Hannity cites rationing in U.K. to attack public option -- but U.S. insurance companies already ration care
On his Fox News show, Sean Hannity attacked the public option by stating that "[e]verywhere socialized medicine has been tried it's failed. It ends up in rationing," and pointing to women with breast cancer in Great Britain who are denied drugs by "the government rationing body." But Hannity's attack that "the government option" would introduce rationing for "women with breast cancer" is undermined by the fact that private insurance companies in the United States already ration care; in fact, private insurers routinely deny care to cancer patients, often because they are found to have pre-existing conditions.
Hannity claims "socialized medicine" leads to "rationing," cites women denied treatment for cancer in Great Britain
From the October 7 edition of Fox News' Hannity:
HANNITY: You want -- you want the government option?
[...]
HANNITY: See, here's the problem. Everywhere socialized medicine has been tried, it's failed. It ends up in rationing. It ends up in rationing. It ends up bankrupting the country. You know, look at Great Britain recently. Women with breast cancer, they were denied drugs by who? The government rationing body.
Hannity's attack ignores that private insurance companies in the United States already deny care for cancer patients
Insurance companies ration care by rescinding coverage. As former senior executive at CIGNA health insurance company Wendell Potter explained in June 24 Senate testimony, insurance companies restrict or deny coverage by rescinding health insurance policies on the grounds that people had undisclosed pre-existing conditions.
Retired nurse had double mastectomy surgery delayed because of pre-existing conditions. Retired nurse Robin Beaton testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee and stated that her private insurance company canceled a double mastectomy surgery she had scheduled to treat her breast cancer after learning that she had a pre-existing heart condition. Beaton testified that her insurance company then canceled her coverage entirely, stating: "[T]he first time I filed a claim and was suspected of having cancer they searched high and low for a reason to cancel me." Beaton said she was eventually able to have surgery after her congressman worked to have her insurance reinstated. [Energy and Commerce Committee testimony, 6/16/09]
California woman reportedly denied surgery after breast cancer spread to her brain. A KPIX CBS 5 news article reported that Shelly Andrews-Buta was scheduled to undergo surgery to treat breast cancer that had spread to her brain, but that "instead of having doctors working to remove her brain tumors on the day the surgery was scheduled, she sat in a San Francisco hotel room. Why? Because at the last minute, her insurance company, Blue Shield, decided it wasn't going to pay for the treatment her doctors at UCSF Medical Center had recommended." According to the article, Blue Shield told Andrews-Buta it would pay for a less expensive procedure, even though her doctor said "that wasn't the best option" for her cancer. [KPIX CBS 5, 5/12/09]
Hospital told woman: "[U]nless your brother brings in cash, he is not going to get the procedure without insurance." Attorney Peggy Raddatz also testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee and stated that her brother Otto was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and, after several rounds of chemotherapy, was scheduled for a stem cell transplant. In the midst of the preparation for this procedure, his insurance company canceled his insurance. Raddatz testified that when she called the hospital to see if she could still schedule the procedure for her brother, she was told: "[U]nless your brother brings in cash, he is not going to get the procedure without insurance." [Energy and Commerce Committee testimony, 6/16/09]
Hannity previously misused story of Briton supergluing his tooth as a "story of universal health care gone awry"
Hannity: "The Democrats have their way, get your superglue ready." On the July 8 edition of his Fox News show, describing what he called "[a]nother story of universal health care gone awry," Hannity stated that "a 55-year-old man in the U.K. ... ran into trouble when he couldn't find a dentist OKed by the government. So he superglued his tooth together for a period of three years." Hannity concluded: "The Democrats have their way, get your superglue ready." However, according to media reports, a woman in the United States has also glued in her teeth because of the costs of dental care. An ABCNews.com article also reported that low-income people are resorting to pulling their own teeth.
Transcript
From the October 7 edition of Fox News' Hannity:
HANNITY: You want -- you want the government option?
KIRSTEN POWERS (Fox News political analyst): I agree with that. I mean, I don't think the public option is a far-left thing. You know, people try to portray it that way. I think it's a mainstream -- most Democrats support the public option. I agree that it's the way to contain costs -- it's, in fact, the only way to contain costs. And all of the things --
HANNITY: The American people don't want it.
POWERS: That's not --
HANNITY: The American people don't want it --
POWERS: There is a New York Times poll --
HANNITY: -- and Congress has a 21 percent --
POWERS: There's a New York Times poll that showed that the majority of Americans did want it. But at the end of the day all the things --
HANNITY: Wait, is that the poll that polled two-to-one Democrats over Republicans? That poll?
POWERS: All of the things -- always attacking the poll.
HANNITY: I'm sorry, I --
POWERS: But all of the things that you mentioned, Sean -- I agree with Judith -- are fine. There's nothing wrong with them. But they're not -- even if you added them altogether, they would barely even touch the problem.
