McConnell: Americans Don't Go Without Health Care Because Doctors and Hospitals Are Sworn to Provide It
By Heather Monday Jul 20, 2009 12:00pm
Mitch McConnell came on Meet the Press to spew some more Frank Luntz talking points on health care reform, but when asked whether the United States actually has the "best health care in the world", McConnell punts and retreats to the Republican mantra of more tax cuts and then adds this little gem when asked if it's a moral issue that 47 million Americans go without health insurance:
McCONNELL: Well, they don't go without health care. It's not the most efficient way to provide it. As we know, the doctors in the hospitals are sworn to provide health care. We all agree it is not the most efficient way to provide health care to find somebody only in the emergency room and then pass those costs on to those who are paying for insurance. So it is important, I think, to reduce the number of uninsured. The question is, what is the best way to do that?
So in other words, Americans have access to health care because they can go get in line at the emergency room, and the hospital cannot turn them away. I'm curious if Sen. McConnell would care to opt out of his government run health care plan and take a vow only to use the emergency room when he needs to see a doctor from now on since he believes it would mean he has access to health care? Anyone think he'd take me up on it?
Full transcript:
GREGORY: We just heard from the secretary of Health and Human Services, and I thought a couple of significant points, the first on timing. Is the president going to get a bill out of the House and Senate by the August recess?
McCONNELL: Well, I don't think he ought to get the particular bills that we've seen out of either the House or the Senate before August, because they're really not the right way to go. I mean, what's going on here, David, it's perfectly clear, this is the same kind of rush and spend strategy we saw on the stimulus bill. We're going to have a deficit this year, $1.8 trillion, that's bigger than the deficit of the last five years combined. They passed a budget that puts us on the path to double the national debt in five years, triple it in 10. And here comes health care on top of it. As you just pointed out with Secretary Sebelius, CBO says it's a quarter of a trillion dollars will not be paid for. And even if you look at the pay force, they're taking it out of the backs of senior citizens and small businesses. This is a bill that shouldn't pass at any point, either before the August recess or later in the year. What we need to come up with is a truly bipartisan proposal.
GREGORY: Will they get what they, what they're working on now, though? Do you think they'll get it passed?
McCONNELL: Well, I certainly hope not. I don't think this particular measure ought to pass either the House or the Senate, because it's not good for the country.
GREGORY: And that's the big factor here in terms of cost. Did you hear from Secretary Sebelius, who certainly recognized the fact that the CBO said that increased costs over time undermines their goal. The president would have to really drive some specific cost-cutting before signing on to these measures.
McCONNELL: Well, if you're going to do something as comprehensive as the president wants to do and you're going to pay for it, and you, you ought to pay for it, there are no easy choices. And this is what they're grappling with right now.
Let me, let me just tell you what I think, David, if I may, is flawed about the whole approach. They don't seem to grant that we have the finest health care in the world now. We need to focus on the two problems that we have, cost and access, not sort of scrap the entire healthcare system of the United States. It's laughingly said around the Senate, "Where would the Canadians go for quality health care?" John McCain and John Cornyn and I were down at MD Anderson in Houston, one of the world's famous cancer hospitals, a couple of weeks ago, having a meeting with their healthcare professionals. They take care of patients from 90 countries who come to Houston to save their lives. We have quality health care now. Surveys indicate that Americans overwhelmingly like the quality.
GREGORY: Right.
McCONNELL: So let's focus on access and cost and not try to scrap the whole system.
GREGORY: Well, but wait a minute. You, you say that we have the best healthcare system in the world, you say it as a matter of fact.
McCONNELL: Mm-hmm.
GREGORY: But it seems to be a matter of debate. You just mentioned access. You've got 47 million people who are uninsured.
McCONNELL: Mm-hmm.
GREGORY: And there are experts, including one expert who is now an Obama adviser, who actually writes about this idea that it's a myth that it's the best health care in the world.
McCONNELL: Mm-hmm.
GREGORY: And this is what he wrote along with another expert last fall, saying: "It's a myth that America has the best health care in the world. The United States is number one only in one sense, the amount we shell out for health care. We have the most expensive system in the world per capita, but we lag many developed countries on virtually every health statistic you can name"; life expectancy, infant mortality, obesity, death rate from prostate cancer, heart attack recovery. That's the best system in the world?
