A not-too-subtle shift cropped up on the front page of The New York Times this morning; it is in the publication’s coverage of the highly contentious Obama-Reid-Pelosi healthcare proposals currently working their way through Congress.
The change is either quite significant or merely an editing oversight (which we think is unlikely) that will be corrected in the paper’s coverage yet to come.
Here’s the sequence of stories that imply a tale yet untold. These snippets are excerpted from the paper’s online edition, with our underlined emphasis added to help you follow along.
Tuesday, December 15
Obama Health Care Meeting Aims to Rally Senators
WASHINGTON — As the battle over health care lurches toward a conclusion [full story]….
Saturday, December 19
Democrats Clinch Deal for Deciding Vote on Health Bill
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats said Saturday that they had clinched an agreement on a far-reaching overhaul of the nation’s health care system [full story]….
Sunday, December 20
Deep in Health Bill, Very Specific Beneficiaries
WASHINGTON — Buried in the deal-clinching health care package that Senate Democrats unveiled over the weekend [full story]….
Monday, December 21
Democrats Face Challenge in Merging Health Bills
WASHINGTON — Even as the Senate took a significant step toward passing its version of a sweeping overhaul of the health insurance system before Christmas [full story]….
Until today’s edition, which carried yesterday’s dateline of December 21, The Times consistently refer to the various pieces of Obama-Pelosi-Reid legislation as actions addressing America’s “health care” needs that require changes in the nation’s “health care system” and will ultimately be manifest in a “health care package.”
Now, however, with passage of the Senate version of the voluminous document (well over 2000 pages plus hundreds of pages of amendments) The Times has made a significant change in its reporting, though it is one that is probably overlooked by most readers. That change is that The Times now refers to the historic health-related effort as “a sweeping overhaul of the health insurance system.”
This is no small shift in news perspective — from “health care” to “health insurance” reform.
“Health care” relates to the delivery of medical services; “health insurance” involves the business of pricing and managing the cost of healthcare services and products.
This change appears to be recognition by The Times that the Obama-Reid-Pelosi assault is not what they have said it is — a healthcare improvement effort — but a fundamental business restructuring of one-sixth of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, a dramatic social and economic alteration.
Many critics of the Obama-Reid-Pelosi efforts have charged the trio’s real goals are to fundamentally restructure American business and punish insurance companies, and not necessarily to improve the quality of healthcare (which may or may not be an ancillary outcome).
This small change at The Times may portend a huge adjustment in America.
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