Clinton 'Told True Tale of Woe'

[ElsewheresDaughter]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wqpEt_CdBk

See NoQuarter http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/04/07/the-real-trina-bachtel-story/ for the background on this story.

Here's Ann Kornblutt's late breaking story http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/04/07/clinton_told_true_tale_of_woe.html, which she teased on David Gregory's show today, that corrects the record:


For weeks, Clinton repeated an anecdote she heard in Ohio on Feb. 28 involving a young woman who lost her baby and later died because she lacked health insurance and did not have $100 to gain access to a nearby hospital.

But over the weekend, Clinton came under fire when officials at O'Bleness Memorial Hospital, after reading about her remarks, demanded that she stop recounting it because the patient, Trina Bechtel, was admitted there and did have insurance.

That part, it turns out, is true. But so is Clinton's claim that Bechtel did not get care at another hospital that wanted a $100 pre-payment before seeing her, according to the young woman's aunt, Lisa Casto. "It's a true story," said Casto, 53. ... ..

But court records show that Bechtel had a civil judgment against her by the Holzer Hospital Foundation for the amount of $4,426, entered in 2002, which was repaid in 2005. A call to an official at Holzer Medical Center, which is run by the foundation, in Ohio was not immediately returned.

Casto said her niece, who suffered from preeclampsia during her pregnancy, did not seek care at the first hospital she when she fell ill because she knew she did not have the $100 out-of-pocket she believed she would need to be seen. Instead, she went to O'Bleness Memorial Hospital, where her baby was stillborn. Bechtel was later flown to Columbus and died there. She was 35.

Casto said she has been stunned by the amount of negative attention her niece's story generated, and that she was sorry it had hurt the Clinton campaign. She was, and is, she said, a supporter. "Did I vote for Hillary?" she said. "You'd better bet I did."

Clinton Told True Tale of Woe, Says Kin


Will the people who got this story wrong correct the record?

Maybe you should help them along. First stop, Andrea Mitchell.http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/storylines-by-digby-andrea-mitchell.html

[AX10]

1. And the MSM and left wing activists jumped over...

the this in order to smear Clinton, now we see she told the truth.

[Malikshah]

2. Crickets from the camps. Why am I not surprised.

Has it come to this in the primary season.

Dogpile first. Ignore answers later?

There must be a lot of lonely mirrors on all sides these days.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

4. It's sicking eh?

the Obama folks don't give a rat ass for truth!

[babylonsister]

3. Thanks for the digby link. nt

[dkf]

5. Hillary got the story all wrong...the girl had health insurance.

Which goes back to the fact that having health insurance doesn't guarantee you coverage.

I went to my doctor's once because I had a bad case of hives for 3 days...he wasn't there so they gave me to another doctor. I figure its the same clinic so I should be covered for the second doctor...nothing doing. The second doctor wasn't in my "health plan" so I land up having to pay the whole doctors fee.

2nd case...I drop a picture frame on my foot and create a huge gash so I need stitches. My doctor is on vacation, so I know I can't go to anyone at the clinic. I call around in my "health plan" and half the doctors aren't taking new patients! Jeez Louise. So I have to drive out of town to find someone who will stitch me up.

3rd case...my sister, a minor, is hiking and gets a huge gash when she walks into a tree. Her friends drive her to her primary care physician who doesn't want to touch it because he is afraid it will scar. He sends her to a plastic surgeon. The plastic surgeon stitches her up and she is happy.

Next thing we know, the plastic surgeon sends us a bill for $2300. Nothing is covered because he doesn't belong to our health plan. This kid was supposed to make sure her primary care physician is aware of her health plan and sends her to a surgeon who is under her plan? You've got to be kidding me.

Which goes back to the point that what we need is single payer. All these other hoops that insurance companies make us jump through are plain ridiculous.

[SaveOurDemocracy]

6. K&R for TRUTH! Thanks, ElsewheresDaughter n/t

[Beacool]

7. Thanks for posting this!!!!

Of course the Kool-Aid gang will choose to ignore it, but thanks for helping to clarify the record.

[Levgreee]

8. the grandma, and parents i believe, said she did have health insurance

so just because the aunt says she did doesn't make it true, or mean the family is verifying the story

[Malikshah]

9. Wow-- I thought there'd be some movement on the thread...

Shame on folks.

[nichomachus]

11. You might want to check in with one of the other stories

It's really hard to pump up a thread when there are so many versions of it floating around.

And, the sad thing is, the Hillary supporters still don't see what the problem was.

[Malikshah]

13. Cute. Sadder still the Hillary haters will see what they want.

As both candidates' minions have turned into feces flinging fruitcakes, I really don't care anymore.

Just par for the course here at DU these days.

[nichomachus]

14. Nice dichotomy

If you're not a "Hillary Supporter," you're a "Hillary hater."

KKKarl Rove couldn't have said it better.

[Malikshah]

15. Ah, the triple K. Effective.

In 2001.

Not so much anymore.

Minions are as minions do.

In the end, we're all losing when we don't focus on McCain.

[nichomachus]

10. Wow -- we now have, what, 25 versions of this same story? Way to go.

[NeedleCast]

12. She Still Didn't Fact Check Her Story

I have no idea which version of this story is the correct version at this point and I don't think the problem for me is so much that Hillary lied but that she told some tear-jerker story without first checking her facts. The underlying issues are still correct - something needs to be done about the health care industry in this country - but as a presidential candidate, Hillary should know better that to repeat a 2nd hand story without first verifying it. To me, it speaks volumes about her judgment (or lack thereof). She figured she'd get a lot of emotional mileage out of the story and it backfired because she didn't take the simple steps to verify it. There are, unfortunately, 100's of tales like this around the US. It would have been a lot smarter on Hillary's part to pick one that was verified instead of relying on 2nd hand information.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

16. please dion't choke to death on your clinton hatred