Otto S. Raddatz

The Wall Street Journal reports that Obama had another "You lie!" moment in his health care address to a joint session of Congress last week.

It turns out one of the dramatic stories he told about the failures of our health care system was misleading.

Did Obama's speechwriters fail to check their facts or did they choose to disregard them?

Either way, it's bad.

President Barack Obama, seeking to make a case for health-insurance regulation, told a poignant story to a joint session of Congress last week. An Illinois man getting chemotherapy was dropped from his insurance plan when his insurer discovered an unreported gallstone the patient hadn't known about.

"They delayed his treatment, and he died because of it," the president said in the nationally televised address.

In fact, the man, Otto S. Raddatz, didn't die because the insurance company rescinded his coverage once he became ill, an act known as recission. The efforts of his sister and the office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan got Mr. Raddatz's policy reinstated within three weeks of his April 2005 rescission and secured a life-extending stem-cell transplant for him. Mr. Raddatz died this year, nearly four years after the insurance showdown.

Obama aides say the president got the essence of the story correct. Mr. Raddatz was dropped from his insurance plan weeks before a scheduled stem-cell transplant.

...The patient's sister, Peggy M. Raddatz, testified before the House Energy and Commerce oversight subcommittee June 16 that her brother ultimately received treatment that "extended his life approximately three years." Nowhere in the hearing did she say her brother died because of the delay. Ms. Raddatz didn't return calls seeking comment.

Obama speech writers appear to have been informed by erroneous media reports, including an article on Slate.com that stated, "The delay in treatment eliminated Raddatz's chances of recovery, and he died." Its author, Timothy Noah, said Wednesday that he wasn't contacted by the White House and didn't realize Mr. Raddatz hadn't died because of the treatment delay.

Obama needs to be more careful.

How difficult is it to get simple facts straight?

Aides to Obama claim that he got the story "essentially correct" because Raddatz did lose his insurance.

No, Obama didn't get the story "essentially correct" because Raddatz did not die as a result of briefly losing his insurance.

Obama got it "essentially" wrong.

...Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D., Ill.), a member of the House subcommittee that investigated the Raddatz case, said there may have been insufficient vetting of Mr. Raddatz's story by the president's aides. But, she added, "To focus on that is kind of a 'gotcha.'"

No, it's not 'gotcha.'

It's just being truthful, correctly stating the facts as they are.

Surely, Obama could have told a story that really did make his point.

This one did not.

Obama was being deceptive. As these deceptions come to light, Obama's credibility takes more hits.

He needs Americans to trust him on health care.

Increasingly, Obama is losing the trust of the American people.

Video.