Health Care Costs Money, So Buy It! (Dr. Rush Limbaugh Slams "The Give It To Me" Mentality Alert)

Rush Limbaugh.com ^ | 08/23/06 | Rush Limbaugh

[goldstategop]

People have this "give it to me" mentality - including a few conservatives. You know, it costs too much so just let the government pay for it. That won't fix anything and will make a bad situation even worse. The mess with health care is not going to improve with the government taking it over and running it for you. Free people are supposed to run their own lives and make their own decisions. That's the American way. If we surrender that, then we become slaves on a plantation like the slaves in Cuber. And few of us would be happy with that for long. People need to wake up - nothing in life is free and what we think is free would cost us a great deal more than we would like to pay. As Dr. Rush Limbaugh goes off on his golfing vacation tomorrow, its worth thinking about. Just remember: before you think someone should give it you, it bears reminding oneself "SOCIALISM IS NOT THE ANSWER!"

( No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo!)

[Disambiguator]

P.J. O'Rourke said it best.

"If you think health care is expensive now, just wait until it's free!"

[goldstategop]

To be truthful, my HMO saved me from financial catastrophe in my father's end of life care. I didn't even have to think about the bill. My final out of pocket costs where $200.00.

( No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo!)

[ChocChipCookie]

I definitely don't have a "gimme" mentality. I know that government sponsored health care doesn't work, but we're paying for our own insurance, and it's a fortune. We were spending more than $8000 for basic insurance with a $500 deductible. It came to $720 per month. To save money we switched to a $5000 deductible, which is $340 a month. That's great, but the minute we darken the door of a hospital, emergency room included, we are 100% on our own until that deductible has been met. So, we're gambling we won't have to go to the hospital.

Medical bills are one of the top reasons families file a bankruptcy. We aren't anywhere near that, but at times it seems we are on a high wire, hoping that the four of us stay well and healthy. It does seem that insurance is either for the rich, those in professions that offer it, or are destitute and covered by tax dollars. Health insurance IS a mess, I'd never vote Democrat no matter WHAT, but it has to be addressed.

One more thing. My family and friends who take health insurance for granted because it's part of their employment benefits have NO idea what it's like to have to pay for it on your own or even QUALIFYING for it. At this point we pretty much have to stay with Blue Cross because both dh and I have pre-existing conditions. Nothing major, all mild, but if you check off more than two items on those lengthy "Have you ever had any of the following in the past TEN years..." lists, you're automatically disqualified.

[uncbob]

Why can't the religious organizations offer some type of Health Care Insurance etc to their congrgations

They are large enough in size

It could be a non profit type deal like a co-op

I am sure there are enough business types that could set it up and administer it --Pay them salaries but no stock holders etc

[middie]

Rush Limbaugh is no longer relevant and had lost whatever minuscule credibility he once had. He's worth listening to for a short while each day just to laugh at his abysmal ignorance or his being patronized by a political hack scraping the bottom for votes. Every ill, irrespective of cause or nature, always has the same villian and the same asserted rote remedy.

[Atlas Sneezed]

To save money we switched to a $5000 deductible, which is $340 a month. That's great, but the minute we darken the door of a hospital, emergency room included, we are 100% on our own until that deductible has been met.

---

Same as if your transmission goes out on your car. It could cost you thousands. Never heard of saving up?

You expect WHO to pay?

[popdonnelly]

Having the federal government pay for health care does not lower costs. It encourages unnecessary procedures, unnecessary prescriptions, and other forms of care, because providers know that Uncle Deep Pockets will pay the bills. The answer to increasing costs is more competition.

[popdonnelly]

But he's more credible than the New York Times.

[goldstategop]

That's true and the reason I think is because the system is insulated from market forces. My own experience is fairly typical in that I don't know what the real costs are. Probably close to $50,000 but I could ignore because I knew the HMO would foot the bill. That kind of bill is higher than most of us would pay on our own because we can't shop for the best service at a decent price. I submit if nothing is done to introduce market competition into medical care, we will probably wind up sooner or later, with single-payer government run health care. Its already being considered in California.

( No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo!)

[goldstategop]

Exactly. To my way of thinking, we should try that and only as a last resort, turn to the government.

( No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo!)

[Kimmers]

You are so right. People seem to have money to fix their cars, pay for season tickets to sporting events, have 3 TV's, go to Disney world etc but gosh they can't pay for health care.

I do know there are people struggling in life and I am not making any assumptions about anyone.

[goldstategop]

I'll take him over the Drive By Media any day because he says a lot of things that we all know make sense but they will never appear anywhere else. You can read any newspaper, you can tune in any news channel, you can listen to Air America and it all comes out the same. With Rush, you get a different perspective and people say, "I do agree with that and I wondered if it was only me thinking the Drive By Media view of reality is skewed or incomplete." Well, now we do know.

( No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo!)

[Nachum]

The reason why religious organizations cannot offer a group plan is that it would not conform to the rules that allow qualified group health plans to be sold. Membership is not enough, there must be an employer-employee relationship to establish group coverage.

Religious groups used to offer association type plans to those who joined their associations, but this always a situation where the sick and chronically ill would buy a plan with a guarantee of issuance. This would drive up claims and the insurance carriers would sever their contracts with the association. The two best examples of this in California were the California Bar Association plan and before that, the B'nai Brith plan. Claims due to easy acceptance drove the insurers out of the market place.

Anytime you see a plan offered through an association, union, or religious organization that requires no health questionaire nowadays, it usually is some sort of fraud.

[outofsalt]

I wonder if his kid has a car payment? Cell phone? Cable TV? Expensive Bad Habits? Health insurance is not a luxury it's an investment in your future!

[mylife]

I live in a relativly rural part of TX and Ive discussed this with my doctor.
He tells me that he never got into medicine to get rich, he wanted to practice in rural Tx in order to serve people and make a fair living.
When he started his practice people paid for services and he often bartered for services with folks that couldnt pay.
Your a plumber? I have some plumbing work that needs done.
Farmer? a side of beef may be made as payment.
And so on.

Today He cannot make those trades because of HIIPA.
Today his costs in malpractice insurence are through the roof.
In short, the gubmint has made his practice expensive and limited in scope.

[goldstategop]

If you're healthy, bank the money towards your old age. Then you might really need check ups often. When you're young, eat right, exercise and get plenty of rest.

( No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo!)

[ErnBatavia]

To save money we switched to a $5000 deductible, which is $340 a month. That's great, but the minute we darken the door of a hospital, emergency room included, we are 100% on our own until that deductible has been met

Yep...been there, done the same thing. But there is a saving grace; your hospital (and you'll want to check it out in your company's list of providers to confirm) probably will accept - even though it comes from YOU and not them - the negotiated rate.

A "sticker price" of 3500 zops might well cost you only 10 percent of that. It's always been my personal opinion that they go ahead and bill those higher prices so they can 'write off' the "loss".

[socialismisinsidious]

You may not like Rush but he is right on target with this issue.

Please tell me one thing that the government runs without bureaucracy and inefficiency? Please tell me one country where socialized medicine works (good care, good access)? Please tell me what right the government has to enslave an entire professional population of people?

The only thing that Rush should have added was tort reform b/c the cost of liability greatly adds to the cost of medicine. If people want for the costs of medicine to go down then doctors have to stop being treated like they are running lottery offices.