Posted on 05/03/2017 1:44:34 AM PDT by Kaslin
I feel your pain. But please use your brain.
On Monday, late-night TV comedian Jimmy Kimmel delivered an emotional monologue about his newborn son. His baby was born with a congenital heart defect that required emergency open-heart surgery.
Millions of American parents, myself included, have walked in Kimmel's shoes. We've experienced the terrifying roller coaster of emotions -- panic, helplessness, anger, anxiety, relief, grief and unconditional love -- that comes with raising chronically ill kids.
But Kimmel didn't use his high-profile platform to educate the public about coping with rare diseases. Or to champion the nation's best and brightest pediatric specialists and medical innovators. The Tinseltown celebrity turned his personal plight into a political weapon, which his liberal friends were all too happy to wield. Top Democrats tweeted their praise for Kimmel's advocacy of expanded government health care regulations:
"Well said, Jimmy," Barack Obama gushed.
"Thanks @jimmykimmel for sharing your story & reminding us what's at stake w/health care," Hillary Clinton effused.
The Huffington Post piled on: "Jimmy Kimmel's Humanity Underscores Heartlessness Of GOP's Approach To The Poor."
I don't need lectures from Huffington Post and Hollywood elites about having a heart. Neither do the rest of America's parents, whatever their political affiliations, who know what it's like to stay up night after endless night with suffering children, wondering whether they would ever be able to breathe normally again or see the light of the next day.
Kimmel doesn't need more maudlin Twitter suck-uppery. He needs a healthy fact-check.
"Before 2014," he claimed, "if you were born with congenital heart disease like my son was, there was a good chance you'd never be able to get health insurance because you had a pre-existing condition, you were born with a pre-existing condition."
This is false. If parents had health insurance, the child would have been covered under the parents' policy whether or not the child had a health problem.
Kimmel continued: "And if your parents didn't have medical insurance, you might not live long enough to even get denied because of a pre-existing condition."
The term "pre-existing condition" is used to describe uninsured chronically ill people who apply for insurance coverage, not for a child in need of immediate care. Moreover, in the U.S., virtually all hospitals are legally obligated to provide emergency treatment to every patient who urgently requires emergency medical care regardless of the patient's insurance status. This would include a newborn with an urgent heart condition. This requirement does not apply only to patients who enter an emergency room. It applies to all patients who set food on a hospital's property.
Kimmel then dramatically asserted: "If your baby is going to die, and it doesn't have to, it shouldn't matter how much money you make."
I repeat: It does not matter if you are rich are poor or if you are uninsured. If your baby is in the hospital, he or she will receive emergency care no matter what.
"This isn't football," Kimmel implored. "There are no teams. We are the team, it's the United States. Don't let their partisan squabbles divide us on something every decent person wants."
Kimmel implies that opposition to Obamacare-style insurance mandates is both un-American and indecent. Had he been less hysterical, he would have acknowledged that different health care systems have pros and cons -- and decent Americans can have legitimate differences of opinion on such matters.
In the land of make-believe, it would be wonderful if everyone had free access to the same high-quality care Kimmel and his family did at Cedars-Sinai and Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
In the real world, Obamacare plans have severely curtailed the number of doctors and hospitals that customers can use. Command-and-control regulations on guaranteed issue, community rating and pre-existing conditions favored by Kimmel and company are driving up costs for everyone. Limited access to specialists and long waits have become the increasing norm -- just like that other model of government-run health care, the Veterans Affairs system, where the despicable practice of "death by queuing" spiked under Obama.
Moving toward a nationalized health system might play well with an emotion-driven late-night comedy audience. But sober observers know it would mean undermining America's superior access to cutting-edge diagnosis, innovative treatment, top specialists and surgeons, technology, and drugs.
Compassion without clear thinking is just a waste of Kleenex.
You did not mention it, but I would imagine you have a hefty deductible before insurance pays out a single thing....to go with your 60% rate hikes....
“He’s but one of many slavering “pack dogs,” piling on, joining the salivating feeding-frenzy of human detritus nipping at the heels of our great President.”
VERY GOOD! VERY GOOD! BRAVO!
I like it. Perfect description of liberals.
I hate the word children, call them what they are, future adults. The words child and children are dripping in the special interest business, those who use these words to provoke guilt making and increase funding of their own wallets. Call them future adults or youngsters less sentimental balcony.
