Sarah Palin Was Right About Death Panels

 By George Rasley

Remember when former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin was excoriated by Democrats and the Leftwing news media for predicting Obamacare would lead to “death panels”?

In a Facebook post Gov. Palin said: government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

Governor Palin’s prediction was named PolitiFact’s inaugural “Lie of the Year” in a column in which the Lefty authors at PolitiFact said:

Of all the falsehoods and distortions in the political discourse this year, one stood out from the rest.

“Death panels.”

The claim set political debate afire when it was made in August, raising issues from the role of government in health care to the bounds of acceptable political discussion. In a nod to the way technology has transformed politics, the statement wasn’t made in an interview or a television ad. Sarah Palin posted it on her Facebook page.

Her assertion — that the government would set up boards to determine whether seniors and the disabled were worthy of care — spread through newscasts, talk shows, blogs and town hall meetings. Opponents of health care legislation said it revealed the real goals of the Democratic proposals. Advocates for health reform said it showed the depths to which their opponents would sink. Still others scratched their heads and said, “Death panels? Really?”

The editors of PolitiFact.com, the fact-checking Web site of the St. Petersburg Times, have chosen it as our inaugural “Lie of the Year.”

Although regularly ridiculed by the Left, Governor Palin has been proven right a number of times since 2009, most recently about how COVID health care is rationed in Democrat-run states.

In a recent column recounting the ordeal he faced getting monoclonal antibody treatment for his parents who live in Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Michigan GULAG, Michael J. Stern, a member of the Board of Contributors of USA TODAY, made this startling revelation:

I also asked whether the doctor could arrange for my mom to get the monoclonal antibody treatment that is largely credited with saving former President Donald Trump’s life when he contracted COVID-19, and has been available to the public for a year.

Here’s where things went off the rails.

The nurse said that my mother’s age and medical condition would qualify her for the treatment, but that the limited supply meant a doctor’s prescription was not enough. A referral had to be made to a group of doctors who decide which patients will be given the lifesaving drug. He made the referral and assured us that we’d hear from the group that handled the treatment, within 24 hours.

Then 24, 48, 72, 96 hours passed and not a word from the people who authorize the monoclonal antibody treatment.

Mr. Stern said his mother was 85, with other serious health risks, but after waiting days, this was the only response he got:

What did come was a suggestion that I go on a Michigan.gov website that had more than 100 listings for monoclonal antibody treatment centers across the state. So began my slog through countless hours of elevator music, deposited voicemails and telephone transfers that ended in disconnection – all in an effort to secure a potentially lifesaving treatment for my parents.

Mr. Stern’s parents were also denied the Paxlovid and Molnupiravir oral antiviral treatments due to “limited availability.” Fortunately for Mr. Stern and his parents he was able to get them the lifesaving monoclonal antibody treatment at a center some 70 miles from their home.

We contrast the death panels and lack of transparency in Democrat-run Michigan to Florida, where, despite the roadblocks thrown-up by the Biden administration, Gov. Ron DeSantis’s Republican-run state is actually increasing the number of taxpayer-funded state-administered sites.

And to sign-up for Florida’s taxpayer-funded monoclonal antibody treatment there’s no death panel, all you need is a positive test and an online appointment, and the same goes for the Paxlovid and Molnupiravir oral antiviral treatments.

Governor Palin was right back in 2009, but she won’t get any kudos or respect for the warning from liberals like Mr. Stern. And we certainly don’t expect that Governor DeSantis will get any kudos or respect from Democrats for creating a model COVID treatment program that has saved countless lives. But come Election Day we’re guessing lots of voters will remember that it was conservative Republicans like Gov Palin who warned them about the coming health care fascism, and it was conservative Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis who set-up the program to treat those suffering from COVID, no matter their age, vaccination status or perceived social utility.

George Rasley is Managing Editor of ConservativeHQ.com. A member of American MENSA, and a veteran of over 300 political campaigns, Rasley served on the Board of Directors of Goshen Hospital and worked on health and science issues on the staff of the United States House of Representatives. He also served as a lead advance representative for Governor Sarah Palin’s 2008 campaign for Vice President.

Published with Permission of conservativehq.com