Rick Santorum Defends Health Insurance Companies For Denying Coverage To People With Pre-Existing Conditions

While speaking to a group of high school students in New Hampshire on Friday, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum defended insurers for denying coverage or charging more to people with pre-existing conditions, using his own family as an example.

"We have a child who has a pre-existing condition and we went out and we said, we like this plan," Santorum said, according to ThinkProgress. "We have to pay more because she has a pre-existing condition. Well, we should pay more. She's going to be very expensive to the insurance company and, you know, that cost is passed along to us... I'm okay with that."

Santorum's three-and-a-half-year-old daughter Isabella has a genetic disorder called Trisomy 18, a condition that often results in death within a year of birth. He recently began opening up about "Bella" on the campaign trail.

Santorum -- who said "we have a broken insurance system" -- offered up more information on his own insurance plan, noting that his candidacy forced him to purchase insurance "on the open market."

"I had insurance under my employer. And when I decided to run for president, I left my job, I lost my insurance, I had to go out and buy insurance," Santorum said.

The Republican candidate even compared health care coverage to auto insurance, saying that "you turn everything in" like one would share information on car repairs with an insurance company.

"Insurance rates shouldn't pay for your general maintenance any more than they should pay for the general maintenance of your car," he said, explaining that he believes insurance should only be used for major health care expenses.

Santorum also addressed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act during the event, calling the health care legislation "a huge threat to the future of our country." He reiterated that he would repeal the health care law if elected president, and that he would replace the legislation with "something consumer driven," Patch reports.

Comments

[HipsterCorgi]

12:43 PM on 12/17/2011

"He reiterated that he would ...replace the legislation with 'something consumer driven,'" Wouldn't "consumer driven" mean consumers in control? In which case, we would want health insurance that doesn't reject us or make us pay more for pre-existing conditions.

[sahk3]

09:55 AM on 12/12/2011

Santorum supposedly is a big "Right to Lifer" but I guess for him that means the right to start life, but not the right to survive after birth unless you can pay for it yourself.

[gregspencewolf]

03:27 AM on 12/10/2011

Let's have a flat tax on income that supports social security and universal health care, or an extended medicare.

[lacasarosada]

11:34 AM on 12/06/2011

when Santorum's wife had a miscarriage he brought the dead fetus home for his kids to play with. a sorta ghoulish meet and greet. thats not mentally or physically healthy on several levels and yet he did do that

[maxxadam]

03:38 PM on 12/05/2011

With all the evident criminal behavior of the health insurance industry observed over decades,
we're basically being told by Republicans like Santorum to vote for and voluntarily overpay for services that might not be rendered as purchased in addition to accepting being openly extorted legally with the possibility of being scammed to death. Not even members of the ever shrinking Republican list of acceptable Americans who been fooled into believing this is legitimate can afford to pay. Even now, cost overruns increasingly effect every part of the system as it is. Trying to imagine the results of a fully implemented Right Wing agenda on this scale is an overused metaphoric joke of an Orwellian nightmare made real.
We could sit and watch as the middle class slips further and faster down the slope if Republican policies like this one become reality. They've got to make room for the ranks of "lazy poor people" to swell or they might slip into a gated community and dumpster dive in front of the HOA meet and greet. Perceivably, they could eventually become visible from the gate of the country club, so Santorum may as well go ahead and ask all the poor and/or homeless to accept slow death or secretly euthanize themselves now, being as they won't be able to vote soon anyway, if everything goes as Republican planned...
Sorry... No coffee = raised levels of snarkism in "Spencerian Darwinists" with acute allergies to Ayn Rand. (Hats of to bbursky)

[maxxadam]

03:21 PM on 12/05/2011

Another Republican make believe story with some added personal examples touting self sacrifice to add sincerity to the twisted reasoning it takes for someone trying avoid admitting the undeniable worldwide success of national healthcare and disguise the fact you'd be forcing everyone in the country into a life or death contract with virtually unregulated companies driven by the acquisition of mass profit. Santorum would be lying or he lives under a lot of rocks if he say he doesn't know full well the industry has a multi decade long track record with countless incidents of deceptive sales, after the fact alteration of policy to justify failing to honor payouts by any means possible, (as a matter of unofficial company policy enforced by threatening employees with termination,) and thousands of documented examples of questionable ethical behavior by scores of individuals in management positions, with all the lobbyists they employ and the many politicians they've enlisted by financial endorsement to increase political influence in their favor for the sake of inflating their industries financial gain beyond the means of logically sustaining it.

