McCain's solution to health care crisis: Redefine "uninsured"
The McCain campaign likes to tell us we're a "nation of whiners" complaining about a "mental recession," so it should come as no surprise that their solution to the health care crisis is to simply have the Census Bureau redefine the term uninsured. Seriously. Let John Goodman, McCain's point-man on health care issues, explain:
"I have a solution. And it will cost not one thin dime," Mr. Goodman said. "The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American – even illegal aliens – as uninsured. Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to the likely source of payment should they need care."So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved."
Voila! No more health care problems! All those "whiners"out there who are losing their homes due to unmanageable health care bills can sleep sound tonight. The health care crisis is solved! As Michigan Messenger says:
If you're uninsured, out of money - and not having a life-threatening emergency - you not only don't exist in John McCain's world, you're completely out of luck.
TP, dKos, West Viginia Blue, All Spin Zone all have more.
What times the Bo Show tonight? Bo's the hottest attraction since Bo Jackson.
Dear
Mr.Senator McCainiac:FUCK YOU and you minions.
What does McCain know about insurance? He's been on the Govt healthcare dole since birth. His birth was even paid for by DOD/Gov't monies.
He's got his.
Anyone else turned off by that condescending "job well done" ad?
It's like saying "hey, we had no idea you could play basketball...wow."
i used to have from allergies but since i dont call them allergies anymore I no longer suffer from allergies.
Now I suffer from fun.
Its hayfever season here and I'm having more fun this time of year than ussual.
i used to have allergies but since i dont call them allergies anymore I no longer suffer from allergies.
Now I suffer from fun.
Its hayfever season here and I’m having more fun this time of year than ussual.
I wish this site had an edit feature.
McPoops plan is easy to understand. If you can't pay.
Die
Oh boy Jesse Jackson is on.
I thought he quit.
Hey, that's how it is in GWB's world, does anyone seriously think it's going to change no matter who wins (or steals) this election???
Medicines and medical treatments are to expensive. How many people can afford $150,000 to $500,000 setback? Besides the super rich.
And that is what is wrong with healthcare in this country - the ER is not a fall back to insurance
Members of Congress get "socialized" medicine for life. Why can't we?
Likely source of payment: NONE
These people are fricking idiots. Just like Bush said anybody could go to the emergency room.
Right, and when you run out of food, don't worry, just go to the grocery store and help yourself. Don't pay a thin dime. It's all good.
Introducing the
REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION DRINKING GAME!
In order to truly enjoy the RNC convention, invite some friends over and follow these simple rules:
1) Every time a major speaker avoids even mentioning George Bush or Dick Cheney in their speech to avoid reminding people that McCain is of the party who brought you the last eight years, take 1 drink.
2) For every major speech that includes a reference to McCain having been a POW in Vietnam (because, you know, you may not have heard...), take 1 drink. *NOTE: PLEASE JUST 1 DRINK PER MAJOR SPEECH; WE DON"T WANT TO KILL ANYONE!
3) For every major speech that FAILS to harp about family values to avoid reminding voters that Obama is still married to his first wife and is devoted to his kids while McCain is an adulterer divorced from his wheelchair-bound wife, is estranged from his children, and married to his home-wrecking mistress...take 1 drink
4) For every major speech that STILL tries to blame Clinton for problems eight years later, take 1 drink
5) For every major speech that trumpets McCain's support of "The Surge" but fails to mention ANY of his previous positions that: A) Iraq will be an easy conflict; B) We'll be greeted as liberators; C) Iraq presents a WMD threat to the U.S. D) Afghanistan needs no further attention because we've won; E) A timeline for troop withdrawal would be disastrous F) Getting troops out of Haiti soon is more important than establishing peace or democracy (why isn't this all over Obama ads: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6509571026846389675&ei=SDG3SLyt...)...take 1 drink
6) Every time McCain flip-flops and espouses a different stand on an issue than he's held before (Examples: Bush's tax cuts; overturning Roe vs. Wade; climate change, immigration, etc.) take 1 drink
7) Every time a former critic reverses his position to praise, take 1 drink. Scratch that; that might kill you, too. For every five reversals, take 1 drink.
8) Finally, for every ten times someone calls Obama "inexperienced" just like they did Clinton, take 1 drink.
