Crazy Wingnut Healthcare Attacks Exposed

The other day, I overheard a random "Republican analyst" on MSNBC's The Ed Show suggest that the public option should never be implemented because of the DMV. This was her whole thing. The DMV. According to her logic, the DMV, which is run by state governments, is really slow and awful and therefore the public option would force us to wait in line for medical treatment.

My first reaction was that this lady has clearly never been to an emergency room. When I crashed while cycling last year, I waited in an ER exam room with a fractured T10 for nearly two hours before a doctor popped into the room. And I was pretty lucky to be seen so quickly. Contrastingly, I've never once waited in line at a DMV for any longer than 10 or 15 minutes in my entire life.

The last time I renewed my driver's license, it took less than five minutes. If I ever have the privilege of sitting in a doctor's office waiting room and, subsequently, the exam room, for less than five minutes I'll voluntarily pay triple the fee and send the doctor an enormous gift basket filled with, you know, a Lexus.

All in all, we can only wish that private healthcare was as efficient and speedy as the DMV.

But this DMV crap on a stick is only one of many crazy attacks against the president's healthcare reform agenda and the public option. Predictably, as healthcare reform grows larger in the window, the claims from the far-right are becoming increasingly bizarre and ridiculous, topping, in some cases, the psychotic claims of, say, the Obama birthers.

Political race-baiter (and, somehow, CNN contributor) Alex Castellanos wrote a memo for Republicans about how to attack the president's healthcare reform agenda. In it, he suggested that Republicans use the line: "The Obama Experiment with our health could change everything we like about our health care -- and our economy." Within hours, Michael Steele who, by the way, can't recall who his health insurance provider is, used the word "experiment" 30 times in a single speech. 30 times. Naturally, "experiment" is designed to scare you into believing the president will replace your doctor with, I don't know, Dr. Giggles who will steal your DNA in a nefarious attempt to clone a race of pig men.

In non-wingnut reality, of course, the public option would function similarly to Medicare, which is hardly a spooky or unfamiliar program, and I challenge anyone to produce a single human being who would willingly give up his or her Medicare coverage. More on Medicare presently.

Meanwhile, Sean Hannity and other Republicans are suggesting that, according the incomplete scoring of the Kennedy HELP healthcare bill, something like 20 million Americans would be stripped of their private health insurance policy and forced to accept the public option. Last week on his show, Hannity tried to pass this one off on guest Tom Arnold who managed to debunk many of Hannity's lies about healthcare reform to Hannity's face.

As Matthew Yglesias pointed out the day the partial CBO report was released, 10 million people would voluntarily leave their private insurer in favor of the HELP Committee's version of the public option. Hannity deliberately inflated the number to 20 million and overlooked how and why people would leave their private plans. But I don't think he expected Tom Arnold to be the one to call him on his lies.

And then there's Glenn Beck who, on his radio show Tuesday, said that healthcare reform is actually the president's attempt to legislate reparations for African Americans. I'm not making this up. Beck tried to conflate ACORN, healthcare reform and reparations into some sort of racist, conspiratorial wingnut cocktail.

Those of you who have seen Beck's television show are probably familiar with a regular bit called "In A Nutshell" in which he strings together various "villains" and, without evidence, forms all new conspiracy theories. It's like a googly-eyed, punch-me-face version of the Kevin Bacon game. Recently, for example, he claimed to have connected ACORN to Judge Sotomayor.

So I tried my hand at the Glenn Beck "In a Nutshell" game, and, without much effort, I was able to connect Glenn Beck with the tragic death of a little dog named "Snuggles". Here's how. Glenn Beck's radio show is carried by Premiere Radio Networks. The network also carries On Air with Ryan Seacrest. Ryan Seacrest took over hosting the American Top 40 which was previously hosted by (Lebanese evildoer) Casey Kasem. And Casey Kasem once had a meltdown while broadcasting a story about the death of a little dog named "Snuggles". Is Glenn Beck responsible for the death of "Snuggles"? Is Don on the phone?! You decide.