HANNITY: See, here's the problem. Everywhere socialized medicine has been tried, it's failed.
POWERS: It's not socialized medicine.
HANNITY: It ends up in rationing. It ends up bankrupting the country. You know, look at Great Britain recently. Women with breast cancer, they were denied drugs by who? The government rationing body.
The main component of your argument, because we can toss out the 'socialism' label as merely inflammatory, is the fear of rationing. So, you are trying to scare people away from a public option by making them afraid of possible (though not likely) outcomes, such as rationing. Two thoughts on this:
1) You are aware, or should be, that the insurance industry is currently rationing care, every single day. They meet to decided who should and should not get care based on projected earnings and profit and loss. This is already happening, and Americans are dying by the thousands because of it.
2) By using fear, or perhaps I should say terror, to make your point, you do realize that you are a terrorist, right? That you are terrorizing the American people in order to accomplish a political end?
Fox seems to have a list of talking points their "pundits" must follow. It makes you wonder what they really think. Beck is nuts, but Hannity is intelligent enough to know better. Even O'Reilly shows a trace of humanity once in a while.
In addition, I have a cousin who has a heart condition and is unable to obtain health insurance. She and her husband have taken jobs in Canada so that she and he can establish residency and receive health care there. Canada is a very long way from Texas, but they were going to go bankrupt trying to pay for health care in their own country. That's DISGUSTING.
Luckily, my mother was able to get insurance coverage for the home.
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Right now the for-profit health insurance companies are the filters, and they deny for pre-existing conditions, which the government wouldn't do. They deny coverage for some medical procedures and drop patients entirely so that they can make a profit, which the government wouldn't do.
The big bad bully is already doing what Hannity says we should fear, and the American public would be better served by someone who is not motivated by a profit motive than by someone who is.
So, it's clear that what Hannity stands for is the profit motive of these health insurance companies!
Everyone who claims to "love their insurance" has never really used it... it's this false comfort because we can see a GP when their child gets strep throat or if there's a minor accident involving a broken leg or severe bruise...
but when it's serious and life threatening... when we need the coverage the most... that's when the system fails...
The LA Times had a heart wrenching story today about a family who lost their 17 year daughter after Cigna refused to approve a liver transplant that the doctors at the UCLA Medical center recommended.
Now that alone is bad, but the story continues about how she tried to sue Cigna, but current Federal law prevents us from suing our Health Insurance companies for damages due to ERISA (Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974)... you can only sue for the cost of the treatment.
To add insult to injury, she went to Cigna's headquarters in Philadephia to ask for an apology... while in the lobby Cigna employees, looking down into the atrium lobby from a balcony above, began heckling her, she said, with one of them giving her "the finger."
Now since she can't sue Cigna for damages over the death of her daughter because of Federal Law (upheld by the Supreme Court), she is suing over the incident in the lobby.
How sad and awful our state of affairs has become.
45 million people without insurance in its self, is rationing, you bonehead.
Just as well we have the NHS because the lies that shower on Fox News keep telling about it makes me sick.
Anyhow, can I just clear one thing about this denial of breast cancer drug issue. Firstly, some women were denied a specific drug, but it is important to remember that they were treated. On the issue of the drug the reason they were denied it wasn't because it was very expensive (which is was) but because it was not licensed here in the UK as a medicine. So as a result it was untested, again here in the UK, and the benefits were unclear. The fuss was made by the women (fair enough) with the help of the drug company (quelle surprise). The women were likely to die of their cancer, as it was advanced, and were clutching at any straws they could, again fair enough. The drug company, however, were the one dangling the straws (to extend the metaphor to breaking point).
So lets be clear here. Some women were denied a drug which was not licensed here at the time and which costs nearly £30k. They were, however, treated for their cancer as everybody else in the country is. Unfortunately, for them, it was not successful. But I don't think even the great US insurance system can claim 100% survival rate.
Its none of my business what you guys over there do. However, I can tell you that I have had Chrones disease for the last 18 years and the NHS has saved my life twice (literally) and the treatment I continue to get allows me to work and pay my taxes. The NHS is the single most loved institution in the UK and surely that says all you need to know?
My friend who lives in London loves her NHS care . . . she's experienced both American and English health care. Guess which one she prefers?
Never mind.
What I can say though is that we may only be 3 places above you, but we spend just under half the amount, in terms of GDP, than you do in the USA. That's half. 50%.
Please don't get the idea that I'm saying that the NHS is some type of medical nirvana. Its not. It has its problems. However, one of them is not making people choose between a limb or their house. For me its not a matter of economics but morality. Its about asking yourself what type of country you want to live in. I want to live in one which values people over money.
Speak for yourself, Mr. Hannity. And be genuine about it...speak about things that might actually impact you, since the millions of dollars you get paid to be a corporate puppet means you won't ever have to worry about rationed health care.
For those who'd prefer just the transcript:
The fact is our system is the one that is a failure, which is why the rest of the world has rejected it.