I was wrong. It turns out we do have death panels.

Wednesday’s commentary:

Yesterday President Obama dismissed the notion — spread by Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, and most of mainstream talk radio that health reform would set up “death panels”.

He is NOT in favor of death. And he pointed out that anyone who reads the bill knows there is nothing even remotely resembling a death panel in it.

And yet it turns out that death panels DO exist in this country. By one count, they condemn about 20,000 people to death each year in America. I know, it sounds outrageous, but a woman named Jackie called my show to admit she was ON one of them, up until last March:

“I worked for an insurance company as a customer service rep.”

She says she was one of the people whose job it was to say “no” to sick people desperately trying to get health insurance:

“I cannot tell you how many times as a frontline person I had to tell people ‘Sorry, pre-existing condition.'”

She was also the person who had to tell patients who DID have insurance, and who’d already racked up a huge bill…

“‘Sorry, not covered by your policy.’ Personally, I had high blood pressure throughout my entire time working there.”

I certainly hope that was covered. So what does Jackie think about the protests?

“You know I think the protestors don’t really have a clue. They, from what I have seen, are throwing tomatoes at the wrong person.”

Ironic, isn’t it, that so many talk show hosts would go to the trouble of making up stories about government death panels — when the real ones are right under their noses.