McCONNELL: That's one expert. If you look at the surveys and ask the American people what they think, they don't think quality is a problem. They think cost is a problem and access is a problem.
Let's look at access, the people who are uninsured that you mentioned. A better way to begin to deal with that problem is to equalize the tax treatment. Right now if you're running a business and you provide health care for your employees, it's deductible on your corporate tax return. But if you're an individual buying health care on the open market, it's not deductible to you. We ought to equalize the tax treatment. Another cost item we seriously ought to address, that the administration only pays lip service to and some of the proposals kicking around in Congress actually discourage, are these wellness efforts that we've seen on display, for example, at the Safeway company, which through their own efforts have targeted the five biggest categories of preventable disease--smoking, obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and lack of exercise--and incentivized their employees to improve their personal behavior in all of those areas and capped their costs. They never mentioned junk lawsuits against doctors and hospitals. We're spending billions every year, billions in junk lawsuits defending, in defensive medicine, defending all these lawsuits. They don't want to do anything about that.
GREGORY: And yet you say that the time is now to act. You think something must be done.
McCONNELL: Oh, absolutely. I'm not in favor of doing nothing. We have a cost problem and we have an access problem. We do not have a quality problem.
GREGORY: Do you think it's a moral issue that 47 million Americans go without health insurance?
McCONNELL: Well, they don't go without health care. It's not the most efficient way to provide it. As we know, the doctors in the hospitals are sworn to provide health care. We all agree it is not the most efficient way to provide health care to find somebody only in the emergency room and then pass those costs on to those who are paying for insurance. So it is important, I think, to reduce the number of uninsured. The question is, what is the best way to do that? The proposals over in the House, according to CBO, not only aren't paid for, they don't really dramatically increase the--decrease the number of uninsured.
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So let me get this right, Mitch says that a lot of those uninsured people who are paying taxes so that ole Mitch can have some of the best medical care in the country, is saying that those people can go to emergency to get their healthcare. Typical asshat repub.
That sure is the way it sounded to me. Wonder when was the last time he visited an emergency room in a big city on a weekend night. I'm guessing never.
never has he.
and the emergency rooms don't give
FREE medical services. you will get
billed or the state and city services
will charge the citizen respectively
or increase taxes to help pay.
mcconnell is
dumbuncaring as a bucketof rocks sitting in donkey poo.
You know what is really sick.... Most of these extreme right wing republicans and the voters of the blue dog democrats don't have a pot to p... in..
We not only paid for the criminal Cheney's salary of 100 times the salary of the working Person , but paid for a private doctor to follow him everywhere he went..
If not for that Bush and this Global Empire would have to look for another criminal jerk to carry out his dirty work so he could say he have clean hands.
A nurse once stated if not for his medical care he would not be around now..
Every time I think of Bush , Cheney getting by with their criminal crimes and destruction to our country I get mad as h... of Obama and the democrats for putting road blocks in the way to protect them...
But the problem is that the reason they don't have health insurance is because they cannot afford it! DUH!
If people could afford to pay the mortgage/rent, the utilities, car payment, food, gas, clothing etc. AND pay for medical insurance too (especially QUALITY MEDICAL INSURANCE), I believe they would.
Sure, everybody can go to the E.R., but when the bill comes it may be thousands of dollars. Tens of thousands if the person had a massive heart attack and HAD to be admitted to the CCU because no ambulance would transfer them to a "county" facility, then the bill could easily be in the tens of thousands...even over a hundred thousand dollars!
What is a family to do in that type of dire emergency? Sure, the guy may survive the heart attack but once he gets the bill and can't pay it that will REALLY kill him!
Sen. McConnell is the typical rich, Congressional Club Member who is OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE AVERAGE AMERICAN.
Until we can figure out a way to get these pompous, arrogant (fill in the blank)'s out of Congress and replace them with ordinary, working class Americans, we will continue to get this type of response to our PLEADINGS for a Medicare for All health care system.
Most of these Congress members...Democrats included, JUST DON'T GET IT, and believe me, they are obviously NOT listening to what's being said out here in the "real world".
Abbybwood, R.N.
This afternoon, my friend Robert phoned me to tell me about some stuff he'd seen on CNN and Meet the Press. McConnell had stated that a friend of his from Florida said that in Canada, they don't treat the elderly for health problems; they just let them die. As a Canadian, I find that really offensive. McConnell's friend is full of shit.
