There's Not One Thing Wrong With U.S. Health Care...IF You're Rush Limbaugh!!
By anniepa
@anniepa (27955)
United States
January 9, 2010 10:44pm CST
You probably heard about talk show host Rush Limbaugh's health scare while vacationing in Hawaii over the holidays. After his release he held a press conference where he told reporters our health system is "just fine" and "dandy".
"Based on what happened here to me I don't think there's one thing wrong with the American
health care system."
He praised the doctors and nurses who cared for him at the Honolulu hospital he was taken to with chest pains and claimed he'd received no "special treatment". I'm really not sure how he knows the latter! I mean, how often does ANY hospital get a patient that earns $30 million per year?
Anyway, I'm not arguing about our country having some of the best health care providers and hospitals; I don't think anyone is, that's not the point of the health care debate! However, it's interesting and ironic that Rush's "evidence" of our health care system being fine and dandy happened to have come in a hospital in a state that already has many of the reform measures Congress is considering as part of the health care reform bill. Hawaii has among the lowest rates of uninsured in the nation and costs have come down. These are the very reforms Limbaugh has been railing against and comparing to "Naziism" for months! Also, I wonder if he was aware that most of these nurses he praised happen to be "union thugs"; we all know what he thinks of them!
In the press conference Rush made these comments, obviously to make a political statement then he said he'd chosen not to take questions because he didn't want it to turn political. HUH???
Do you think his "political statement" kind of backfired?
Annie
4 responses
@lilwonders456 (8214)
• United States
11 Jan 10
I tend to ignore Rush. I find him too annoying and too shock jocky. But that is just me. Sure if you are super rich and have millions I am sure you get better healtcare than the "regular" people. The hospital knows it will get paid. Hospitals have a bottom line just like everyone else....if they dont think they will get paid for the services they offer....than they are less likely to do it. Rush is an idiot. Healthcare does need fixing...just not the fixing these two bills have in it.
I thought you mind want to know Hawaii WAS one of the few states that had a "socialized" healthcare program for it's children. All children in the state were covered under a state plan. But they ended it last year....it ran out of money. They could not cover the costs of the program so they had to shut it down. The state has also cut more days out of it's school year. Hawaii students now going fewer days to public school than any other children in any other state...why? THey ran out of money.
Hawaii has the same issue most states have right now. Now enough money coming in versus how much is needed to pay out for everything and the masses can't afford to taxed anymore than they are. So programs and budgets get cut. It is sad....but reality.
1 person likes this
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
11 Jan 10
I think it's a sad reality that needs to be changed! We need to get our priorities n order and to me that means nobody should be denied care or given less than the best possible care based on the size of their bank account. I understand there comes a time when programs and budgets need to be cut but the one thing that should never be cut is health care.
If I was misinformed about some of the details of Hawaii's health care system I apologize and stand corrected. It's like everything else, you get different information depending on who you listen to or read. However, that doesn't make Rush Limbaugh's comments any less idiotic, in my opinion. It's not about and it's never been about the quality of our health care for those who have access to it and can pay for it, either themselves or through insurance or a government program. If Rush Limbaugh were to have a medical emergency in the most remote part of the world, somewhere there is not hospital for miles, he'd STILL be able to find a way to get to the best possible care his money could buy. Most Americans don't have that advantage and far too many couldn't get quality care even if the best hospital in the world were within walking distance.
Annie
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
12 Jan 10
Lil, weren't you opposed to the public option? In my humble opinion, the only ideal solution is a single-payer system which I know could work and could save just about everyone money in the long run. However, there would be those who would cry like crazy if they had to pay an extra dollar in taxes even if it meant they were saving hundreds in insurance premiums and co-payments.
Annie
@lilwonders456 (8214)
• United States
11 Jan 10
Annie....I agree healthcare needs to be fixed. But in order to be "fair". That is the issue. Is it "fair" for some people to pay more in taxes to pay for others care. Well for everyone to get "top notch" care the money to pay for it has to come from somewhere. So therefore you are going to ask some people to pay more in taxes to pay for the people who can't. That is not fair. It is not also fair for people to not be able to afford insurance. This is a hard one to solve.
I do know this......Rush is an idoit. I won't argue with you on that one. You are right.
I also know that the two current bills that they are reconciling in congress do more to hurt than help poeple and is a huge boon for the insurance companies.. There is no public option. Taxes go up on the middle class more than the rich on their insurnace premiums. The mandate makes it illegal NOT to have....get does not limit how much the insurance can charge. So yes there is no pre-existing clause anymore. But no limit on how much they can charge for covering you if you have one. Plus with the mandiate.....well you better find a way to be able to pay for it or be in legal trouble. Which means sick people who can't afford insurance won't go the doctor? Why? Because if they show up to the hospital without insurance....they get turned in and get into trouble.
These bills just prove one thing.....lobbyist throwing around TONS of money can get our congressmen and congresswomen to write whatever they want into a bill.....no matter what they promise on the campaign trail.
The only poeple this bill is going to really help is the insurance companies make more money.....why don't people see that. I am mad as hell. I agree we need health care refom. But I am insulted by what our congress has come up with. They honestly think THIS is what is going to solve the problem? Heck no....it creates more problems than it solves..
1 person likes this
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
10 Jan 10
This just shows just how egocentric Rush's thinking is - he and others can't see past how anything in the world affects them directly as individuals because they never see beyond that point. They never see the effect on others who are caught in the many Catch-22s that exist in the health insurance situation (which affects the care people get). They wrongly think that health care is the quality of care rather than the limitations on care placed on those who are either underinsured, uninsured or caught between battling insurance agencies as one woman was in California whose private insurance refuses to pay for her care because they and her doctors say it's a work related injury while workman's comp refuses to pay because they claim it's not. Meanwhile, she's needing care and her husband had to quit working to care for her, putting them in additional financial difficulties. THAT is what this health care bill is supposed to fix - not the actual care once someone can pay. The blinders they wear are worn by choice - they don't want to see anything that might change their preconceived notions. That's why I came to consider the new GOP a cult rather than a political party.
1 person likes this
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
11 Jan 10
It's a cult alright and one has to be brainwashed - or brainDEAD - to want any part of it. I have no problem with debate between the two parties, that's what we're supposed to have, but today's GOP is the party of NO and that's all there is to it. As with terror issues they're more concerned with the next election cycle than they are with people's lives.
Annie
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
12 Jan 10
I heard a report on what he said, and what he was referring to is how people going to the emergency room are not turned away and the hospital works with the people about the bill, who haven't insurance, but of course everyone ignores that, as you must have a crises to make a power grab.
@coolcoder (2018)
• United States
11 Jan 10
Where did you get that tidbit of "information" about the nurses being "union thugs"?
I'm going to bite my tongue on much of what I want to say because being uber-nasty really isn't cool. I will say this: No, his statement didn't backfire. Why don't you go straight to the source to get your information? Here, I'll give you the link.
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_010610/content/01125106.guest.html