I promise 2 things: 1) by the end of each night, you'll be hammered. 2) You'll be so, so glad.
-Pass it on!
We have good health care. But my husband had an infection that was had a red streak running up his arm at an alarming rate.
He works with Veterans and did not want t o take a sick day as they are so understaffed and was not sure of getting an appt with our MD the same day.
It was imperative that he get on an antibiotic ASAP.
So he went to our ER at 7 am.
Our bill?
$315.10 AFTER insurance. Maybe Mr. Mc Mansion has this kind of money, but we don't
Bicycle Marky @ 9:
The only way things will change is by going to a universal, single payer plan. The money's there, just think how much is paid to private insurers, and just think how much they spend to avoid paying claims.
Another problem is unless your rich and can afford the best, a private physician of name and fame your just another lab rat for the assembly line Mcmedical industry.
It's has just been announced by the RNC, that because John McCain plans to continue the theme of the past eight years, he will accept the Republican nomination standing in front of a red brick wall. That's right ~ no podium, no teleprompters ~ just your candidate, a single microphone, and you, the adoring audience.
Announcer: "Ladies and gentlemen, you're lucky tonight! This show is being recorded on wax cylinders so you can listen to it on the Gramophone in any one of your numerous houses! And now the moment you've been waiting for ~ here he is, John McCain!"
John: "Hey, how 'ya doing, my friends? How 'ya doin? Where y'all from. America, I hope!" (Laughter) "Maybe you don't know this about me, because I don't like to talk about it a lot, but I was once a POW!" (Audience laughs louder) "And what's this about some people not wanting to allow abortions?" (Audience grows silent and restless) "I mean, wanting abortions. Oh, I screwed that one up. Hehehe...bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb...anything. I don't care." (He has won back the audience, and they applaud and cheer wildly). "Hey, did I ever tell you I was a POW?" (Raucous laughter)
Announcer: "He'll be here all week. But only very early matinées. He gets sleepy and forgets his material. Because he was a POW!"
Candidate McSame and his minions are getting more arrogant as the days pass. Damn!! I SO want Obama to win the presidential election (if I can still call it that)... That'll be the end of Candidate McSame... Voila, no problem!
Joe @ 10:
John McCain
Dick Cheney
George W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
James Danforth Quayle
Oh wait, you said besides the super rich
Sam are I @ 16:
Wow. Talk about a dick move. That's a dick move.
These are the same A-holes who love to use the term "Socialized Medicine". Well, what's more Socialist than living on Gov't paychecks your whole damn life, McCain? Yeah, yeah. You're a "hero". That doesn't change the fact, that you don't pay for your healthcare with your own bank account. That ain't lettin' the Free Market take care of things, now is it? A-hole.
A Loss Leader.
mccain's healthcare plan/proposal will not change anything....he's tax breaks will not keep pace with
annual healthcare increase in cost about 10% depending what market your in and the cost of living.
this is a very important issue....i find it interesting u.s.
corporations/businesses taking advantage of the foreign workforce that has nationalized healthcare. universal healthcare will bring this country back....the problem is it will spun by the (R) as social safety net...but they have no problem doing business in countries that provide that (net)healthcare.Frontline has a good 60 minute documentary on 5 countries that provide healthcare all doing well. the elites know it will work they don't want it to. there is a lot of money being made in the current system.
Let's have REAL universal health care.
Not universal insurance coverage.
That's how Republicans handle everything.
Redefine "poverty", to a family of four earning under 24,000 a year.
Redefine "torture" to include waterboarding.
Redefine "manufacturer", to include McDonalds.
Redefine "abortion" to include birth control pills.
They are insane.
The thing about emergency room care is it's only good for critical care illnesses. McCain's skin cancer would have never been detected if he had not had much more thorough care than the emergency rooms can provide.
I know, I know. As a POW he had no medical care at all.
Next up for a nifty fix... The color of the sky.... We're changing the color of the sky.. Because? Well, hell, why would any red state want a blue sky...... see how that works?? Don't like something, just pretend it doesn't exist....That sky ain't blue, its red.. Why? Just cause, just cause we said so... I get it.. Not that hard to understand, these fucks have been lyin and cheatin on their math tests since 1st grade anyway... Meanwhile back in reality land... Oh wait, these are the same big brains who create reality and we all get to catch up... Yea, that's the ticket, that's the way it works.... I got a colorful discription for all this... BULLOCKS!!!!! JD
See? Now another member of the Bush regime works for John McCain.