Robert also told me he saw Sanchez interview a former Canadian Health Minister, Ujal Dosanj. (I don't know if I spelled the name correctly.) Dosanj did a great job of debunking McConnell's talking points.
I've been observing Dosanj for many years, and he's a good guy. He's one of the more honest and competent politicians. If anyone out there saw that interview, I would like to tell you that you can trust him on this stuff.
You're going to have to step up your troll game a couple notches if you're going to bring that crap here.
Have I mentioned before that Mitch looks just like an old lesbian I know? That's all I have good to say about this MoFo.
Spreading lies about Canada for political gain, and you wanna trust this turd?
We had a "Fonze" yesterday, who was a troll. You some kinda club?
.
.
Dear Sen Mitch McConnell(R-Ky),
I can not go to the emergency room for a root canal.
I can not go to the emergency room for a routine check up.
I can not go to the emergency room for a vision prescription.
I can not go to the emergency room for a whole host of medical needs.
You've proved how OUT OF TOUCH you are with your own Stateswo/men from the Great State of Kentucky. Many of them are dying because an emergency room is the last place they go to...
... To die because the preventative measures were denied to begin with.
XXOO
America.
.
p.s.
Dear Kentucky,
Seriously...
... This man represents the best the State has?
REALLY?
XXOO
(The rest of) America
.
Ya know . . . Said perfectly
Take away his grandeous government paid health care and see how long it takes for him to complain. Nothing like experiencing the real thing to adquately understand and vote for the people they represent.
Drop his unconscious ass off in LA Med Center.
See how long it takes before they ship his ass to the free hospital, where it's 50/50 he may die waiting for attention.
I second the motion.
idea... there's a bunch of others to send along with Mitch... what a gang of thieves!!
Mitch should be ashamed! What a lying asshole.
He is one of the most disgusting people I have ever seen.
He is a prime example of everything that is wrong in America today.
He should be the poster child for lying sacks of shit every where.
He is a person that has abandoned all morality and honesty for greed.
He has been purchased, paid for by corporate dollars, just a prostitute!
republicanism is a mental illness!
And who pays for those "free" emergency visits, Sen. McConnell? Who pays? Is is paid for by the magic fairies that fly out of your ass after an insurance executive pulls his dick out?
This image scares me less than the reality of the situation.
I'd be too embarrassed to act that stupid on national TV! Kentucky, do something for your country and dump this self-serving sack of cow flop!
But then they pass the unpaid bill on to the rest of us, thus precipitating the cost of medical care in this country.
May be passed on to those who have insurance.
But also the individual who cannot pay the bill gets screwed too. Hospitals can get nasty about unpaid bills. They can get judgments against people for not paying a bill. Even if you "settle" with them it still kills your credit. It's an economic Pandora's Box and a slippery slope that can end up causing an individual to lose their home, car etc.
Heck, if they got sick enough without insurance it could cost them their job too!
I'm afraid there are too many people right now who are just one heart attack, one bad car accident, one slip and fall away from not just possible loss of life but loss of EVERYTHING!
The Congress needs a freakin' WAKE UP CALL and NOW!
It's almost comical that he mentions doctors taking an oath. What did he swear to when he became a Senator and how is he sticking to that?
Funny how McConnell, when confronted by a substantial allegation involving statistics of infant mortality, etc., retreats behind "Well, that's one expert. If you ask the American people..." WTF does one have to do with the other? Does he really think that a few carefully-phrased...
Oh, why am I bothering? Why do we act like Mitch even thinks he's not lying? The really issue is the new Breck Girl, David Gregory, reminding us that he's a worthless corporate enabler. Why should we expect David Gregory to risk access by offending poor Senator McConnell by demanding he be held to any kind of journalistic or honesty standard?
As soon as they mention "the American people" you know there is a straw man in the room. If they keep saying that the American people think something or want something they are hoping they can make their argument more convincing. Forget the fact that the American people want just the opposite of what they want.
The relentless way he went after Sebelius and then followed that interview with a series of lob balls to McConnell. If David retained any integrity to this point, it just went out the window.
Gregory and his ilk only care about profits, which means caring about "access". The Republicans will always be more focused on PR and spin and campaigning (since they clearly don't care about governing), and they'll always be more partisan and unified in terms of boycotting an individual or a show or a network that doesn't 'play ball', which means Republicans/right-wingers will *always* be more capable of manipulating and getting favorable spin from the corporate media than the Democrats/liberals.