[GoGrammie]

03:51 PM on 12/05/2011

Holy Smokes! How do you survive on twitter? Seem a little long winded to me.

[maxxadam]

04:59 PM on 12/05/2011

Sacred Sack of Squirrel Spit! How do you get thru your e-mails? Seem a little short on attention span to me.

[John Bledsoe]

09:07 AM on 12/05/2011

Because health insurance is exactly like car insurance... ::eyeroll:::

[jefe]

08:06 AM on 12/05/2011

We like this plan? A plan that doesn't work for your situation??? Dude your not doing your family any favors by not trying to provide the very best care. Why I'm I not surprised by this guy, I guy who obviously would rather take money from insurance companies then try and help his family or America.

[vidian6]

06:05 AM on 12/05/2011

On of the things that Rick failed to realize is that before the Health Plan was put forth a lot of companies weren't insuring you at all if you had a preexisting condition. Or they would take your money at a much higher rate and then relate your pre existing condition to whatever your new ailment was. Such as in one case woman who had cancer was told that her preexisting condition was directly related to it. Her preexisting was Acne that she had treated 30 years before.

[Ann Starke]

01:15 AM on 12/05/2011

That is one of the best things about President Obama's insurance plan which is currently in place. Insurance companies cannot deny medical insurance to people with pre-existing conditions.
Just because a person has had cancer does not mean that they will have it again. I had cancer surgery 35 years ago. Not one sign since. Many people have one heart attack, change their living habits, and live healthy lives for many years. There are too many arbitrary reasons for raising premiums on insurance coverage. The people who need insurance often cannot afford it and end of going to emergency rooms which cost everyone more money. That is ridiculous.

RIck Santorum is as unaware of reality as George Bush I was when he did not know the price of a half-gallon of milk. He is as dumb as Dan Quayle who said that a "mind is a terrible thing to waste". He is truly an aberration and I do not understand how he manages how he manages to cross the street without being run over.

[patters85]

09:37 PM on 12/04/2011

The real reason republicans hate Obamacare is the 80% rule on healthcare costs. Now Insurers will have less premium money to lobby republicans with. Who really cares about a mandate if you need insurance anyway. Obama and Romney are smart guys when it comes to healthcare mandates. Romney is too cowardly to stand behind his good policy. Pam Bondi will loose her job for fighting Obamacare. Especially when insurance starts to go down in our state.

[labman57]

05:21 PM on 12/04/2011

It's so tragic that the Congressional GOP has let their commitment to extreme dogmatism cloud their judgement, resulting in unnecessary suffering by so many American families.

Santorum prides himself on his Christian values. Since when has displaying a lack of compassion and empathy toward fellow Americans become the "Christian" thing to do

[Kiffanik]

04:31 PM on 12/04/2011

Yet they'll say universal healthcare means rationing, what do they call this?

[JaymiChristene]

03:24 PM on 12/04/2011

How is taking care of yourself and getting deathly ill in any way comparable to car maintenance and getting in an accident? Oh Rick, you make no sense.

[ok3apples]

02:31 PM on 12/04/2011

And minimum wage workers who can barely afford rent and food let alone these insurance premiums can just what? Die sooner? I guess that's one answer. I still find it obscene that CEOs of insurance companies live like royalty while a lot of us can't afford health insurance. There is just something so wrong about this. Of course Mr. Santorum can apparently afford higher premiums and doesn't see that a most of us can't.