As I was researching the topic of crazy wingnut healthcare arguments, I thought perhaps Michele Bachmann would have an insane healthcare quote on the record for me to exploit and debunk. I was wrong. It turns out that Bachmann's most recent healthcare reform attack accidentally underscored the leading argument in favor of the public option.

Approximately 114 million Americans are expected to leave private health insurance. Why? Their employers will drop the insurance because the taxpayer-subsidized plan will be 30 to 40 percent cheaper.

Up to 40 percent cheaper? That's amazing. I've heard estimates of around 30 percent, but 40 percent is even better. Make sure to tell your Republican friends that The Michele Bachmann Unit says that the public option will be 40 percent less expensive than private health insurance.

As for the "114 million Americans" part, Bachmann is getting her information from a Lewin Group report (the Lewin Group, by the way, is wholly owned by UnitedHealth Group, a private insurance mega-corporation) that suggests all employers would eventually be allowed to provide their employees with the public option rather than more expensive, cost-prohibitive private insurance policies.

First, no one in the government would mandate this switch. Only business owners would pull the switch. Second, business owners wouldn't be able to specifically offer the public option alone but, instead, they could choose to buy into a Health Exchange, which would contain both private plans and the public option from which to choose. In other words, you would be able to select from either a Health Exchange private plan or the public option. And here I thought Republicans were in favor of allowing entrepreneurs to decide how to run their own businesses. I suppose the Republicans aren't so opposed to socialism after all.

But back to "40 percent cheaper." I ran some numbers today and came up with the following. I clicked over to one of those health insurance shopping websites, entered my family's information (family of three, non-smokers) and the top rated, best selling plan listed on the site for my family showed a $476 monthly premium with a $250 deductible, 10 percent co-insurance, and $20 doctor's visits.

A government plan that's 40 percent cheaper, as Bachmann noted, would cost around $286 per month -- a $190 discount. The government plan, though, wouldn't exclude us for preexisting conditions. It wouldn't randomly deny us coverage. It wouldn't conspire to cancel our coverage as soon as we got sick. It wouldn't jack up our premium for no reason. And we could take it with us wherever we go.

However, the public option would function similarly to Medicare which carries a $96 monthly premium per person for a married couple making less than $170,000 a year. There's a $135 deductible and a 20 percent co-insurance. (Incidentally, the absolute most expensive Medicare premium is $308 per person -- paid by couples earning a massive $500,000 a year.)

But the public option isn't just about the low premium, it's about the security. It's about knowing that you're paying into a system that will always be there.

No matter how the Republicans, Blue Dogs and the establishment media try to come at this thing, they're only really left with arguments that are easily shot down, arguments that inadvertently endorse the most positive aspects of healthcare reform, or arguments that are just insane. And that's mainly because the money being pumped into the effort to kill healthcare reform doesn't come along with a mandate for veracity or sanity in order for the checks to be cut. The private healthcare industry is buying whatever scares people. Whatever confounds the facts. Whatever kills healthcare reform and the public option by a thousand cuts. Whatever works.

Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog! Go!

Comments

[annecros]

Oh, strawman.

I expected better of you Cesca.

[vooter]

The mob anger out there has little to do with health care, and little to do with Barack Obama. It has EVERYTHING to do with America saying, "Enough." Why is this so hard for you people to understand? What ELSE are people going to do? Call their congressman? LOLOLOLOL... THERE'S NO ONE LEFT TO CALL. Get it? That's where we are. It's the U.S. government, and corporate America, and the U.S. Congress, and the military, and the police...versus YOU AND ME. And when that's the current state of affairs--and it is--angry mobs sound like a PLAN.

[hipichick7]

This stuff makes me crazy! You are spot on.

[RockyK]

To Congress and President Obama:
The debate over health care that has been taking place is an insult to me as an American citizen. The only reason I hear for not voting on a health care reform bill is that more time is needed. Well then take it. I expect Congress to postpone their recess until health care reform for the American people has been achieved. I believe it is that much of a priority.