The corporations. Most politicians are bought and paid for by the corporations. Party affiliations rarely matters. Always remember that.
bitchassho! just like the rest of his ilk... sold out a long time ago... whether it's a sellout to the devil or the lobbyists (they're actually one in the same as far as I'm concerned) matters little... he's definitely a ho!
When they're against something, that's the most solid argument in favor of that something anyone can make.
I could not agree more. Every time I hear any right wing radio idiot spout some nonsense I automatically know I should probably be against it. However, I do have the intellectual curiousty to do some research on the matter and draw my own conclusion.
That Mitch McConnell is such a stupid jackass A-hole. I'm a Doctor, just not board certified yet because I was trained overseas. At least where I was trained we didn't have such problems because we saw anyone regardless of Insurance because it was a public hospital. We didn't have all the high technology that the US has but here in the US it doesn't matter if all that technology is available because if can't pay for it then you're shit out of luck. I used to think that those lying worthless politicians were confined to 3rd world countries but I can now see were those 3rd world politicians got their training from.
And several of those 3rd world countries have better health care than the US does.
Aside from the obvious lies, he also says the solution is to have everyone be insured. We don't want more insurance! We want health care for all, like many other countries, both poor and wealthy, have! I've had supposedly "good" insurance before and still been denied coverage, once having a decision to cover reversed a year after it had been approved! We want the insurance companies out of it!
The problem IS insurance. They don't pay, they decide your treatment, if any, they drop you if they don't want to pay. INSURANCE IS THE PROBLEM.
A hearty "SECOND!!!" to that:
INSURANCE IS THE PROBLEM!!!!
McConnell seems to think we already have socialized medicine in this country in the form of emergency rooms. Does he think they should be eliminated?
Oh, wait, he says the doctors and nurses there have taken an oath and have no choice but to treat those people. Well, there's your solution right there: replace the Hippocratic Oath with the Hypocritical Oath that all Republicans take, to wit: "I deserve it because I'm me. You don't deserve it because you're not me, and you're not in my little tribe, either." Then doctors in emergency rooms won't have to treat anyone without an AmEx Gold Card...
Please, that's for peasants.
Platinum is where it's at baby.
I have heard from many conservatives lately.
Hannity made that claim on his show while debating Tom Arnold (yes the comedian). Arnold kind of put him in his place.
Watch here.
http://progressnotcongress.org/?p=2185
I haven't been able to watch that program since before Russert. It has no gravitas or credibility left.
McCONNELL: That's one expert. If you look at the surveys and ask the American people what they think, they don't think quality is a problem. They think cost is a problem and access is a problem
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Exactly, that is why we need a single psyer or public option, to make healthcare affordable for everyone. David, why would this be so hard for you to respond to McConnell with this statement.
Let's say that "free" emergency room turns into heart surgery and the bill gets mailed to your house. With no insurance (y'know... since it's "free") say goodbye to your house.
I have an idea for funding healthcare... start taxing religious organizations! These "God" lovin' douches would change their stories pretty fast!
“Robert Reich says political payoffs to get the support of the drug companies, insurance companies and the AMA are making cost cutting impossible. And that’s losing support fast.”
It should fail.
Even if it passes, the resulting bill will be a failure and Obama will have to sign it. Better off having it fail on an up or down vote (regardless of what's in it) and have creeps like McConnell spend their next campaign explaining why they were against health care.
Are people like Mitch McConnell utterly insane? Yes, of course they are. Emergency room are NOT equipped to handle primary health care. There is a reason they are called EMERGENCY ROOMS. Besides, it's an incredibly expensive to treat people. I'm so sick of these Republicans I could just hurl.
Only public hospitals have to take the uninsured, private hospitals and doctors turn away anyone that can't pay.
But I think any patient presented to an E.R. who is in ACUTE DISTRESS must be seen by a physician.
It's kind of a CYA thing.
Once it's ascertained that the uninsured individual can be "safely" transported to a county facility, then they let them go.
Some public hospitals can actually give you pretty good care for next to no fee (depending on the time of the day and day of the week.)