"Redefine 'uninsured.'"
Meet Goerge Orwell.
McSongbird always in tune.
Oops.
*George* Orwell.
I am now convinced that only morons such as this can possibly vote for McCain.
I'm really sorry, Diane for what u and your husband are going thru with the bill. It's really unfortunate, the only thing is: why bring Senator McCain in on it already? He's not even in "charge" of it. Yet. If you look over his plans for working on health care, I really think you will like what you see. With the tax credit plan, depending on size of family, we all will be able to get our own insurance ~ the check will be sent straight to who we want. He also wants to be able to get us to take our health insurance with us if we change jobs...that would help in a variety of ways such the pre-existing clause that states where if you had a health problem before trying to get insurance so therefore you can't be insured with "us". He was also talking about an account called the Health Savings Account. He also said that if we could find insurance cheaper than the check we would receive for getting insurance, the remainder would be put into the Health Savings Account.
He also said something about working with individual states ~ something called GAP. I am most liking this one since I have multiple sclerosis & altho I am fortunate right now, there is no guarantee that I will continue to be.
I sound like an ad, I know, and I'm really sorry if I come off that way. It's just that I have always been leery of a politician who doesn't make prompt and sound arguments on where they want to take my state and my country. McCain has.
Yeah, and while we're at it, why don't we have HHS change their designation for disease-sufferers from 'sick' to 'not dead yet.'
Viola! Cancer cured!
So ER access is as good as being insured?
That's the dumdest thing I've heard a Repuglic3nt say in ten minutes.
Talk about Compassionate Conservatism!
lilorphant @ 26:
Redefine "victory" to not losing quite so many soldiers in Iraq each month.
And declare that casualties are "dropping" when it is only the rate of increase that is dropping, not that dead soldiers are coming back to life.
Could I put down Cindy and John McCain????
I lost my job, lost my health insurance. I'd love for them to pay for anything, should anything come up. Skin cancer comes to mind, not sure why.
Am I now considered 'Insured' again????
Ha!!! How easy was THAT!!!!
How about anyone who has access to other living beings (who barring mental retardation or loss of limbs)who can administer frantic 911 calls to local ambulance services be labeled insured?
How about renaming the uninsured the "unencumbered"? As in unencumbered of surplus cash?
How about renaming uninsured people "health care challenged?
Lori @ 33:
you'll have the option i believe if you decide to maintain the health insurance you have.........but like i said earlier the tax credit proposal mccain is speaking of will NOT keep pace with annual rising health care cost and other cost of living factors. this of course is dependent on the area you live in.
Although......are they LIKELY to pay my medical bills...?????
Sigh...I guess not.
Jack Damage @ 28:
Like the old story about Abe Lincoln. Supposedly Lincoln asked a guy, "How many legs would a dog have if you call his tail a leg?"
And the guy said, "Five."
And Lincoln said, "No, only four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg."
This is exactly the kind of bullshit that has put us where we are today.
People have got to wise up and quit letting limpballs tell them what his perverted drug addled repeating of the GOP talking points. these people are idiots!
This quote has been repeated a lot, but on the 45th anniversary of his "I Have a Dream" speech it seems appropriate:
"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
He thinks that the emergency room is "health care." He thinks that everyone who has been hurt by the Bush economy is a "whiner." He can't remember how many houses he owns. But at least he doesn't eat arugula! He's not actually out of touch!
Think of what a single payer health plan would be. FREEDOM. Tens of thousands of people could quit their boring jobs and start small businesses, and millions of people could work for them. America could then be the land of freedom and opportunity again, instead of a mass of people in Metropolis hanging on to their sanity and jobs at the expense of and because of their health. I like the German system covering everything from orthodontics to hospice. And what is the cost? 8.5% of your paycheck, and some from your employer. But you get house calls! The medical community is happy, we would be happy, and we would grow economically because our businesses would not have to haul around this legacy cost. Oh, I own an insurance agency and this will cost me more money than I will save as an employer, but I'm not a repub so I care about others and this nation.
average family health care policy cost $13,000
mccain's REFUNDABLE tax credit is not going to work
and they know it. obama's plan is a federally sponsored
plan similar to medicare that will compete with private
plans for those under 65yo.
the obama plan is NOT really government run insurance health care....it's not required. if you don't have insurance and you want coverage you can't be denied regardless of pre-existing conditions. if you can't afford there will be a subsidy...kind like the oil companies get.
the pool will be big so the cost will go down.
mccain's plan will NOT acheive anything except more opportunistic behavior and more bankruptcies.