When I went to school, and we had final exams, I did not have the liberty of asking for an extension. If it meant I had to cram the night before because I had wasted my time the previous weeks, then I stayed up all night and did what I had to do. More time was not an option, and it was a good lesson to be learned. Why should Congress get an extension? Procrastination has been going on for years, and we now have a president who is making it the priority it needs to be. So I call upon the members of Congress to cram!

Where there is a will, there is a way.
Thank you,
Roxanne Bedrossian
Woodland Hills, CA

[n5ifi]

I tell you what........ You guys fight as hard to get EVERYONE including all the people in governmnent on the same plan and I will support it.
This is absolutely essential to keep the system in top notch shape.
These guys are supposed to work for us not the other way around.

[Mover]

The mistake here is trying to couch the debate in partisan terms. Healthcare should not be a partisan issue. It's an everyone issue.

Congress is also in charge of lawmaking for the financial industry. How has that worked out?

How about the Wall Street bailout, is that working as claimed?

They helped GM and Chrysler: Bye, bye, GM CEO, Saturn, Pontiac, Hummer. Hello bankruptcy.

This country has the best healthcare system in the world and the most self-serving, bloated, government in the world. With the evidence in front of you, putting everyone's healthcare in government hands is a sign of insanity.

[MiddleRoadLiberal]

These are what you call fallacious arguments, folks. I hope you're all taking notes.

[marbiol]

Why not actually DO an experiment on the pluses/minuses of whatever healthcare bill gets passed. Given the high costs entailed with a foul-up, and the lack of experience most of our reps have with health-care [except as a patient] I propose:
1- by 2011 have ALL Federal employees and ALL elected/appointed government officials "enrolled" in the plan they designed;
2- keep them in it for 5 years [if youleave federal employment, get voted out or choose to not run, you stay in the plan until the study is over; newly elected reps & newly hired employees get the current health plan]
3-in 2017/2018 complete a review of the good/bad aspects of the program
4- let our reps then decide if their old plan was better or worse than the plan they crafted for us
5- make modifications as necessary
5-implement the national program in 2020 rather than 2013.

This 5 year evaluation would cost less, give us a study vpopulation that includes all who will be voting on it

[Imago]

Lovely idea.

Except for the people in this country who will lose everything between now and 2020 because their medical bills have destroyed them. Or the people who've died because they couldn't seek treatment. And so on. Insurance bills are exploding and people can't keep up -- we are in crisis about this now.

While I do understand your point, the thing is that this system does not need to get designed in a vacuum -- there are variations on better health care systems all over the world.

According to the last ranking by the World Health Organization in 2000, the US came in 37th in national health care systems. Nine years ago, there were 36 countries do it better than we do. That's a lot of models to look at!

[dadw5boys]

They should break it down so we see a RN who does the normal test. There is not reason for a Doctors time to be taken up just ordering blood test or strep throat test.

For eldery the nurses do most of the prep work before a doctor see the patient now. If there is nothing new going on then the RN would be enough. Diabetics see just an RN a lot but the Doctor has to sign off on everything adding to the bills.

Some Doctors actually call the elderly in 3 or 4 times a year even if the people are not ill. Just to say hi is everything OK and to bill Medicare. This needs to stop too.

[heavysole]

Amen to that! I got my first DL in 1982 at the age of 15. I think the wait sucked as I remember and this was in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 1985, I moved to Texas, Grand Prairie to be precise and the wait there sucked. Then I moved to Arlington, TX and got my DL and the wait sucked. I can remember thinking "would it hurt these cheap bastards to set up about 40 folding chairs so that I could at least take a load off and read my book?". I was always smart enough to bring a book. Then, by some miracle, they set up chairs, they installed a pull-tab number system, and.....they divided up the folks who were getting their licenses renewed from those wishing to get to tags/plates. That was back in 1992 or thereabouts. Since that time, everything has become computerized, I can walk in and punch in my info. at a terminal and have my tags delivered right there, zero wait, there is never ever a line at the desk for tags and plates or title transfers, it's so damned fast it's scary.

