McCain Adviser: There Are No Uninsured Americans (from HuffPo)

[tblue37]

There is no end to their bizarre framing of the issues:

By JASON ROBERSON / The Dallas Morning News
[e-mail]

<snip>
But the numbers are misleading, said John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a right-leaning Dallas-based think tank. Mr. Goodman, who helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy, said anyone with access to an emergency room effectively has insurance, albeit the government acts as the payer of last resort. (Hospital emergency rooms by law cannot turn away a patient in need of immediate care.)

"So 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."

Mr. Goodman's analysis drew a sharp response from the Center for Public Policy Priorities, an Austin-based think tank focusing on poverty issues. "That is not the same thing as having health insurance," said Eva Deluna, a budget analyst for the center. People without insurance are less likely to seek care, and when they do, the cost to the health system is greater, she said.

<snip>

[Lars39]

1. This idiot needs to be sent massive amounts of ER bills from uninsured people.

[Fumesucker]

2. And of course, no corporation would *ever* break the law.. n/t

[greenman3610]

3. This idiot knows nothing about medicine

so pregnant women are to go to emergency rooms
for well baby checks?
do I go there for a colonoscopy, or prostate exam?
how bout a stress test?
This should be stapled to McCain's ass.

[phantom power]

4. Another GOP moment that should be turned into an Obama ad.

[Solly Mack]

5. Amazing....just redefine a problem away...like....magic!

What.A.Crock.

[Iggo]

6. Right. If we change the definition of torture...

...then it's not torture anymore.

"Hey, buddy. Why're ya screaming? Ain't ya heard? This ain't torture!"

[Solly Mack]

8. Exactly. Allows people to accept outrages easier

because it doesn't sound as bad and those that want to believe the lie now can while still feeling good about themselves...and it helps the government to get away with it.

[Sedona]

7. and its not like the ER doesn't come after you

for the money and destroys your credit!

(edited for a missing apostrophe)

[Solly Mack]

9. then it's all about personal responsibility for them

Deep in the pockets of the the insurance industry with legal bribes...which pits government actively against the people
Won't allow health care to be a right for all
There's no problem anyway....as there are no uninsured people
Can't pay the ER bill? Your fault...personal responsibility and all that

Because you're correct...the hospital ER still bills the patient...and if you can't afford health insurance, chances are you can't pay that ER bill...and often times the reason people wait to go to the ER is because they don't have health insurance to begin with

[raccoon]

10. What a complete shithead this man is. nt

[JaneQPublic]

11. This ranks right up there with the "nation of whiners" remark...

...from McSame's Economy Czar.

The Obama camp needs to make an issue of Grey-Haired Dude's assortment of clueless, crackpot advisers.

[Iggo]

13. Agreed. In fact, it's almost exactly the same as...

...the Reagan administration redefining ketchup as a vegetable. They got away with it for a minute, too.

[csziggy]

12. How about the small towns whose hospitals have closed because

they went broke providing emergency care to those "insured" Americans? A county near here is fighting to re-open the hospital that closed during the Reagan era. For the last 20 years, people either had to drive 50 miles for emergency care (hard to do when they couldn't afford cars) or just do without.

Even under this idiot's definition, that is UNINSURED!

"Insurance" through emergency care is much more expensive than preventative care through a physician - but these fiscally irresponsible fools just don't get that.

[Alexander]

14. I hope Obama brings this up in his acceptance speech!