...and other fun missives from the whackjobs at Conservatives for Patient's Rights (ANY phrase that combines political conservatives with the concept of advocacy for rights is an oxymoron in my book).
I don't know what's going on in your neck of the woods - but in mine, Metro Washington DC, these liars are running ads on cable in virtually every hour. One ad in particular has caught my eye and deserves a bit of a response. More about that over the fold.
Here's the ad, entitle "Hammer":
Transcript:
Remember the $400 hammer? How bout that $600 toilet seat? Seems when Congress gets involved, things just cost more.
Now they're at it again with a government run health plan. It'll cost more than a trillion dollars, and raise taxes $600 billion.
Worse - it could put a bureaucrat in charge of your medical decisions, not you or your doctor.
Tell Congress to put patients first and say "no" to a government run healthcare plan.
Ahhhh... Beware the eeeeeevvviiiiil that is found in the body of a bureaucrat! The definition of bureaucrat is as follows:
bu·reau·crat n.
- An official of a bureaucracy.
- An official who is rigidly devoted to the details of administrative procedure.
You'll note that nowhere in the definition is the word "government" included. Bureaucrats exist in every organization regardless of its purpose or goal. And the fact is - bureaucrats are ALREADY in charge of your medical decisions.
When you decide to apply to receive health insurance, a bureaucrat somewhere within the insurance company is busily at work analyzing a host of criteria about you - your age, your lifestyle, your past history with respect to your health. That bureaucrat talks to another insurance company bureaucrat about what kind of risk you represent to the company should they decide to insure you. Another bureaucrat gets into the mix and contacts a bureaucrat in underwriting to determine - if they DO insure you - how much it will cost you and what kinds of benefits you are qualified to receive. This all happens before you even get to the subject of actual healthCARE.
If you're lucky enough to get decent insurance and you have a claim against your insurance company, a bureaucrat reviews your request. They consult with another management-level bureaucrat as well as the bureaucrat who is in charge of re-defining and re-structuring your plan to decide how they will deny your claim. When you pick up the phone to call, another bureaucrat will explain to you - precisely - why you are NOT covered for the healthCARE in question.
If you are unfortunate enough to need the services of a hospital emergency room, you may be put into the "triage" room. "Triage" implies that they will be assessing your medical complaint and prioritizing where you are in the queue of others who have complaints. But really - "triage", in a modern, corporate-run hospital system, is the place where a low-level bureaucrat gets all of your personal information - most important among this information your insurance status - and consults a prioritization procedure that another, higher-level hospital system bureaucrat has written as to what level of care you will receive.
The difference between my so-called government bureaucrats and yours, Rick Scott? Mine aren't looking to make a profit through the decisions they make about what healthCARE I will or will not receive. Yours are.
I'll take my bureaucrats over yours any day.
I don't know about healthcare the same way that Eve or others here know about the business of healthcare. But I know what I've experienced and have seen, and their bureaucrats are just nasty little bean counters who see profit, not humans.
Update [2009-7-13 16:32:34 by RenaRF]: JUST now saw a new one:
Transcript:
Today, you make the medical decisions that are best for you without government interference.
But if Congress passes a government run health plan, you could end up with government bureaucrats taking away your choices. Getting in between you and your doctor. And your personal medical decisions.
It's not too late to put patients first. Tell Congress to put patients first and say "no" to a government run health care plan.
Ok - let's forget for a moment that the ad is a total lie and completely preposterous. The difference is that, in the ad, this patient actually gets to SEE a doctor. Under the current corporate insurance regime, fully 20% of Americans don't even go to a doctor for regular checkups.