This could be a good opportunity. I think that I'll start an insurance supplement company that will provide for bus/cab fare reimbursement to the emergency room. For as little as $9.95 per month, Jesus Insurance will provide the comfort and assurance you need that you will be able to get dumped* at the hospital emergency room of your choice**.
* waiting on attendants/gurney not included
**within the radius provided in your policy
[/Republican]
Let's not forget reagan wanting to define ketchup as a 'veg', and bush wanting to classify burger flippers as 'manufactures'. All to improve dismal truths! Stop them get everyone you know out to vote!
constituent @ 46:
Yes I agree with you that a larger pool will bring costs down. And a single payor plan that is not in general revinues, and allows free choice of doctors and hospitals will work best. If there is any individual premium no matter how subsidized will be left unpaid by some who have other opportunities, can't even afford it, or are just irresponsible.
This is my stand but I respect yours, I think that the dialogue is what we need. Tell me where I am wrong, and that's how Democrats differ because we are about thinking and working through a problem, not ideology.
hillary clinton pointed this out very clearly. the people that are paying for health insurance are already paying an
equivalent to a tax for the people that receive health care
services within the same pool and don't pay. there has been increase in this with the flux of people entering this country....to work low skill/low wage jobs. i have nothing against these people but the influx has strained some communities services and the cost is shifted to the consumer.
the paying pool has to increase currently the non-paying/unable to pay demographic is growing and putting a strain on the demographic that is currently paying.
this is very interesting because large corporations are taking advantage of tax payors with undocumented workers and putting the associated health care cost onto the public.
currently some emergency departments at hospitals are
very busy seeing patients for routine family medicine. the ED physicians are often over worked and see double the pts. they should see.
although i live in a state that has mandated auto insurance....please i understand the difference and the consequences....but there are similarities.
there are many large companies/industries especially manufacturing that would like to see changes in health care so they can compete with CHINA.
Ginger Oaks @ 49:
hey i just don't want mccain's plan. i'm a physician but i know little about health care economics. i was in vancouver recently and spoke with the local city people they love their nationalized medicine. it was their opinion that it also had a positive effect on lowering crime. healthcare for profit is broken in the u.s.
The McCain tax credit plan means that employers will be discouraged from offering a benefit to supplement pay. Currently Employers get a tax credit for insuring employees. Under the McCain plan employees would get a credit. Sounds okay, but individuals already get a tax credit for medical expenses including insurance payments. The major difference is that employers have a lot of clout when it comes to negotiating a policy under group plans. They can ask for certain benefits, prescription payments, and extended coverage. Individuals have NO bargaining power with insurance agencies.
Cafeteria (FSA's) benefits are okay, exept that it's a lose or use it plan. You deduct before taxes each paycheck a certain amount, and you get a debit card you can use through the year. Your employer may even match funds. However if you don't use all the money in account, you lose it at the end of the year. My plan (flexible speding account) allows me to contribute up to 3,000 dollars a year, obviously not enough to cover a surgery or a day in the hospital.
Obama's Plan
What Obama is proposing isn't really government-run health care. It doesn't even have a requirement for individuals to have coverage, like the plans offered by his main Democratic primary opponents, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Obama says that under his plan, if you already have insurance you like, you can keep it.
"But if you're one of the 45 million Americans who don't have health insurance, then you will have it available to you. No one will be turned away because of a pre-existing condition or illness," Obama said. "Everyone will be able to buy into a new health insurance plan that's similar to the one that every federal employee from a postal worker in Iowa to a congressman in Washington currently has for themselves."
If you can't afford coverage, you'll get a subsidy. Employers would have to offer coverage to their workers, but they'd get government help, too.
