Posted on 02/08/2017 7:36:51 AM PST by SeekAndFind
On the issue of health care, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) agree on very little.
At a town hall debate Tuesday night hosted by CNN, the two former presidential candidates clashed on the future of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, which President Donald Trump and Republican members of Congress have vowed to repeal.
One of the more spirited exchanges came after Sanders asked Cruz if he believes, as Sanders does, that every American is entitled to health care as a right.
“What is a right is access to health care,” Cruz said. “What is a right is choosing your own doctor.” Another right people have is “for government not to mess with you,” he said.
Sanders snapped back, saying that without enough money to afford such care, access to it is meaningless.
“You want to buy one of Donald Trump’s mansions? You have access to do that as well,” he said. “Oh, you can’t afford $5 million for a house? Sorry. Access doesn’t mean a damn thing! What it means is whether people can afford it, can get the health care that they need.”
In his opening remarks, Sanders acknowledged the Affordable Care Act isn’t perfect, but said repealing it would have devastating consequences to millions of Americans. Cruz, who has repeatedly called for a full repeal, said that unlike Sanders and Democrats, who “want government to control health care,” he trusts people and their doctors to make their own choices.
Watch a clip of the exchange below.
(Excerpt) Read more at huffingtonpost.com ...
It’s hard to afford anything when you don’t have a job. These people need to go to work.
Exactly. Like my sister says ... there is a difference between those who CANNOT work and those who WILL NOT work. For those in true need of help, assistance in one thing. For those who sit on their backsides and want the same benefits and lifestyle as I have from working 6 days a week ... those are the parasites that need to be pried off the government teat and be told to get a job or drop dead ... their choice. The free ride is over. America can’t afford them. Haven’t been able to for decades, truth be told.
Just my two cents.
Bernie needs to understand the first principle of the argument:
Health insurance is NOT healthcare.
For healthcare to be a right, you would have to enslave others (doctors, nurses, technicians, support personnel) to take care of you.
The democrat party is the party of slavery.
RE: Bernie doesn’t want Ocare either. He wants socialized medicine like Canada. Cruz is so unfamiliar with the Canadian system he couldn’t recite the negatives except to say Canadians flock to the US for treatment.
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My Canadian friend boasts that when his wife got pregnant and had to deliver their child, she stayed in the hospital until she could recover from the delivery and he only paid something like $30.00 for it.
He then chided the USA’s system because his wife’s sister (a US citizen) had to pay $5,000 for her cesarian operation when she delivered her child ( his nephew ). She did not have private health insurance and was not poor enough for medicaid. The end result was a few of her relatives had to chip in to help pay the hospital bill.
Hell, people cannot afford Obamacare now and that is why it needs to go.
RE: Hell, people cannot afford Obamacare now and that is why it needs to go.
The surprising thing is this — Bernie agrees with the above. He just wants to replace O’care with MEDICARE FOR ALL. He said so in the debate.
All of Canada "chipped in" to pay the Canadian's hospital bill.
I agree with you. Nothing helps people be more careful with money than when they have to spend their own.
What Sanders wants is slavery. He wants people to get healthcare, i.e. services from medical professionals like doctors, without paying for it. A ‘right to healthcare” means people have a right to the labors and skills of the doctor.
Only in a master slave relationship is a man entitled to the labors and skills of another as a matter of right.
I don’t know. I mean, I think we’d all agree we have a right to purchase a house. Government has no business banning some people from purchasing houses.
So maybe Cruz should have said, “well, we all have a right to live in a house, so if “rights” mean “access”, some homeless people should move into one of your mansions, right?”
He gets $1500/month SSI disability.
Yes, and he should have also made reference to the many mansions of the filthy rich leftists like Streisand, George Clooney, and the Clintons.
Funnt thing, Ole Bernie wanted a summer house on a lake and Presto.
I guess that only happens for ex-porno authors and Crooked Communist Politicians.
RE: All of Canada “chipped in” to pay the Canadian’s hospital bill.
Yep, and his argument was the “pain” to individual payers was small because millions chipped in instead of a few.
$$$$$ deductibles and co-pays and premiums- Obamacare
He didn't follow his logic to its conclusion. Millions "chipped in" for millions of hospital stays ... it all adds up.
Coverage is not treatment!
What Cruz should have explained is that like all socialized medicine there is only so much money allocated each year. Its rationed healthcare. So at the beginning of the year the govt sets the number of surgeries that can be done in the next 12 months period. If you miss the deadline you are not only out of luck for a surgery under your healthcare insurance you cannot even pay to have it done privately because that would be breaking in line. Hence the stampede to the US.
One of my Canadian acquaintances told me that the trick is to go to the ER. They can’t turn you away.
The other thing to remember that Cruz should have brought up is that Canada only has a population of about 35 million. If they have problems try to extrapolate that to a population of 330 million.
Which is why I love having a health share instead of insurance. I shop around for the cheapest care. I refuse tests that I don’t wish to pay for. I don’t pick up dumb or redundant meds. PEOPLE PAYING SMALL COPAYS WASTE A TON OF MONEY AND THT RAISES PREMIUMS.
Most medicine should be cash pay, and there should be responsible charities donating medical care for free. These private free clinics could insist upon conditions such as American citizens only and such.
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