Far too many Democrats in Congress allow right-wing and corporate apologists to get away with telling outrageous lies. I don't know if it's because they don't know the real truth, or because they just don't have enough of a spine to call these people on their lies. Fortunately, there are a few Democrats who aren't afraid to point out these obvious lies.
One of these brave Democrats was elected to the Senate in the last election by the good people of Minnesota -- Al Franken. I thought he would make a good senator, and he proves that belief was justified with each day he spends in the Senate.
It is a well-known fact that around 62% of all bankruptcies in the United States are caused by medical bills, and 78% of those people had private health insurance (which still left them with enormous unpaid medical bills). It is a shameful situation, and one the private insurance companies would rather not talk about.
A couple of days ago, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on medical debt and bankruptcy. After several people testified how medical bills (unpaid by their insurance) had forced them into bankruptcy, right-wingers called a witness of their own.
That witness was Diana Furchtgott-Roth, a senior fellow at the right-wing Hudson Institute. She tried to tell the committee that moving toward a European-style single payer insurance system would actually increase the number of
medical bankruptcies. This outrageous lie was too much for Sen. Franken, and he had the following exchange with Furchtgott-Roth:
FRANKEN: I think we disagree on whether health care reform, the health care reform that we’re talking about in Congress now should pass. You said that the way we’re going will increase bankruptcies. I want to ask you, how many medical bankruptcies because of medical crises were there last year in Switzerland?
FURCHTGOTT-ROTT: I don’t have that number in front of me, but I can find out and get back to you.
FRANKEN: I can tell you how many it was. It’s zero. Do you know how many medical bankruptcies there were last year in France?
FURCHTGOTT-ROTT: I don’t have that number, but I can get back to you if I like.
FRANKEN: Yeah, the number is zero. Do you know how many were in Germany?
FURCHTGOTT-ROTT: From the trend of your questions, I’m assuming the number is zero. But I don’t know the precise number and would have to get back to you.
FRANKEN: Well, you’re very good. Very fast. The point is, I think we need to go in that direction, not the opposite direction. Thank you.
Although he made quickly made his point that Furchtgott-Roth either didn't know what she was talking about or was telling an outright lie, Sen. Franken could have gone on listing many other countries. Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Canada and many other countries also have ZERO medical bankruptcies.
The fact that the United States has any medical bankruptcies at all should be a source of great embarrassment to all Americans. Thank you Senator Franken, for standing tall and exposing the right-wing lies.
And thank you Minnesota, for giving America Senator Al Franken.
First of all we did not elect him. He stole the election. Next they may not have bankruptcies in those other countries but they do have people dieing from not having access to Health Care Services. I would rather get my care and then worry about paying for it than not receiving what I need when I need it and still be paying for it through taxes. Come on people, if those systems work so well why are they going to a private system now? If you like it so much then go there. Quit trying to make myself and all the other Americans who wish to CHOOSE there own way, take part in your proven failure of a system.
ReplyDeleteTed, check out your post over at www.bestoftheblogs.com. You have over 7000 viewers so far...and counting.
ReplyDeleteJosh Hammond
jhirishturf@gmail.com
ED-
ReplyDeleteIt's America where people are dying for lack of access, and none of the single-payer countries have any desire to switch their system for ours.
This past may I came down with the rarest type of a VERY RARE disease--Cranial Necrotizing Fasciitis of the scalp and eyelids. It is a type of strep infection that I got from scratching an itchy spot on my head in my sleep. Within 3 days my chances of survival were less than 10%. There are only 3 other documented cases of this particular disease in medical literature since 1960. Luckily I went to a wonderful hospital where 2 surgeons dropped their practices to do whatever was necessary to save my life. I had six surgeries in 8 days and 3 treatments in a hyperbaric chamber. The bacteria had been eating my flesh from the inside out. Now I am waiting for my third reconstructive surgery to try and create new eyelids. My point is the care I received was wonderful. The combined hospital and Dr bills are about a half million dollars so far, and I have many more surgeries ahead of me. BUT MY HEALTH INSURANCE IS DOING EVERYTHING IN THEIR POWER NOT TO PAY MY DOCTORS!!!!! We have been paying $1,000 a month in premiums for the last 5 years to get "good" insurance for our family of 4. But now after spending 6 months arguing with the insurance company, I have the distinct impression that they would be much happier if I would have died!! Thank you Al Franken. A fresh face and an open mind is what our country needs.!!