Lori @ 33:
don't buy this opinion........no substance and does not
understand the obama plan
John "McBush" is ignorant. He's a 70-something y/o
politicianman with the mind of a 12 y/o.I think the most important implication of Goodman's comment is not the text, but the sub-text. He suggests that the problem of health care should be dealt with by "executive order." Not by "advice and consent." Not by legislation. Not by a ground-up building of democratic consensus. No. By dictatorial fiat. Yes, the suggested solution is monstrous. But the suggested mechanism for imposing that solution is much more monstrous. That's where the outrage should be directed.
“So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved.”
So, there you have it. Voila! You're an idiot!
He left out the morgues
Dickens' Scrooge was altogether bolder and more honest in his prescription for the poor and starving of that time. "Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?" Now this McCain spokesperson has part of Republican prescription, the sick who can't afford healthcare should just wait until their conditions are emergent enough for them to get into an Emergency Room. He only left out the second part, that the back-up to this nation's overstretched Emergency Rooms is its wonderful system of morgues, which have enough capacity to deal with the masses of the sick and poor whose delay of care means that even the aggressive interventions of an ER can't save them. And a good thing, too, as morgues can treat patients much more cost-effectively than ERs, and more rapidly reduce the surplus population, hopefully before they get a chance to vote.
God, I thought this was another joke from the Onion, then I realized that John Goodman is a fairly common name.
.
Just Like Bush...
Redefine TORTURE...
Redefine TERRORISM...
Redefine EDUCATION...
Redefine TRUTH...
Redefine HONESTY...
Redefine JUSTICE...
.
As we can tell from this article just like a prescription drug, John McCain has some side effects.
So I put it in a video earlier today:
THE SIDE EFFECTS OF JOHN MCCAIN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBqs26mpg8o
Is the some kind of joke. They seriously did this as a joke in The Onion. To fix the obesity problem in America, the National Department of Health redefined obese to be anyone over 95% body fat. I guess we can lower the crime rate by redefining murders as "most likely source of life function cessation".
OMG socalib!!!!! Now THAT'S funny :D
I don't know which is more striking-the extraordinary callousness or the total lack of understanding of economic matters. It won't cost us "one thin dime"? Are you out of your mind. Encouraging uninsured people to seek care at an emergency room is ultimately going to cost taxpayers far more than providing free healthcare for all. But that's OK I guess. As long as you can claim everyone is insured and you haven't allotted any additional funds to healthcare in your budget. Yeah. McCain is ready to be Prez.
This is the "No Child Left Behind" approach to the health care crisis.
One of the things that is so characteristic of Goebbels type propaganda, is altering the meaning of a word or phrase. Patriotism = loyalty to Hitler.
According to the Repocons "Patriotism" = killing, torture and breaking our own and international law.
So it is not surprising that they want to change the term "Emergency Room" to equal "GP office waiting room."
Probably the greatest impediment to good emergency care in ER's these days is the overburden of non-emergency patients. There are multiple problems created when people who cannot afford private care use ER's as their primary care office.
Just remember that this is all part of the Repocon "shock and awe" campaign. Keep nations and individuals in a constant state of crisis, and their attention and energies are diverted from the criminals who profit from the chaos.
The rich Repocons don’t, of course, go to the ER’s to which the rest of us law-abiding patriotic peons go.
Firstly they have private care physicians. Secondly, in an emergency they will go to a private, for profit, hospital. In a public hospital the ratio of nurses to patients is likely to be about 1:10 and of physicians to patients is likely to be something like 1:50 or even higher. In a private for profit, the ratio of nurses to emergency patients will be 1:1 or maybe 1:5 at most. and of physicians 1:10 or even 1:1
Does the term heartless bastards spring to mind?
"constituent Says:
average family health care policy cost $13,000
mccain’s REFUNDABLE tax credit is not going to work."
and -
McCain says he will add your employer's donation to your insurance as "income."
so you will pay a health insurance tax, whether you claim on it or not. So you might be paying income tax on an item that is never paid or only partially paid to you.
And if the "increase" in your taxable income puts you into a higher tax bracket you will pay tax twice on your employer's donation to your health insurance, whether you claim on it or not, as well as higher taxes on the rest of your income.
A three fold tax increase. And your insurance still doesn't pay all health care needs, unless your live like a McCain - with a rich sugar mama and and total government paid health coverage.
WHAT A DEAL!! I just changed my vote to McCain!!
reelbusy @ 62:
hahaha....loved it.
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