Kimmel is such a tool. Shame of it is I used to like him on The Man Show. Now I wouldn’t give him the time of day.
Several years ago, I met a homeless guy named Will. When I met him, he was wearing a high tech cast and was undergoing physical therapy. He had been hit by a car on his bicycle and had received surgery.
So, Homeless + accident + surgery + cast + PT = Jimmy Kimmel is a liar.
Remember when M. Fox went off his meds for Parkinson’s when he testified to congress how bad it was? https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwin16-c4tPTAhVBzIMKHRXkCgUQFghTMAc&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMichael_J._Fox&usg=AFQjCNFZYSTxPor9dxSnOmXhtTkCEKaMrQ&sig2=A8j_voFhBOa3U_hmL9Wo9Q
Many Celebs don’t let the public even know they are that sick. The Williams sisters don’t talk much about their life long illnesses.
And poor people need to pay nothing.
I don't like where this is going.
Bravo, indeed. In fact, someone ought to do a little digging and see what type of coverage Kimmmel has for his family. He’s been hosting a late night talk show for several years, and collecting a big pay check—by some estimates, his personal fortune is between $35-40 million.
And here’s the dirty little secret of the very rich and health care: many are self-insured, since they have the ability to pay for even catastrophic injuries and illness and still have millions in the bank.
Rush Limbaugh alluded to this a few years ago, when he had a heart episode while vacationing in Hawaii. While undergoing tests for a possible heart attack (they proved negative), the hospital rep asked about his insurance. Rush told them he would simply write them a check for the entire bill and requested the cash discount (yes, hospitals do offer a significant savings to those who can pay in full upon discharge, without using insurance). By paying cash, Rush received a 33% discount on everything. He still wrote a big check, but the amount been billed to an insurance provider would have been much higher.
Here’s hoping Michelle Malkin can do a little digging and see how Kimmel is paying for his child’s care. At a minimum, he has coverage through his union, SAG-AFTRA. But more likely, he has a policy through his production company or he may decide to simply pay cash.
Glad Mr. Kimmel’s child is doing better and his long-term prognosis is excellent. As a parent, I certainly understand the anxiety and fear that comes with a sick child. But please, spare us the sermonizing over health care for everyone. If he wants to do his part, Kimmel could simply become the health coverage equivalent of a “Secret Santa.” Just visit the billing office of Cedars-Sinai (where his son was treated) and pick up the tab for other families with sick children and mounting medical bills.
Which is a form of socialism, Michelle. That care has to be paid for by someone, so costs are passed on to the insured and those who can pay out of pocket.
Conservatives who support this amuse me. If opposition to Obamacare is based on the idea that people shouldn't be forced to subsidize the care of the uninsured, why is this any more acceptable?
I like your tag line. I was convinced before the election, America "deserved" HRC, but we dodged a bullet. If we don't get off our asses and do something for the One who gave us a reprieve it will not go well in the future.
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Are you still killing your unborn? -- GOD |
The company I worked for canceled their health insurance for its employees. I went on COBRA for sixteen months, but it expired and I couldn’t get health insurance from anybody.
Ed
He wasn’t talking about himself, he was talking about the struggle his son would face were he to try and get health insurance and was denied it, due to his his pre-existing heart defect.
Ed
Just the thought of that comedy-challenged "comedienne" procreating make me nauseated!
It never did make sense for Hillary to tout her support of SCHIP and in some cases outright lie that she was responsible for the program and then on the campaign trail bemoan the fact that X number of children in the country were without health insurance. But when did a Clinton ever NEED to make sense? GADS! Don’t they ever get tired of their own hypocrisy and stupidity? We sure do!!!
“”Millions of American parents, myself included, have walked in Kimmel’s shoes””
I didn’t know that Michelle Malkin had a child who had a serious health issue. I’ve enjoyed listening to her and reading her articles for years but somehow I missed that.
I remember just a few years ago she was enlisting the aid of agencies to help her locate a cousin who went missing in CO. I never heard if that had been resolved.
Somewhere Karl Marx is smiling....
Thank you - I could have googled - or as I see you did - “binged” which I prefer...
Very interesting and perplexing ailment for sure - since 2015? It’s got to be draining for the child not to mention for the parents. It will take lots of patience to get the right medical people to look at her..the endless experiments with medications can’t be good either.
Would milk consumers, little bits, or little ones offend you?
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