Limbaugh tells caller who can't afford $6,000 to treat broken wrist: "Well, you shouldn't have broken your wrist"
August 20, 2009 4:00 pm ET
From the August 20 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show:
Also says health care prices will come down if we "[g]et the government out of it, get the government and their stupid regulations, get the government out of Medicare."
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I know, Rush was just kidding...thank God none of his ex-wives kidded with him. Can you imagine? NO.
How about that Tom Ridge exposed the fearmongering of Bush/Cheney?
Breaking news.
But I agree, it is a joke. It's a sick joke, and it is the ideal conservative healthcare plan: health care for the rich, homemade splints for the poor. You're absolutely right. It's a joke. A joke on Americans. And it's what Limbaugh actually proposes. His position is that healthcare is no different than a Rolls Royce: if you're wealthy, you can afford it.
That's their health care plan.
I'm going to use that one (and will credit you, of course)
Getting the government "completely out of healthcare" would mean, for starters, disbanding the FDA. Even if that would reduce the cost of medical treatment and pharmaceuticals, quality and reliability of care would still be directly and almost linearly related to price in the best case scenario. The poor will certainly have access to medicine, but it will be the kind that the bottom of the market regulates for itself. Imagine the "supplements" that you see in gas stations marketed to people who need to stay awake all night, only now that's what your entire pharmacy looks like. A person who needs a top of the line, scientifically tested drug but happens to be poor will have to settle for "Doc Limbaugh's EIB Almost Antibiotic Tonic -- Tested in Hannity Labs".
In your ideal, exclusively private market driven healthcare system, this caller will indeed have access to treatment for his broken wrist: just like a trucker today has a choice between diet pills and Dr. Zippy's Keep On Truckin' pills.
Prove it
By the way, calling me an "idiot" proves your own idiocy. What's your IQ? I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours!
Private insurers had their chance. They blew it. Time for the non-profit government to take over.
This is a system where there are people who cannot buy insurance if they wanted to. Have you ever heard of uncompensated care? That's the cost that gets passed on to everyone else when the uninsured receive emergency care and cannot pay for it.
Limbaugh's point is ludicrous, and you're a fool for believing it.
Health care should NOT be a marketable product. If you want to talk about "death panels," you need to be talking about the folks at United Health Care, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, etc., whose job it is to try to find a reason to deny expensive health care. Happens all the time. People are denied necessary health care simply because it would damage an insurance company's bottom line. That's just wrong.
AKA Social Darwinism.
Randy
I think you are wrong...
Commercial insurers or other purchasers of health care services usually negotiate discounts with health care facilities on behalf of the patients they represent.
http://www.hospitalconsumerassist.com/qa.htm
And I assume you think that's fair, yes? If the hospital doesn't like the deal, it walks away.
"With the government options there are no negotiations just the government saying here you will take this and like it. Becsue if you don’t take Medicare Medicaid, Tr-Care ect.. You do not qualify for government grants for research facility improvement ect…"
And why is this unfair? If the hospital doesn't like the deal, it walks away.
Your post below regarding automobile insurance shows your lack of knowledge regarding insurance procedures.
I've worked in insurance defense litigation for almost 25 years . . . I daresay I've probably had much, much, much more experience in this field than you.
One thing about him, he certainly puts the 'high' in highliter.
If you don't know what you're talking about, you shouldn't be spouting off about it. All major insurance companies have contractual agreements with hospitals, doctors, etc., and they TELL the hospitals, doctors, etc., exactly what they will pay.
That's why a box of tissues, or a single baby's diaper, are often tagged with a cost of $75 to $100 at a hospital.
It's all a scam.
Your post below regarding automobile insurance gave you away. You have very little concept of how the insurance industry really works.
(By the way, you may want to ask your administrative assistant to proofread your comments before you click on "save".)
Actually I know exactly what someone else was saying because I can hear -- or in this case, read. I just don't know with certainty what anyone else was thinking, and neither do you. But I don't think it's outrageous for me to claim that I "know what someone else was saying".
For instance, you said: "Im assuming that the drunk driver didn't have motor vehicle insurance. Otherwise you post is just plain BS." Now, I have no idea what you actually thought when you wrote that, but what you wrote suggests that you know enough about motor vehicle insurance to dismiss someone else's position as "just plain BS." I'm not claiming to read your mind, I'm just reading what you wrote. And what you wrote is undermined by your later admission that you don't actually know much about auto insurance.
They don't go hand in hand.
If someone known for usually trying to tell the "truth" about politics suddenly drops a joke cloaked in his message, how are we to take his words as comedy? If someone is dearly trying to tell the public the evils of the new administration and the opposite party, where is the "laugh!" sign when he attempts comedy?
When people who are normally serious tell a joke, it usually bombs or comes out as sounding like sincerity.
When people who are normally funny try to be serious, it usually comes out as unintentional comedy.
And I certainly didn't hear Rush laughing.
FU
Best. Call. Ever.
It's too bad Limbaugh was serious...
Like I said above, if you don't know what you're talking about, you shouldn't try . . . makes you look foolish.
Why should we have to deal with all this red tape that's ALREADY occuring with our "highly efficient" private health care system?
I understand just how insurance works, and I really don't like it. If you like it, fine. You don't have to sign up for the public option.
Also, the point of my post was to apply Rush Limbaugh's logic to any other health situation. People get injured all the time, people get sick all the time, and no one should go broke because of it. Did I go broke because of this car accident? No, but I could have without insurance, or would have had to wait a long time to get reimbursed, or just not get treatment. It wasn't my fault the drunk driver was going the wrong way.
I invite you to have a browse around our health system.
http://medicare.gov.au/about/index.jsp
I break my arm, I go to hospital and get a cast.
Cost? No idea. Dont care. Not my problem. I pay my tax, and the major things are dealt with.
What about a cold? Ok, that's a little different.
I probably have swine flu at the moment. I saw a doctor yesterday.
Medicare covers a fixed dollar cost for a general practitioner visit. It may be based on time. I honestly didnt pay much attention.
It's $27. I paid 60$. He also ordered a test to confirm swine flu. $0 extra cost.
In a week or so I will recieve a cheque from Medicare for %27. The difference is called the "gap". You can get private insurance for the gap.
Specialists get a higher government contribution than GP's.
Doctors are not paid pittance.
For the fans of the free market, the system isnt entirely government run either. It is run as a single entity insurance corporation.
The market still decides the prices. There are plenty of private doctors, specialists, even hospitals.
I know someone who at 17yo had a liver transplant. $300,000 paid for by Medicare. His family paid nothing but taxes.
Drugs.
We have the PBS Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Under that, the government negotiates bulk prices with pharmacy companies. In order to sell in our market, there are some drugs that are heavily discounted. It's fairly complicated, but it means that there is a large core of the drugs that are most used and needed that are quite affordable. If you dont earn enough, a healthcare card will entitle you to most of them at $5.30.
If you spend more than $1264 per year on medication, you can also claim compensation.
Bear in mind that these prices are relative to the Australian economy. A 60$ doctors appointment might be cheap or expensive in the USA. But for someone on the median wage (me ~50k) it's fair.
From what an outside observer can see, the entire US system is broken. People should be treated for problems, not asked if they can afford it. Doctors should be allowed to treat, and not worried about the huge cost of liability insurance.
Honestly, take a look at our system. I've linked the site.
It's government run. It works for the most part.
Nothing's perfect, but I can tell you, noone here worries about health costs.
There's nothing to see here. Move along.
;)
(because compassion is wrong)