Try going to a public medical center in a big city like L.A. though on a Saturday night around 11 p.m. with a "bad headache" and I can pretty much assure you the gunshot wounds, babies bein' born coming through the door etc. will get top priority.
supermarket? Same thing here: He is ignorant, and intends to stay that way. It's a "Let them eat cake!" thing. Not insanity. C Street thinking.
president obama in his short message today from a d.c. metro hospital said he spoke to the operations official that said er visits in 2 years went from 50,000 to 80,000 plus. this is not efficient healthCare. this demographic going to the er can't afford healthCare. this becomes a "hidden tax" that shifts to the paying pool and the local government. it also puts a burden on the er system where physicians are seing many more pts. per hour than usually excepted. this healthCare insurance crisis involves many variables/elements but overall in my opinion this has been created to make us less competitive. this will help further establish economies in less developed regions of the world. there's no loyality to this country/economy/u.s. workforce. without healthCare reform we will not re-establish/establish small business( the so-called engine of the economy).
Another repugnacan lieing sack'o crap.
theres a very large minority of people in the USA that honestly believe that all the worlds problems would be solved by simply lowering taxes...
If everyone without insurance is using the ER for their regular medical care, that's what is causing the long waits for the actual emergencies. Seems that would have a negative affect on the "best healthcare system in the world"
"I'm curious if Sen. McConnell would care to opt out of his government run health care plan. . ."
What a good idea! Both congress and the senate should be informed that whatever plan they eventually pass, they will automatically be signed on, in such a way that it replaces and invalidates every other health plan they held.
Then let us see what basic health plan they believe is adequate.
Could anyone really be this stipid? If this is the best Ky has to offer we are fucked!
This man is an imbecile!
republicanism is a mental illness!!!
What the senator is saying, whether or not he understands it, is that every American has exactly one free chit for dealing with a major illness. But after we use that chit, we have nothing else ever again -- no house, no car, no savings, and no way to hold down another decent job.
If the person with a major illness is uninsured, paying for medical treatments will send him into a downward spiral of poverty from which he can never recover. If the person with a major illness has insurance, for example through his employer, the insurance company will force that employer to fire the person, no one else will ever again dare to hire him, and again he will face an endless downward spiral of poverty.
So you and I have two choices when we get sick: we can die quietly, or we can get medical treatment and live the rest of our lives in misery.
And that's assuming that the debt isn't passed on to your family. You have to keep working trying in vain to pay off something you probably never can.
God favors some, and strikes down those he doesn't like. They believe this. Those that God does not like deserve nothing.
What rock do you live under? I would also like the chance to punch you in the face but you wouldn't have to worry to much because you have the best medical care possible paid for with my taxes now don't you
Too bad we couldn't find out what percentage of each of our taxes goes to pay for the Senators health insurance and withhold that ammount until they see things our way.
Can we elevate the conversation a bit and talk more about the framing of the debate.. Republican strategy in the long-run... tying this Health care "rush" to the stimulus package "rush".. tax & spend, tax & spend... regurgitate. This site has become a fox news watch hound and only tries to discredit uncredit worthy talking heads. If I wanted to watch Fox News... I'd watch Fox News... I used to be engaged with this site... and now I skim and move on... and soon I will just move on....
Don't be upset if we forget to miss you when you're gone.
you seem to be one of those that chew this stuff up whole hog... you are the reason this site is going downhill... you keep up the good work.... you won't be missed either...
that you take the time to drop by and insult both posters and commentors just because we're not worthy of you. But you really needn't have bothered.
My comments were to the authors and to C&L as constructive criticism... you weren't really part of the conversation... but if you must take offence, by all means... and by the way, your condescension is disgusting... stay classy.
If you're one of those people who're so precious that they think they need an ellipsis instead of a period at the end of every sentence, then please piss the hell off.
you might actually characterize it as being somewhat repetitive.
And the team's response is basically the same: look at the name of the site. THIS is what we do. We show the crooks and liars in the media. We show how they lie and try to shape the debate.
What do you think McConnell is doing right now? Trying to frame the debate.
I'm not sure what you're looking for, but clearly, your expectation of what this site does may be a little skewed.
... but I guess I would like to see more of the long-view... a bit of commentary on how the words of today play in the bigger communication strategy of the Republican or Moderate Democrats (or Right-wing; or conservatives; or whichever alliances are being formed to counter the current Progressive or Liberal alliances). One new concept of the site that has been very interesting, the addition of the "archives", incorporates the long-view of current debates as seen from a historical perspective. I would just like to see some theories and analysis on how current debates are being framed to disrupt the Progressive movement in the Future. I'd like to see a bit more of C&L authors trying to expose faulty logic (which C&L does in spades) and then how that logic may be used to justify or frame future debates on critical Progressive issues.
