Rush Limbaugh *FLIP-FLOPS* on Socialized Medicine
family
Physician
Posted: January 2, 2010 01:59 PM
Limbaugh Lauds (Socialist) Medical Care in Hawaii
According to Rush Limbaugh, the health care reform that may be passed
by Congress is socialism. Yet, it bears a striking resemblance to the
universal healthcare system that just treated him in Hawaii that
prompted his remark: "there is nothing wrong with the American health
care system. I received no special treatment."
Yes, Rush. That's the point! American medicine is superb--for those
who can get it. And, in Hawaii, no one gets special treatment, because
everyone can get it.
[Er, by the way, just to help you out, Rush, a fair percentage of your
listeners do not know Hawaii is part of the United States, so clarify
that for them...otherwise, they will wonder about you]
By accepting socialist medical treatment in Hawaii, therefore, Rush
Limbaugh has shown that, when one is ill, what matters is the
availability of quality health care, even if it is socialist.
Rush follows a long litany of conservatives, such as all Members of
Congress that have a medical office paid for by taxpayers available in
the Capitol, by Dick Cheney who had socialist pacemakers implanted
paid for by the government, and George W who had a government-paid
socialist colonoscopy while in office. Members of Congress over 65 get
single-payer socialist medical care from Medicare.
Hawaii has had nearly-universal employer-mandated health insurance
since 1974. Although its Pacific Island location makes the costs of
everything--from gasoline to milk to ice cream to housing--the highest
in the nation, health care premiums in Hawaii, for comprehensive care
with small co-pays and deductibles, are nearly the lowest and their
costs per medicare beneficiary are the lowest in the nation.
Why? There are a variety of reasons, most traceable to universality.
With everyone covered by primary care, emergency room visits tend to
be for real emergencies, not the non-emergent care mainland ERs
dispense for people without coverage. That reduces the costs of ERs
and the costs of non-emergent medicine since patients can be handled
less expensively and more effectively by their primary docs. Hospitals
have not overbuilt, acquiring expensive machines to compete with their
neighbors for patients. Insurance companies have instituted screening
and other measures to improve wellness among their covered
populations.
We can all be pleased that Rush appears to have survived his encounter
with socialist medical care. He seems to be very happy himself,
commenting on the results of a socialist angiogram that showed no
disease in the arteries that feed his heart muscle.
Now, of course, Rush does not live in Hawaii and so his costs are not
covered by the Hawaiian insurance system, but having that "socialist"
system for more than 3 decades has not reduced the quality of the care
he received. Who would have thunk it!
If Hawaii-style medical care is good enough for Rush Limbaugh, it is
good enough for me.