ReplyDeleteAnd if you lived in any of those socialized health care countries, you'd be DEAD. They could not have gotten you quickly enough to save you. Furthermore, in America people are given life saving health care regardless of ability to pay.
ReplyDeleteI'm in complete agreement with Eric. I want to choose my health care provider. Health care is not a right. To choose your health care... that should be the right.
Why must you right-wingers keep repeating the same lies that have been exposed many times. In France or Canada, both who have single-payer insurance, you can choose your doctor and hospital. And emergency cases do not have to wait.
ReplyDeleteAs for health care shouldn't be a right - that's just plain mean. You obviously have good health and insurance, but why would you deny the right to live to others?
I'm not a right winger. My right to choose is more important than someone getting services at no cost. I'm not denying the right of anyone to live, nor would any doctor, by law and by oath. But my freedom of choice is one of the principles on which this country was founded. I do not want it taken away so we can insure people who either don't want it or don't pay for it. I've always paid for it. So should they. And every American should have the right to CHOOSE whether they have coverage or not.
ReplyDeleteTherefore someone that can not afford or can not get health insurance (due to a pre-exsisting condition) in your logic has one choice, DIE.
ReplyDeleteObviously the dissenters on this thread have A: Never been sick, or had a loved one sick enough to really be screwed by the insurance company. B: Have never been out of the country to a place where they have social medicine. C: Have never done enough research to find out that "Socialized Medicine" was a term created in the 40's by a Medical Lobbyist to squelch Universal Health Care. or D: All of the above.
ReplyDeleteAmen Dusty!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe the stupid that comes out of these debates. I live in Australia, and can tell you that no one waits for any immediately necessary treatment. If you're an 80 year old wanting your third hip replacement, yes, sometimes (funnily enough) doctors will prioritize other patients.
ReplyDeleteA close friend of mine was badly burnt in a accident. He was flown by helicopter to a specialist burns treatment centre, where they treated him for four weeks until his body gave in. No one, in the entire time he was there so much as even ASKED about the costs, or wether he was insured. His parents have to date not been charged a cent.
This country was not founded upon the right to choose which corporate insurer would get the chance to screw us. It WAS founded upon the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness - this, by the way, assumes a basic capability to provide for the health of the people involved. In those days, a doctor was present in every developed community, and was suported by the community - with help from the patients that could afford it. At that time, everyone was needed, thus the individual members of a community were more important then their ability to pay for a particular procedure. The choices were not great, but it was a rare case that someone was denied treatment for lack of cash, and in fact, health care was very often provided for barter or future work.
ReplyDeleteSo lets stop the ridiculous commentary about how medical coverage relates to our history. modern health care is a product of modern corporate America and bears no relationship to the past centuries.
There is not a developed nation on earth that lets it's people die and suffer because of lack of funds - except our own. There is not a developed nation on earth that has experienced our massive growth in profitable disease/products, at the expense of basic care and coverage.
As to the term socialized medecine; well, if it works for water distribution, energy distribution, police services, national defense, road construction, coastal protection, food safety, (all things where we have acknowledged that it is more important to make sure they WORK, than to make a profit doing so), then it is good enough for Medical Care. Every damn congressman, member of the judicial and executive branch of the federal government has lifetime, unrestricted medical care provided by a single payer (you - the taxpayer) - so they ALREADY have a single payer socialized health care system!
Oh, not that it matters, but I am a right-to-bear-arms independent who has voted republican more often than democratic - but I have a brain, an education, and the willingness to use them. I don't give a crap whether you are a democrat or republican - if you can read an almanac, look up statistics, and formulate a logical conclusion, you cannot possibly believe single payer systems have failed. In every developed country using such a system, their public health statistics prove their systems superior to anything we have had for 30 years. No, they might not have invented profit based products like viagra, but they keep people alive and healthy, respond better to medical emergency, and implement preventative and alternative practices that actually reduce the need for more expensive care in the long run. Whomever you are - when you read that single payer denies care, or fails, take it as a challenge to read up and prove it. If you do an honest job looking at the data - not the filtered crap given to you by advocates (of either side), you will discover the truth. Then ask yourself, "why is that guy lying to me, and why so loudly? What does he have to gain at the expense of my health care?"
Corporate power is overwhelmingly powerful, especially the medical and pharmaceutical companies, but they can only control what the mass media feeds us, not what you go out and discover for yourself.
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