Natural News – by Ethan A. Huff
A new investigation has revealed that one of the foremost online resources for health information accepted millions of dollars from the federal government in exchange for its promotion of Obamacare. As reported by The Washington Times, the federal government awarded WebMD a $4.8 million contract for its agreement to post pro-Obamacare propaganda on its website, including the deceptive article “7 Surprising Things About the Affordable Care Act.”
A contract document obtained by The Washington Times reveals that the Obama administration funneled cash lump sums to WebMD each time it posted articles or information endorsing the health care program. WebMD also reportedly accepted funds as part of a federal scheme to indoctrinate physicians about Obamacare, so that they, too, could dispense propaganda about the program to help build support for it.
Based on the leaked fee schedule, it was revealed that WebMD had been contracted to receive $126,826 in taxpayer funds for each single 5,000 word review article it posted on scientific advances in a specific clinical topic. The site also received nearly $70,000 for a single four-minute video it posted from an opinion specialist. And an astounding $140,000 was awarded for a single eight-question online quiz posted to the site.
“This is truly pernicious on multiple levels,” stated Charles Lipson, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, to American Thinker‘s Thomas Lifson. “This story deserves wide publicity — and WebMD should be shamed again and again. (Makes me wonder if other news outlets are receiving ACA money. Inquiring minds want to know.)”
Pernicious indeed, as WebMD is still perceived by many as being an unbiased source of health information. But now that the cat is out of the bag, people everywhere are starting to question, and rightly so, the legitimacy and integrity of WebMD, not to mention various other mainstream sources of information on the web.
“Disclosure and transparency would be a good practice for any recipient of federal funding to promote the administration’s health care plan,” said Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley to The Washington Times. “Even if certain content is not produced with federal funding, but the same company takes federal government money to produce other materials, consumers would be better-informed by knowing the financial relationships.”
HHS’ Sebelius provided quotes to WebMD for Obamacare promotion efforts
WebMD‘s ties with the Obama administration go back even further, however, as evidenced by a press release issued back in August. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, it turns out, provided a personal quote for this release, in which she stated that the new WebMD would help educate consumers and “improve the quality of healthcare for millions of people across our nation.”
A spokeswoman for WebMD, which also owns Medscape, has since denied all allegations that the site is anything other than a news and information source, even going so far as to tout its alleged award-winning standard of journalism. But the actions of WebMD prove otherwise, as the site has clearly aligned itself with the political agenda of the White House, and thus cannot be trusted as a source of unbiased health information.
“Anyone who relies on WebMD for impartial information needs to understand this story,” adds Lifson. “I think the website made a colossal mistake, sacrificing its credibility. It has now harnessed itself to the most unpopular healthcare measure in American history.”
Sources for this article include:
http://www.washingtontimes.com
http://www.americanthinker.com
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/042967_WebMD_Obamacare_propaganda_taxpayer_funding.html#ixzz2l5pvUgrY
I have been watching webmd for awhile, in the pharmaceutical “reviews” sections, and it appears to me that roughly 65% of the comments are written by shills who are paid to do write reviews that are false personal testimonials as to the safety, efficiency, and quality of various pharmaceuticals. Some of these drugs are extremely dangerous to some people and can have terrible and permanent side effects, and these shills whitewash them to convince persons that the drugs are very safe and very effective . . . and of course, very cheap.