As the average American has the attention span of a gnat (if that), you gotta knock down these unworthy talking heads the moment they open their mouths.
It takes but a moment for this kind of unchecked gibberish to get spread around.
Example: We're fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here. Like that was some well-thought-out reason for invading a country which was not a threat to America.
although you seem to disagree with me, you can say it with eloquence and some positive defense of the site and it's contents... I was beginning to think there were only nasty people in this chat room.... I'm glad we can voice our opinions here without being berated and insulted... it really isn't necessary...
You want to talk about Republican strategy? Go to townhall.com or rushlimbaugh.com.
Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.
Our goal should be to cover all individuals through private health insurance. We are not prepared to turn our health system over to the government. Advocate for greater transparency in both quality and price information. Place both the decision making ability and healthcare dollars in the hands of the consumer. Support the Friends of the U.S. Chamber and sign the Health Care petition at http://www.friendsoftheuschamber.com/takeacti... .
I have private health insurance and have only fractional (at best) control over decision making and health care dollars.
But then a quick perusal of your history reveals you for the spammer you are and I needn't have wasted time with even this brief response.
It seems, from the unsolicited crap the Chamber routinely mails to me, that their solution to everything is "Just become a wealthy business owner, use your money to buy power and respect in your community, and then everything will be fine."
Man, I wish I had known it was that easy! I have to run to tell all of my minimum wage earning buddies that they should forego food to make sure we can pad the bottom line of some bloodsucking insurance company that is going to deny them coverage or payment for any reason they can think of to keep their bottom line up.
And after that, they should save the net negative money they have left and garner influence and power.
Someone should tell those twits that everyone can't be rich. Their system works for the wealthy, every one else has to be working and poor at the bottom of the pyramid to support them.
Private health insurance takes money meant to provide health care and feeds it to a bureaucracy whose mission isn't health care but the expansion of profits. Private health insurance companies are an obscenity.
Privatizing does not work.
We've had decades of privatized health insurance and our per capita costs are higher than any other western nation and our outcomes are worst. Further, people have less choice and there are MILLIONS of people under- or un-insured. Your plan is not a plan at all--it's the status quo and is morally repugnant. Health care is a right, not a privilege.
It's a ridiculous notion that should have you laughed out of here.
"Our goal should be to cover all individuals through private health insurance." - mid6788
Ehhhhh....Wrong!!!!
One of the most serious problems we have now, besides the fact that 50,000,000 taxpaying Americans have NO insurance is COSTS.
The reason the costs are so high is because the private health insurance corporations are not in the business of taking care of sick and injured people. They are in the business of saying "NO!" and making profits for their stockholders.
Which is why we need to broaden Medicare to include ALL Americans. One payment to one place and NOT FOR PROFIT!
We ARE prepared to turn our health care system over to the government. Where have you been and what have you been smoking? Luntz talking points? As the Chinese restaurant owner said to Neuman at the buffet table, "You go now!" And as I always like to point out, it is the "Chamber of Commerce," not the "Chamber of Consumers."
in Ontario now routinely turn away patients if you don't have a family doctor that practices there and if it isn't a matter of life or death. That doesn't stop because of universal healthcare. And the biggest problem here, is try to find a family doctor. Good luck if you live in the city. I have one sister lives in Guelph (12 years now) and one in Kitchener (over 12 years now) and neither one can get treated at any public hospital in their cities because they have no family doctor there. They are told to go to the new "free" clinics. So while Americans try to get universal healthcare, those with some version now, find their politicians slowly stripping it away. Face it people. Money talks. Always will. Humans should be at the bottom of the food chain.
If you go to the ER, and they send you a bill, and if you don't pay that bill it gets turned over to a sleazebag collection agent, how the F is that in any way 'free'?? McConnell? Anybody?
The real kick in the ass is, they still pass that cost on to everybody else (i.e. their willing accomplices, the insurance companies) whether they end up collecting on the original bill or not. Heads they win, tails we lose!! Now that's what I call freedom.
If you don't pay it, of course, your credit gets shot to crap, and in this country, credit is unfortunately required to get virtually anything.
And don't *dare* to file bankruptcy, we've been enacting enough laws to make sure that the banks and other large corporations won't lose out on a single penny.
