McCain Advisor Claims That There Are No Uninsured People in the US

[Utoo]

What bullshit.

McCain adviser: Everyone in U.S. has some health coverage
Posted: 01:09 PM ET CNN.com

From CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand
A McCain adviser speaks out on the uninsured.
A McCain adviser speaks out on the uninsured.

(CNN) – A health care policy adviser for the McCain campaign told a newspaper reporter that nobody in the United States is technically uninsured, because everyone has access to hospital emergency rooms.

"So I have a solution [to the health care crisis]. And it will cost not one thin dime," John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, told the Dallas Morning News in an interview published Thursday.

"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."

Hospital emergency rooms cannot technically turn away anyone for financial reasons.

"So instead of producing worthless statistics that people fling around in vacuous editorials and pointless debates, the Census Bureau should produce meaningful numbers, identifying all of the sources of funds people will draw on if they need medical care," said Goodman, who helped write McCain’s health care plan.

As a pediatrician, and as a doctor who has treated many people who use the emergency room as their primary care due to lack of funds to pay for true medical continuity, this has got to be the most asinine, head-up-the-ass notion I've ever seen.

Yes, anyone and everyone can go to an emergency room for care. You won't be turned away, and you don't even have to pay. However, this does not make you "insured, but with an alternate source of payment." What it means is that the hospital pays for the few hours that you're in the emergency room---but that's all. It means is that you may get one dose of a medicine in the ER, but you will not finish the treatment course because you can't pay for the drugs at a pharmacy once you leave the ER. It means that you will not have one doctor as your primary doctor, thus you will never have one health care provider who knows your full health history--knowledge that is crucial to provide adequate healthcare. It means that you won't have any doctor following up with how you're doing, because that is not what will be done should you try to follow up in the ER. Finally, it means that you will clog up emergency rooms with general, run-of-the-mill non-problems, detracting the staff from dealing with true emergencies (I can't tell you how many runny noses and constipated kids I've seen in the ER over the last three years).

The sad thing is that this is already the case---walk into any ER in the United States and you'll see this in action. But what in God's name does it do to label uninsured people using ER as primary care as "without payment" or "paid for by hospital" instead of plain old "uninsured???" It will amount to the same number of people with the same crippling problem--just a different name.

This "solution" is yet another example of a lack of knowledge about the true situation, and a lack of caring for the people involved.

[anitram]

I posted this on another thread and was just as outraged.

Our ERs are not meant to provide ongoing primary care. It isn't where you go to get an allergy test done or to schedule a mammogram or get a physical. It's simply absurd and more than that, it's really irresponsible to suggest that emergency rooms are a poor person's equivalent of a GP.

McCain really has some out of touch advisors out there but this guy may be right at the top of that "distinguished" pile.

[BVS]

How presidential...

[deep]

All of the "so called" health plans are total and complete crap.

"Insured" are only good for one party.

The "Insurance Companies".


Insured people get denied healt services all the time.

They get "rationed" health service.

The get kicked out of their Insurance plan if they require too much.

Politicians that want everyone insured are just doing the bidding of the Insurance Companies.

[phillyfan26]

So, let's solve the crisis of over-flooded ERs and the crisis of millions uninsured by combining them. Makes sense. I mean, before we had two bad problems. Now we have one really bad problem, but it's still less problems.

That's good budgeting right there. And you all said he knew nothing about the economy!

[anitram]

Originally Posted by deep

Politicians that want everyone insured are just doing the bidding of the Insurance Companies.

Can you explain to me why there is such a huge # of American citizens who support this and go absolutely apeshit about Communism anytime universal healthcare is mentioned? I am not sure I have ever seen such a phenomenon of people en masse voting completely against their own self-interest.

[deep]

Delivering Health Services through Insurance Companies

is about as logical

giving a contract that requires all gasoline to be delivered by Haliburton.

that would really make gasoline more affordable.

[U2isthebest]

Originally Posted by anitram

Can you explain to me why there is such a huge # of American citizens who support this and go absolutely apeshit about Communism anytime universal healthcare is mentioned? I am not sure I have ever seen such a phenomenon of people en masse voting completely against their own self-interest.

By and large, it's because a lot of us Americans are idiots and don't really understand anything about any of the issues facing us. We've got more important things to think about, like, who Paris Hilton is sleeping with this week. There's nothing wrong with a little celebrity gossip and entertainment, but when it comes at the expense of intellect, learning and studying the issues that face us, politics and current events, something needs to be done. A grand majority of Americans choose to believe whatever soundbites the fringe, paranoid pundits/commentators tell them rather than actually using their own mind. For the love of God, there was a woman my grandpa overheard in the grocery store last weekend who was saying Obama is a Muslim. People don't bother to learn what universal healthcare plans are being offered; they simply think "universal" means that everyone will have to have the exact same coverage and that the government will be too involved in their treatment in terms of what they'll be allowed to receive and what they won't. Of course, the Right, fails to remember they've been trying to do this to women for years.

ETA: I should clarify that I'm not referring to you, deep, with this answer. I was thinking more along the lines of the average American joe/jane who don't really become engaged in the world, and yet still think they can shoot off their mouths about political issues.

[Harry Vest]

Originally Posted by anitram

Can you explain to me why there is such a huge # of American citizens who support this and go absolutely apeshit about Communism anytime universal healthcare is mentioned? I am not sure I have ever seen such a phenomenon of people en masse voting completely against their own self-interest.

