Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Monday, September 24, 2012

Mr. Romney's solution for the uninsured: Go to the emergency room!

On 60 Minutes last night, Mitt Romney once again told us what he would replace the ACA with once he becomes president and repeals it:

"Well, we do provide care for people who don’t have insurance,” he said in an interview with Scott Pelley of CBS’s “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday night. “If someone has a heart attack, they don’t sit in their apartment and die. We pick them up in an ambulance, and take them to the hospital, and give them care. And different states have different ways of providing for that care.”


So there it is.  The One Percenters' solution to people who don't have insurance:  Go to the emergency room, and that'll take care of your medical needs and condition.

(Somewhere on the intertubes, there is a video from 2010 where Governor Romney says EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE of what he claimed on 60 Minutes.  Isn't there ALWAYS some video of Willard contradicting himself every 20 minutes?)

Anyway, here is Willard in 2007 saying sending people to the emergency room for health care is a form of socialism [via daily kos]:

Mitt Romney, 2007:
[I]n a 2007 interview with Glenn Beck, Romney called the fact that people without insurance were able to get "free care" in emergency rooms "a form of socialism.""When they show up at the hospital, they get care. They get free care paid for by you and me. If that's not a form of socialism, I don't know what is," he said at the time. "So my plan did something quite different. It said, you know what? If people can afford to buy insurance ... or if they can pay their own way, then they either buy that insurance or pay their own way, but they no longer look to government to hand out free care. And that, in my opinion, is ultimate conservativism."



What he stated on 60 Minutes is about the stupidest Mr. Romney could possibly say, since he knows that is not an acceptable way to take care of uninsured citizens.  Yet he suggested this as a way to take care of the uninsured:  Send them to the emergency room--the MOST expensive way of treating people without insurance, and in his own words:  SOCIALISM!

A man who changes his mind as often as Willard changes his can't keep track of what his position is or has been on key issues.  That's why in 2007 he stated emergency room health care is socialism, but last night he offered it up as a solution for people who have no insurance.

Mr. Romney knows better.  Yet he is so frightened to talk about Romneycare and how he solved the problem of uninsureds in Massachusetts--so frightened of the GOP's rabid base---that he turned himself into a caricature of a cluess melonhead in order to avoid discussing his own solution to the millions of uninsureds in this country.

He's a man without core principles, ready to debase himself for votes.






19 comments:

Jerry Critter said...

Romney's interest is in maintaining the status quo. After all, the status quo has been very profitable to him ... to the tune of over well over million dollars per month. If I made that much money, I would not worry about health insurance either.

Paul said...

Another example where Republiscum "arithmetic" makes no sense.
Republiscums will pass a law saying ER's no longer need to give care to the indigent. Citing costs.

Dave Miller said...

So we go to the Er because we cannot afford insurance, which I did a few years back.

It cost me $5000.00 for my three hours.

Took me three years to pay it off.

If I can't afford insurance, I surely can't afford the ER.

Recently I was in Montana talking to a group of students. Around the table one of them remarked that her taxes were going to increase because of ObamaCare and it was not fair.

I asked her if she had insurance and she said no. When i asked her if we should let her die or provide care if she was in an accident and could not afford care, she did not understand my question.

As I explained it, she finally said if the accident was the fault of the other person, he should pay. When i asked what to do if he had no $$$, she was perplexed, not knowing what to do.

When i asked what to do if the accident was her fault, she was again perplexed.

These are the type of real world issues the libertarians and knee jerk republicans seem unable to consider, preferring instead to retreat to slogans and talking points.

Go to the ER... great advice Mitt... that'll lower the costs of health care...

Anonymous said...

Sending people to the E.R. is merely a face saving device on Romney's part. The real Republican health care plan is...don't get sick, and....if you do.....die quickly.

ORAXX

Anonymous said...

"Obama Leads with NASCAR Fans, Military families

Obama leads in almost every region of the country, and only trailed Romney by six points in the South, 41%-47%. Among voters who shop at Wal-Mart on a weekly basis, Romney’s lead is within the poll’s 3.4% margin of error, 45%-42%. Obama leads with voters who are or who have a family member in the military, 54%-39%. Most surprisingly, Obama only trails Romney by seven points with those who consider themselves born again Christians, 40%-47%. The president also leads with NASCAR fans, 48%-41%."

S.W. Anderson said...

"Somewhere on the intertubes, there is a video from 2010 where Governor Romney says EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE . . ."

Hold on to the above; it's become boilerplate that will be increasingly useful in the coming weeks. Save yourself a lot of typing. ;)

"What he stated on 60 Minutes is about the stupidest Mr. Romney could possibly say, since he knows that is not an acceptable way to take care of uninsured citizens."

Romney knew what he was doing. Remember that moment in a February primary debate when someone asked Ron Paul what should be done about some guy who's 45, doesn't have insurance and springs a heart attack? Remember how some radical-right cretin hollered, "Let him die," and while Paul looked flustered, the crowd proceeded to cheer?

Well, with his statement on 60 Minutes, Romney pandered to all the "let him die" cretins, all the selfish, resentful lowlifes in the radical-right fold. He needs their support. And, he deserves their support, like a badge of anything-to-win dishonor.

BTW, Romney knows very well what he was talking about is charity, not socialism. Unlike socialism, charity falls way short of being able to provide adequate, much less excellent, health care for those in need. That's why in recent years about 45,000 Americans a year have been dying for lack of proper health care.