That hospital trip you took will follow you practically to the grave if you don't pay it. Some solution.
If what Mitch is saying is true, that perfectly adequate medical care is available to the un- and under-insured at hospital emergency centers (a ludicrous claim on the face of it) then it becomes clear that medical insurance itself is a scam, a parasite on the practice of medicine.
Did King Mitch proclaim that his Kentucky constituents can use the e.r. as their own persoanl single payer system? Fascinating. The utter lack of intellectual honesty shown by the clowns is staggering. I completely agree that whatever healthcare plan comes out of Congress should immediately be provided as the sole option to each individual member...that would profoundly change the framing of the debate. Hope Mitch somehow gets a chance to explore the WORLDS'S BEST HEALTHCARE in some backwoods e.r. soon...
That sounds like what he said to me.
If we can get "the best healthcare in the world" by just going to the ER, why do any of us have insurance in the first place? Mitch seems to be trying to quell one fire by using another one.
Meanwhile, Beck tonight is feeling it for the rich who might be taxed at a higher rate to help pay for the healthcare plan. He feels it's so unfair. I smell another tea party coming on.
Why don't all of us with health insurance just cancel it and use the ER, counting on the noble men and women of the health care professions to provide the services without any guarantee of payment.
That should work.
eventually.
He's *really* full of shit. People regularly get turfed away from private hospitals, and doctors often refuse to make appointments with patients whom they believe will be unable to pay.
A bunch of posts on that:
http://irv.ourexchange.net/2009/07/just-want-...
http://irv.ourexchange.net/2009/06/youve-been...
http://irv.ourexchange.net/2009/06/death-by-i...
Nice for those bastards on Capitol Hill to opine about the death of an industry, when they have made their blood money off of denying coverage to people. That's right -- *denying* coverage. That's the bottom line. That's how these vultures make their money -- from human suffering. The more claims they deny, the more money they get to keep.
That industry couldn't be put in the ground fast enough for me.
It really is based on whom they "believe" will be unable to pay, and often their beliefs are based on nothing. After being screwed by a supposedly reputable insurance company several years ago, I decided to go without insurance. I immediately noticed that my doctor didn't want to do as much during checkups as he usually did, despite knowing that I was able to pay, and I even had a specialist tell me that it's probably wisest "not to go to doctors at all." When I asked why, he just shrugged. This is Texas, so many of the doctors are Republicans/Libertarians, but still, you'd think right-wingers would respect payment whether it's from the uninsured or not. Made me wonder if doctors are encouraged by insurance companies to discourage the uninsured from seeking health care.
It depends on the doctors.
Not all doctors are profit driven; I've known quite a few who would provide care even to the detriment of their own financial well-being.
It's not like insurance companies always pay the doctors what a procedure costs them. I remember my father once getting a payment for about twelve dollars from an insurance company (MD Health, I believe) for a half hour appointment.
Doctors, patients, it doesn't matter. Profit driven health care will *never* provide superior healthcare to care driven healthcare.
Mitch, Mitch, Mitch, you can't ask anyone to be bipartisan with you Republicanzi. Resign.
"the doctors in the hospitals are sworn to provide health care."
Yes. And Bush & Cheney swore to protect the Constitution and we know how that worked out.
Also, I keep hearing them say that the US has the best health care in the world and site as examples that people come from all over the world to take advantage of our system. To that I would say, the people that come from all over the world are WEALTHY. We do have the best system if you are rich. However, if you are poor or even middle class, you are on your own! And if you end up having to file for bankruptcy, that is also your tough luck.
"the doctors in the hospitals are sworn to provide health care."
But only if you can pay for it. Hospitals routinely refuse to admit or turn out people who can't afford to pay for services.
hospitals have whole departments that do nothing but interact with public agencies to find funds to cover uncovered patients.
The whole system is one big clusterfuck. Universal healthcare REDUCES cost...it doesn't increase them.
Can you accompany me to the hospital for an epidural for my spinal stenosis? Cuz I don't have insurance and the fact that I can hardly walk because there is tissue thickening around my spinal cord, squeezing the nerves.
But the free medical services and ER's only want to give me vicodin. Doesn't even dull the pain.
Since you are opposed to government provision of insurance, why are you covered by it?
Such satire.
was Cool - you are not.
The real Fonzi actually had a brain that functioned - you seem not to.