As a Canadian citizen I have often wondered this myself. Although our Healthcare system is far from perfect it is SO MUCH BETTER for the lower and middle class of the country than the American system. It seems a large portion of your citizenary have been brainwashed with terms such as "communisim" and "socialist" that they cannot see that there is a better way of doing things. It's sad really.

[anitram]

What I think this very foolish man has missed out on is that while ERs have to provide emergent care by law (which is enforced how?), what are people supposed to do for routine procedures? Like getting an allergy test or scheduling a mammogram or getting a physical? In his world, I suppose they should just get sick first and then when they need immediate intervention, hey good news, they're technically insured.

[Utoo]

Originally Posted by anitram

In his world, I suppose they should just get sick first and then when they need immediate intervention, hey good news, they're technically insured.

You touch on a very important point. This ideology seems to belittle the importance of preventative medicine---a problem with the way our system is driven in general.

[UberBeaver]

Originally Posted by phillyfan26

So, let's solve the crisis of over-flooded ERs and the crisis of millions uninsured by combining them. Makes sense. I mean, before we had two bad problems. Now we have one really bad problem, but it's still less problems.

That's good budgeting right there. And you all said he knew nothing about the economy!

Right on. And I believe it was Teddy Roosevelt that said, "If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population." <--- Now THAT is a healthcare plan. Don't need insurance for that, do ya?

[corianderstem]

Oh, everyone has coverage? Great! I'll tell that to the next employee I talk to who calls me in tears, freaking out because they're losing their benefits because they didn't meet the quarterly requirements.

No worries! This dude says we all have coverage! Have a nice day!

[Se7en]

Originally Posted by anitram

In his world, I suppose they should just get sick first and then when they need immediate intervention, hey good news, they're technically insured.

i am aware of hospitals that require patients to set up payment plans and/or provide a down payment for procedures before services are rendered.

when under or uninsured patients cannot pay, hospitals generally follow up with a collection agency. people can be driven into bankruptcy for using the emergency room.

i really do not understand how this is being "insured" whatsoever. yes you survive, but your life is potentially ruined if you cannot pay massively inflated hospital bills.

[melon]

Originally Posted by corianderstem

No worries! This dude says we all have coverage! Have a nice day!

Sounds like we should push for a bill to remove the full health insurance coverage that the three branches of government granted itself.

[U2isthebest]

Originally Posted by Se7en

when under or uninsured patients cannot pay, hospitals generally follow up with a collection agency. people can be driven into bankruptcy for using the emergency room.

i really do not understand how this is being "insured" whatsoever. yes you survive, but your life is potentially ruined if you cannot pay massively inflated hospital bills.

Exactly. When I had to go to the ER about 2.5 years ago, we didn't have insurance since my dad had lost his job recently. My parents began divorce proceedings a couple months later, and my mom was diagnosed with cancer. Thankfully, my mom was able to get Medicaid to pay for all of her hospital/treatment bills because she was unable to work during this time. This is the same Medicaid that John McCain and the Republican party want to cut because of all those "lazy ass losers who don't work". Tell that to my mom with cancer who had to move in with her sister and brother-in-law after she and my dad began divorce proceedings and sold our house, while I was away at college. Until 2 months ago, my mom, who is now cancer free (but will be unable to work until next spring), was getting ER bills from my bill 2 years earlier. My mom had gone to the same ER for her severe back pain just a couple months before she was diagnosed with cancer, and they misdiagnosed her with kidney stones. She's still getting bills from collection agencies for that visit. Those aren't covered by her Medicaid. My mom and I have had our new home for 1 year now, but it's still a struggle. This statement alone proves that John McCain is out of touch with the average American's struggle. I don't need 4 more years of collection agencies harassing my mother about bills the government should've had a sensible, affordable way to pay for years ago.

[sue4u2]

Originally Posted by corianderstem

Oh, everyone has coverage? Great! I'll tell that to the next employee I talk to who calls me in tears, freaking out because they're losing their benefits because they didn't meet the quarterly requirements.

No worries! This dude says we all have coverage! Have a nice day!

Yeah, like my brother who didn't have health care insurance and was dying from liver disease and was at the mercy of hostipal staff who knew nothing about his condition.
I argued with an emergency room head physician that my brother should be there, and it was up to him to make sure he received care - while he was trying to tell me my brother should "wait" to go to some clinic the next week that only has patients 8 to 5. He changed his tune when my brother went into cardiac arrest. He survived but ultimately lost his battle.
It wasn't the fault of the hospital at that point, but only because we pitched such a bitch, to make sure he received proper care. We shouldnt have to fight so hard to save and get proper care of our brother, regardless.

[sue4u2]

Originally Posted by U2isthebest

Exactly,

I don't need 4 more years of collection agencies harassing my mother about bills the government should've had a sensible, affordable way to pay for years ago.

We must have been typing at the same time.
My heart goes out too you.

[deep]

Originally Posted by melon

Sounds like we should push for a bill to remove the full health insurance coverage that the three branches of government granted itself.

We should just do away with Insurance companies in the medical services.

Why are they between the Doctors and patients ?

What do they provide? except to inflate the costs ?

[namkcuR]

Originally Posted by deep

We should just do away with Insurance companies in the medical services.

Why are they between the Doctors and patients ?

What do they provide? except to inflate the costs ?

I'm not sure I understand your position on healthcare. Do you support universal healthcare?