Nevada ChickenCare Proposal is endorsed by Nevada GOP

[CLANG]

Nevada Senate candidate Sue Lowden (R)

The Nevada Republican Party is standing by Senate candidate Sue Lowden's suggestion that people use barter in order to lower health care costs. Instead of focusing on Lowden's specific example of a chicken, which Democrats have pounced on, the GOP suggests looking at Lowden's overall message of moving away from insurance and then negotiating with cash.

Although the party is officially neutral in the primary between Lowden, former UNLV basketball player Danny Tarkanian and former state Rep. Sharron Angle, Nevada GOP communications director Ciara Turns nevertheless offered a vigorous defense of Lowden's statements, and condemned the Democrats for the way that Lowden is being attacked.

"Well it's pretty clear that they're attacking the way she conveyed her message because they can't attack her message," said Turns. "Her message is pretty clear. She was clearly trying to make the point that if we moved away from an insurance-based system and more people started paying cash for their health care, then prices would come down. But they don't want to address that. The left doesn't, Harry Reid's campaign doesn't want to address that, because it's a legitimate point that they can't argue. And so they've decided to go after the way she delivered her message instead of the substance of it."

I then read back one of Lowden's direct quotes to Turns: "Let's change the system and talk about what the possibilities are. I'm telling you that this works. You know, before we all started having health care, in the olden days, our grandparents, they would bring a chicken to the doctor. They would say I'll paint your house."

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/04/nevada-gop-the-left-cant-argue-with-sue-lowdens-point-about-barter.php

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. Cluck

[BlooInBloo]

Proof positive that there does not exist a rational republican...

As any such would look at this situation and say "Hey guys? This isn't gonna work out for us."

[blm]

2. hey - if the GOP is now in FAVOR of cutting out the middleman profiteers, then sign me up

but....I doubt that is what he really means.

[DebbieCDC]

3. Takes a lot of chickens to pay for chemo

[Oregone]

19. Then I hope you have a cow

A cow is, after all, every doctor's dream

[TwilightGardener]

4. Prices would come down if more people paid CASH for health care?

WHO THE FUCK has tens, or hundreds, of thousands of dollars (or equivalent # of chickens) at their disposal JUST for health care? And if we all could pay that, why would a doctor, or hospital, or lab, lower their prices? What world do these people live in?

[DefenseLawyer]

10. Sue Lowden does. n/t

[SoCalDem]

21. If she gets a bad illness, she'll be using that "govt-supported" plan she's got available to her

It;s one thing to go to a family-doc for a sore throat..It's another thing entirely if you get REALLY sick..

Clueless-Sue is an idiot..

[Oregone]

18. Prices would definitely come down

1) Demand would drop, as less people could pay (or barter)

2) There is no middle man putting an upward pressure on the prices, in order to skim more off the top

BUT.....

You have a whole lot of people falling through the cracks (which is what widespread insurance is suppossed to fix). People can't afford it up front, so they prefer to spread payments out (insurance, in many ways, can act like pre-paid medical services). Some people have nothing to "barter".

[Contrary1]

5. She's hot...

They will want her to run for president, if Hottie #s 1 & 2 decide not to.

[Dogmudgeon]

11. C.I.L.F.

You can guess what the acronym means.

:evilgrin:

--d!

[CLANG]

14. Is the first letter a "C"?

[Dogmudgeon]

27. Yep -- "C" as in "Chick(en)"

Kind of a double-entendre there.

Maybe even a multiple.

--d!

[CLANG]

28. That's what I though, of course....

:spank:

[PinkFloyd]

17. As Bill Maher would say, she's a MILF

Moron
I'd
Like to
Forget

[Turbineguy]

6. She doesn't look like

she looks after poultry.

[catgirl]

7. Negotiating with cash?

Not everything's a casino, Nevada GOP! Get with the times.

[sinkingfeeling]

8. So, does the GOP really believe that people have enough cash to pay for expensive treatments? My

insurance company paid out something like $132,000 for me last year. Do they really think doctors will go back to accepting $10 or $15 for an office visit?

[TwilightGardener]

12. Yes--if you tell them that you don't have any insurance, then the doctor says, "Oh, well, why

didn't you say that? I'll take two laying hens, in that case."

[Oregone]

20. Its something I had mentioned on occasion

I had this real nice nurse practitioner for a "doctor" when I was uninsured. Nothing major of course, but for small things he would give us pharma samples instead of prescriptions. Having him aware of what we could pay altered how he treated us on occasion; he could of charged far more for some services, and also prescribed things we had to pay for (but he didn't)

By and large, for major illnesses, this just isn't going to get the job done.

[TwilightGardener]

24. I think it's a good idea to make them aware that you just don't have it--

they will pare down your care to what is essential, at least--no labs just to cover their asses, etc. But no, it's not going to do much good when it comes to hospitalizations, surgeries, etc.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. I thought this was going to be an Onion piece!!! Really!

[Cha]

13. I can't imagine Doctors going for the

chicken barter.

And, the Dems are going for the "message"..it stinks.

[rurallib]

15. doubling down on stupid is a bad strategy

you gotta know when to hold 'em; know when to fold 'em.

[PinkFloyd]

16. One would hope this would help Reid

Lawrence O'Donnell was so right...Losing would be one thing but losing to someone like her would be insulting.

As for her suggestion, I'd LOVE to see what my doctor though if I dragged in livestock to pay him with.

[CLANG]

22. Wouldn't it be considered unsanitary to bring farm animals to a health clinic?

[Control-Z]

23. I think every teabagger, republican

doctor (who has complained about, is not happy with, or spoken out against health care reform) should be required to accept chickens as payment for their services. They've complained about losing money and being forced to close their practices. Problem solved!!

[Pharaoh]

25. Rec # 8

:party:

[Johonny]

26. Her message is pretty clear?

"we moved away from an insurance-based system and more people started paying cash for their health care"

I no way was that her message. She clearly said barter. She even clarified with your grandparents using chickens for medical bills. It's a looooooooooooooooooooong way to go to turn that into turning medical expenses into a cash only business. Is there another country in the world that has a cash only, up front medical system? I mean come on. For the record the price wouldn't come down, the whole medical industry would disappear as only 1 % of the population would live beyond 45.

[csziggy]

29. My "grandparents day" was the GREAT DEPRESSION

They had no money, had lost their farm, had to live with relatives. They could not have AFFORDED to barter a chicken for treatment - that chicken could have been the difference between food for the combined family and not eating.

Here is a question for Rep. Lowden - if everyone barters, how does the government collect taxes?

[Naturalist111]

30. Doctors will charge more than they would get from the insurance

company. Guaranteed.