The White House has launched a new Web site called "Health Insurance Reform Reality Check."
The Web site, along with August town hall meetings scheduled by Congress and speaking engagements by President Barack Obama, are intended to fight criticism of the health reform package under consideration on Capitol Hill.
According to Democrats, misconceptions about their reform package have included fears of government healthcare rationing, "forced" euthanasia for seniors, cutbacks on the veterans' health program and Medicare.
On the Web site, Kavita Patel, a physician who works with White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, answers the criticism that reform would lead to a "government takeover" of healthcare or cause "rationing." She said reform will forbid many forms of rationing that are currently being used by insurance companies.
In another video available on the Web site, Melody Barnes, the White House Director of the Domestic Policy Council, tackles claims that reform would encourage or even require euthanasia for seniors. She said White House officials ensure protection of Medicare, the VA health program and the right for Americans to keep the employer-based coverage they now have.
In a recent entry on her Facebook page, Sarah Palin, former Alaskan governor and Republican candidate for vice president, called the Democrat health reform package "downright evil."
"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," Palin wrote.
Obama posted a response to critics on the Web site.
"Whether or not you have health insurance right now, the reforms we seek will bring security and stability that you don't have today. This isn't about politics. This is about people's lives. This is about people's businesses. This is about our future."