During a rally in Waterford, Michigan Trump claimed ‘You know, our doctors get more money if somebody dies from Covid’. Video / Donald Trump via Facebook
US President Donald Trump has pushed the baseless conspiracy theory that American healthcare workers are overstating the number of coronavirus deaths the country is suffering to get more money.
That claim was just one example among a litany of falsehoods and bizarre moments during Trump's recent election campaign rally in Waterford, Michigan.
"You know, our doctors get more money if somebody dies from Covid. You know that, right? Our doctors are very smart people. So what they do is they say, 'I'm sorry, everybody dies of Covid'," Trump said.
"But in Germany, and other places, if you have a heart attack or you have cancer, you're terminally ill, you catch Covid, they say you died of cancer. You died of a heart attack.
"With us, when in doubt, choose Covid. It's true. No, it's true."
US President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Wisconsin on October 30. Photo / AP
The crowd laughed at this point.
"Now they'll say, 'It's terrible, what he said'. But that's true. It's like, $2000 more," Trump added, pointing to the media pen.
In the US, Medicare pays hospitals about three times more for a patient with a respiratory condition who needs to go on a ventilator than for one who does not. That is a standard policy which has nothing to do with the pandemic.
More Testing equals more Cases. We have best testing. Deaths WAY DOWN. Hospitals have great additional capacity! Doing much better than Europe. Therapeutics working!
People with severe coronavirus infections are often placed on ventilators.
Under stimulus legislation passed months ago, and signed into law by Trump, Medicare is currently paying hospitals 20 per cent more than its standard rate for patients who have the coronavirus. That is a real thing.
There is no evidence that healthcare workers are wrongly attributing patients' deaths to the coronavirus out of greed.
There is also no evidence that America's coronavirus death toll, which currently stands at 229,000, is overstated. In fact, data on excess deaths throughout the US suggests the pandemic's toll has been understated.
This is not the first time Trump has floated this particular conspiracy theory.
A week ago, organisations representing healthcare workers felt compelled to push back, with the American College of Physicians calling it a "reprehensible attack on physicians' ethics and professionalism".
While we're on the subject of the coronavirus, it is worth noting Trump once again complained that the media was covering the pandemic too much.
"You know, everything is Covid, Covid, Covid. You know that. You turn on the news, Covid, Covid, Covid, Covid, Covid. And you know, cases are up. Why are cases up? Because we test more than anyone in history," he said.
A Covid-19 testing facility in California. The US reported more than 88,000 new infections yesterday, its highest number since the start of the pandemic. Photo / AP
The US reported more than 88,000 new infections yesterday, its highest number since the start of the pandemic. The nation's daily average has spiked sharply in recent weeks, and it, too, is currently at a record level.
"Many countries don't test at all. Many countries don't test at all. But we test more," Trump continued.
"Deaths are way down, people are getting better. I'm an example of it. My wife is an example of it. And Barron Trump! Young. Very, young, 14. He's my very tall 14-year-old boy."
Trump's son, Donald Jr, gave another version of that claim during an interview on Fox News last night, saying deaths from the virus were down to "almost nothing".
In reality, the US is currently suffering about 1000 coronavirus deaths per day, and there are fears that figure will rise further in the coming weeks, as fatalities tend to lag behind any increase in cases.
Trump repeated his frequent claim that a vaccine will be available to the general public soon, though he said it wasn't needed anyway.
"Without it, we're still rounding the corner. We have it, but without it, we round the corner.
"And it will be free. We're doing the vaccine free. And the reason is, this wasn't your fault, this wasn't anyone's fault, this was China's fault. Just remember it."