Perhaps you should make an immediate appointment with Mitch's personal physician - I'm sure he'll give you the number.
Would you pay $50/month for good insurance and medical care? I would. Would you pay that in new taxes? With 300 million people, $50/month would be 1.5 trillion annually. Correct me if my math is wrong. I don't see why this can't be done, except for the fact that the politicians and fuckers like Gupta are ASSHOLES!!!!!
3,000,000 * $50 + $15 billion
that's why I said check the math! $15 billion per month, $180 billion per year. That's 1.8 billion over ten years, right? Less than the House Dems plan right?
You got to the right place by a different route. You still got there.
Yes, man is it tough when the numbers are so big. So is $50/month per person that much to fund something like this?
These Insurance Company shills make me want to puke.
Among his top 20 campaign contributors:
Kindred Healthcare
Humana Inc
Blue Cross/Blue Shield
total from Health Professionals: $704,850
How do you spell S C U M B A G?
Health INSURANCE needs to be fairly represented to the government, which is never going to happen with insurance companies spending $1 million per day on lobbying corporate suckups like McConnell.
What are you really afraid of?
We have the best healthcare in the world, for those who can afford it. Try buying a personal policy with a pre-existing condition. Not covering a pre-existing condition is a failure of society.
You sure got that one right....'ole Mitch surely had the upper hand (not to mention the one in his pocket, along with all the money he's collected from the health/insurance folks)...remember how much you love that marvelous health insurance you have when (not if)you're denied coverage.
My favorite Rethug talking point:
"You don't want the government between you and you doctor."
No...no...I'd much rather have some faceless bean counter at my insurer screwing me over when I really need help!
There is utterly no point at which our current system works.
what ever it is they're against it. no matter how you change it or condense it, they're against it.
the health insurance company's are todays mofia. they run a racket, and they should be under investigation for RICO violations.
but they have too much cash flowing into congress' back pockets.....
nothing is going to get better folks.....
He's like a bitch that needs spanking, that's all I can say about that poster on the wall. What a pathetic guy.
... on this blog. There will be NO healthcare bill of any significant help to the American people. The Repugs are blasting Obama with their fear mongering, tax increasing BS and the public is buying it hook line and sinker. Obamas healthcare support from the public is falling like a rock due to all this BS.
And you know what will be the cause of this failure? The stupidity of the American people. It's too bad every American will suffer but "that's the way it is".
And BTW WTF watch's MTP anymore... Grergory had to give up his true vocation as a party clown for kids birthday parties to take the host job.
How do we know what the majority of real people are thinking? All we get is Luntz talking points, and a few talking heads disagreeing. Name one poll that can be trusted that has released any numbers saying the public believes the GOP? Anyone? Huh?
BLAME AMERICANS FIRST
Prostitutes are never embarrassed.
First, it's not so easy for someone to just show up at the ER to get care.
Several months ago my boss's wife went to the ER with pain in her abdomen. They told her it was constipation and sent her home. Several hours later she went back with even more severe pain, and they refused to see her for the following reasons...it had been less than 24 hours since her last visit AND she had the same symptoms...and they "couldn't tell her anything different."
So she goes across town to another ER, and as it turns out she had a hernia that was blocking the entrance from her stomach to her small intestine, and she had to have emergency surgery.
As to his statement "The question is, what is the best way to do that?" Well, you sack of s***, after you destroyed any chances of Clinton reforming health care, your party won majority in 1994 and you had 12 years to come up with a better plan and you did absolutely NOTHING. In the meantime, prices have gone way up, and people have been denied coverage in ever-increasing numbers. You do know what "pre-existing condition" means, right? It means that the insurance companies don't have do cover one dime of treatment for an illness.
In the last job I had, I paid $540 per month on an $8 per hour wage for family coverage, plus the plan had the wonderful pre-existing condition clause.
In my job now, I am extremely fortunate to have my monthly premium paid in full, but to add my wife and 9 year old daughter would cost $800 per month. Instead I went with another company for them, paying $340 per month and again no coverage for pre-existing conditions.
Damn.
Support President Obama. Time for change.
The toughest question is -- how do you provide health care to 47 million more people without more doctors?
Possible answers:
Allow non-doctors (nurse practicioners) to play a bigger role in health care
Allow doctors from other countries to practce here without as much red tape
reduce the use of resources for terminal cases
limit specialization so that more doctors focus of general practice
other ideas?
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