “Mythbusters” as he seeks to fight back against what the White House has called a “misinformation” campaign.

Baucus said he is targeting anti-reform “myths” like the talk of rationing healthcare and so-called “death panels.”

“There is plenty of dishonesty out there about what healthcare reform will and will not do,” Baucus said. He added: “These outrageous myths are being busted wide open. They're just plain baloney.”

The town hall in Bozeman, Mont., is the first of two Obama plans during a trip through several Western states. He’ll hold another one tomorrow in Colorado.  
Baucus is the lead Democrat on negotiations involving a group of six senators from both parties on his committee, who so far have been unable to reach agreement on a draft bill.

The week’s debate on healthcare has been shaped by angry town hall meetings, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s charge that healthcare reform proposals in Congress would create “death panels” that would force euthanasia on the elderly.

Palin’s charge has been criticized as false by members of both parties and independent observers. Legislation in the House would extend Medicare coverage to end-of-life consultations between doctors and patients, which could include talks about medical resources for patients.

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