According to an article in the Dallas morning news 15.5% of all Americans have no health insurance. The article went on to quote John Goodman, who helped craft Senator McCain's health care policy, who stated that the numbers are misleading. The article quotes Mr. Goodman " 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.)It is almost unbelievable that Mr. Goodman would make such a statement. It shows a callous disregard for the people of this country and a total misunderstanding of the best way to provide health care services. It also comes right out of Senator Obama's acceptance speech where he condemned Republicans for telling Americans "do it on your own." Clearly Mr. Goodman has health care insurance, and as long as he does what happens to everybody else is likely to be unimportant to him.
Mr. Goodman, having put one foot in his mouth, is not content to leave the other one on the ground. He is further quoted by the same article as saying, "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."
What an ingenious solution. I wonder why Senator Obama didn't think of it
1 comment:
Here's what I know about that 15.5% number. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 37 percent of the uninsured live in households making more than $50,000 a year, most of which can afford health insurance. Twenty percent of the uninsured aren't even citizens of this country. One in three of the uninsured are eligible for government insurance, but aren't enrolled.
Is there still a problem with healthcare in the U.S.? Without a doubt, but I would argue that it really isn't as overwhelming as those touting national healthcare would have you believe.
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