So, I don't know how long it's been since said "Republican analyst" has been to the Secretary of State's Office, the DPS, or DMV to get her license, but obviously she's a big fat liar (a chip off of Rush). The youngsters today wouldn't know what the heck she's talking about.....thank god.

[britethere]

Speaking of "crazy" how about the Dems Bill and their slurs : "Mentally Retarded"?: Worth the read, Short:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07262009/news/nationalnews/retarded_house_bill_181448.htm

[heavysole]

Crazy is as crazy does. Please see Repulican Party...

[Gronkie]

I live in Osceola County, FL, and the DMV here is state of the art, and a pleasure to deal with. It is faster than anyone has a right to expect (measured in minutes), and the people who work there know exactly what they are doing. On the other hand, the health insurance plans I've had to deal with over the last decade (since Hillarys plan was voted down in the 90's, and the insurance companies felt they had the political support to do whatever they wanted) have been awful. They routinely turn down virtually every charge, even when ordered and justified by the doctor, it takes numerous calls to get anything paid, and they have now influenced my doctors to work for their best interests instead of mine. My wife once had a temp job at a major health insurance company working outside the office of a woman whose sole job was to find a reason, any reason, to turn down coverage. It was unbelievable how they would turn down things like cancer treatments for clients that had been paying premiums for years. They offered my wife a permanent position and she turned it down (even though she needed a job) because she wouldn't work for such an amoral company, and she told them so.

Yeah, I'll take may chances with the government run healthcare. It couldn't be any worse.

[britethere]

...in addition if only the Republicans were against the Plan it would pass in a heartbeat.

[britethere]

Not just "right wingnuts are against this plan as it stands but Independents, Moderate Democrats, and some from the left wingnuts. Listen to Charlie Rangle talk about the tax and spenders out of control.
- posted by a one time registered Democrat now a registered Independent who worked for and contributed to the Obama Campaign.

[Imago]

"posted by a one time registered Democrat now a registered Independent who worked for and contributed to the Obama Campaign."

Yeah, right.

"Speaking of "crazy" how about the Dems Bill and their slurs : "Mentally Retarded"?: Worth the read..."

You give yourself away.

[fal]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/26/us-healthcare-obama-barack-change

posted by another Huffington poster (thinkagain2- I think)

re: industry insider of the health care insurance industry

[Agent420]

Excellent reference!

No profit for health care!

Single payer system. It is already planned all you have to do is go North and ask for the plans.
That goes for the banking industry. Canada is having no, repeat, NO recession, no bank failures, health care is ticking alone just fine with an 85% approval rating. I know what I am talking about as I lived there for 13 years and enjoyed the best heath care in the world.

[LeftCoastLarry]

Try as they might, the Republicans and their tools, the corporate mainstream media can't dictate the debate on health care reform. They don't control the internet and they don't have a monopoly on the media this time.
They can't control the message and it's driving them crazy.
Now, in spite of a clear left of center sentiment of the people, the media and congress aren't keeping up. The danger isn't with the people not wanting health care reform, it's with congress not responding to the will of the people.

[britethere]

The majority in congress= Democrats. Administration= Democratic. So now say why it isn't passing please.

[Matt7]

Because when it does, the Rethuglicans will continue to make it about politics, not people; and do everything in their power to att*ck it as something from a "Democratic agenda," rather than weigh it on its own merits. The way they do everything else.

It's not that Dems CAN'T pass it. The President is unfortunately trying to "cast pearls before swine" and allow Rethuglicans an opportunity to redeem themselves with the American people. And those being intentionally misled are again reacting "against their own best interests"; clinging to their manipulating reps, and status quo. (Hmmm. Does any of that sound familiar?)