Romney should also know that if he isn't allowed to destroy Obamacare, that 45,000 number should be substantially reduced over the next few years.

S.W. Anderson said...

Dave Miller wrote, "These are the type of real world issues the libertarians and knee jerk republicans seem unable to consider, preferring instead to retreat to slogans and talking points."

When confronted with facts and real-life realities, they're in uncharted territory and easily become disoriented. If they spend a few minutes in front of a radio tuned to Limbaugh or TV tuned to Fox, they usually regain their (out-of-round) bearings. ;)

Infidel753 said...

For a man who's used to dealing with money, it's odd that he doesn't realize that this is one of the reasons healthcare costs more in the US and delivers worse national health statistics than in socialist countries. A person with insurance can go for regular check-ups -- preventative maintenance, so to speak -- which finds and fixes developing problems before they require a $5,000 (or $50,000 or $500,000) emergency-room visit. In the long run that saves a ton of money (which is why insurance companies gladly cover regular check-ups), and also preserves people's health better so they can continue contributing to the economy. The uninsured person can't do that, and ends up going to the emergency room when something has become life-threatening -- and that's paid for by somebody.

You'd think a hot-shot businessman would immediately get this. Unless he's an idiot, of course.

Shaw Kenawe said...

S.W.A., if Romney's appealing to the base when he throws out an outrageous comment that uninsureds can just go to the ER, what good will that do him?

He cannot win with just his base. He needs, women, young people, independents, Latinos, African Americans, and they're all breaking for Mr. Obama.

I'm not going to vote for the guy, but even I am frustrated with the nonsensical stuff that keeps coming out of his mouth.

And his taxes? Releasing the one return posed more questions than answered them.

Anonymous upthread has claimed Mr. Obama has the military AND the Nascar vote?

Really? REALLY?

Shaw Kenawe said...

Infidel753,

For a man who gave this state Romneycare, it is a mystery how he was able to form those words, never mind speak them.

But S.W.A. may very well be on to why he did so, hard as that is to believe.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Dave,

I have a family member who, even though this person had a job, did not have insurance and had to go to the emergency room. That was extremely costly and this person hasn't the funds to cover the cost.

I don't think people like Romney understand how the middle class and poor struggle day to day.

He gets $1 million a month. How on earth could he possibly know?

Silverfiddle said...

It's not a solution and he was not pitching it as such, but it is a reality.

Hospitals cannot turn people away, which is why Michelle got paid so much by Chicago hospitals to funnel inner city people to other options.

Dave Miller said...

Maybe if you need flight for life you'll get a plane where the windows can be rolled down for better ventilation...

Shaw Kenawe said...

In Willard's world, this is how the poor properly get health care:

"Well, we do provide care for people who don’t have insurance. If someone has a heart attack, they don’t sit in their apartment and die. We pick them up in an ambulance, and take them to the hospital, and give them care. And different states have different ways of providing for that care.”

There's no question that in his response Willard actually believes that emergency room care is "health care" for the poor.

And leave it to an Obama Derangement Syndrome conservative to come here and try to turn Willard's insensitive and elitist response into a "Blame Michelle Obama" comment.

We can always count on you, SF, to try to change the subject when it comes to Willard's incompetency.

Care to comment on why Willard is surprised airplane windows don't roll down to get fresh air in the cabin? I mean, can you do that without dragging Malia and Sasha and Bo into the response?

Jerry Critter said...

He (Mitt and SF) would probably strap Bo to the top of the plane for some fresh air.

S.W. Anderson said...

You can bet Romney's comment that Shaw quoted won't win him any cheers, much less votes, among hospital CEO's, administrators and ER staffers. It probably didn't set well with health insurers either. The reason is simple.

Hospitals subsidize no-can-pay patients' care by bumping up the price of every other service and department. Insurers get those inflated bills and base premium increases on them. In a tanked economy, there are more and more no-can-pay patients, which puts a squeeze on those who still can pay. The result is that more employers drop health benefits and more families drop out of health insurance because it just eats up too much of their limited budgets. That shrinks the pool of insureds putting even more upward pressure on premium prices — a vicious cycle. Obamacare is a means of breaking that cycle. For that reason alone, Romney and the tea party-ridden GOP shouldn't be allowed to destroy those hard-won, long-overdue reforms.

This is additional evidence Romney is a selfish, ambition-blinded dolt no better suited or qualified for the presidency than George W. Bush was. We've had one Worst President in U.S. History in the past decade. The last thing our battered country needs is to elect someone who presents imminent danger of making Bush's execrable rule look like the good old days.

Silverfiddle said...

No Shaw, I don't care to comment on it. I addressed you subject, but you Obama worshipers didn't like the answer...

Shaw Kenawe said...

It is a truth universally acknowledged that when a Romney supporter comes here and calls an Obama supporter a "worshipper," it generally means he's p.o.'d at what the polls are showing.

Let's see. Mr. SF claims the MSM is promoting Mr. Obama, and that I "worship" Mr. Obama.

With GOPers like SF, these trends in the polls NEVER have anything to do with the American people looking at the GOP alternative and thinking "Thanks, but no thanks."

I've seen this predictable tactic used so many times over my life that I could depend on it as much as I depend on the sun rising in the east.

"Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself."--Ludwig Wittgenstein



Anonymous said...

SF,
Try an answer that includes common sense, logic, or true facts; maybe people would stop laughing at your answers.