Posted on 01/25/2010 5:39:30 AM PST by Blue Turtle
They came by the hundreds in New Orleans, Little Rock, Kansas City and Houston, lured by the offer of free health care at a one-day clinic. For many patients, it was the first time they had seen a doctor in years. Nearly all of them had jobs, just no health insurance.
Feb. 3 will be Hartford's turn for a one-day free medical clinic for people with no health insurance. The National Association of Free Clinics, which has been hosting similar events throughout the country since September, and hundreds of volunteers will set up at the Connecticut Convention Center from noon to 7 p.m. Organizers expect to draw about 1,000 patients.
(Excerpt) Read more at courant.com ...
So people will drive half-way across the country for a free check-up?.........
Stupid.
I wonder how many of those people drove nice cars, bought lots of booze or smoked.
People will spend money where they place their priorities. If they choose not to take care of themselves then why should I pay for them?
This is proof that lack of health insurance isn’t killing people en masse.
Nevermind....I see that I read the first paragraph wrong.....clinics were held in several cities, not just in Hartford.
sure they need it, but Haiti is sure getting a lot more than one day of free health care
I'm sure they're trying to make a point by this statement. However, we're employed and if we didn't opt to pay $350 per month, we'd be classified as "employed w/out insurance." Some people, who are employed, don't have health insurance because they choose not to carry it.
Free Beer will also pack em in.
“I wonder how many of those people drove nice cars, bought lots of booze or smoked.”
...not to mention cell phones, expensive nails and hair, gold teeth and tatoos.
Please meet Dr Starner Jones from Jackson, Mississippi.
His short 2-paragraph letter to the White House accurately puts the blame on a “Culture Crisis” instead of a “Health Care Crisis”. Its worth a quick read:
Starner Jones, MD
I am a seventh generation Mississippian and wanted to come back here after going somewhere else for college and medical school.. My extracurricular interests are golf, hunting, fishing and college football.
Dear Sirs:
“During my last night’s shift in the ER, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient with an expensive shiny gold tooth, multiple elaborate expensive tattoos, a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and a new cellular telephone equipped with her favorite R&B tune for a ringtone.. Glancing over the chart, one could not help noticing her payer status: Medicaid. She smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and, somehow, still has money to buy beer.
And our Congress expects me to pay for this woman’s health care? Our nation’s health care crisis is not a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. It is a crisis of culture ˜ a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on vices while refusing to take care of one’s self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance. A culture that thinks “I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me”. Life is really not that hard. Most of us reap what we sow. Don’t you agree?
STARNER JONES, MD
Jackson , MS
Not every illness is caused by the actions of the sufferer. Some are genetic; some are, yes, environmental. And some are caused by just dad-blame bad luck.
When you find out you have cancer, or have a stroke, it is impossible to pay for it out of pocket. “People will spend money where they place their priorities.” - which is why they have to lose their homes in order to buy their prescription medications to stay alive.
It is God’s blessing that you have never been that ill, or have always been so rich, that you have never had to worry about these issues. Remember how Jesus acted when it came to healing the sick and not casting the first stone. Did He ask whether the leper on the pallet had done anything to get himself infected? No, He simply healed him.
Inness and pain are severe punishments in themselves.
I wonder how they figure out who has insurance from who doesn’t, or do they simply treat whoever shows up?
my copays are kinda high;-)...
“Not every illness is caused by the actions of the sufferer. Some are genetic; some are, yes, environmental. And some are caused by just dad-blame bad luck.”
Some are, the majority are not.
“It is God’s blessing that you have never been that ill”
How do you know?
“Remember how Jesus acted when it came to healing the sick and not casting the first stone. Did He ask whether the leper on the pallet had done anything to get himself infected? No, He simply healed him.”
And what is Gods position on people who will not work to feed themselves? Or people that mismanage the financial resources granted to them?
If a person is not willing (not to be confused with unable) to work to feed themselves then they should starve. The majority of people have the ability to buy basic health care insurance, but choose not to.
Yes our system could be improved. Mostly in tort reform and putting more competition for insurance companies.
But hey, they also have to endure Geraldo and Sean Penn. Caught a snippet of FOX news this morning showing Geraldo interviewing Sean Penn in Haiti. Camera shot was too tight to see if Spicoli brought his shotgun with him this time.
Glad I don’t have to be in Hartford on that day!
The National Association of Free Clinics, which has been hosting similar events throughout the country since September
Something tells me NAFC was established to gather data and photo opportunities to promote universal healthcare.
It just looks awfully political.
A friend sent me a quote from that awful show “Toddlers and Tiaras” (or something like that).
THe episode featured the usual stereotype fat, white, trashy mother talking about the THOUSANDS she has spent on her daughter’s dresses, charm school, outfits, dance lessons, pagent fees, etc. She then made a comment (I’m paraphrasing)- “Yeah, THIS is our thing. If we have to make a choice between paying for something like a MEDICAL BILL or pagent, we are going to pay for another pagent!”
Oh, wasn’t that a dumb and dumber moment?
Geraldo and Sean Penn, two respected leaders in world opinion
I don’t think Sean took his bailing can this time, but he was, like, wow man, real impressed by the 82d airborne, you know, who were, like, fantastic, man-
too much ganja weed, man
Later, when Geraldo interviewed that Indian-American surgeon and his two surgeon sons who flew down there at their own expense to help, tweaked his cheek and called him booby or some other jewish term, I cringed. The doctor’s eyes got real big and hard.
Little Miss Perfect- OK, I confess to watching it
It’s like chewing cotton candy
Talk about white trash TV, but I enjoy watching that swish pageant organizer manipulate everyone - he is bound for stardom
Links to various articles are in the threads. Then leave the debt to our great grands to pay. I thought SS was the third rail of politics and the GOP was going to cut and gut it so Granny had to eat dog food...WELL it's the DEMONRATS that are doing the cut and gutting of SS and Medicare/Tricare for Life the retired Militarys secondary health ins, so I guess they want Granny to eat dog food. BTW a lot of those 10,000 laid off Sam's Club workers will be old people on SS supplementing their incomes.
People get sick and die. Get over it. Any fool knows that personal responsibility means putting money away for emergencies and i have no sympathy for someone who will not take care of themselves.
Is that selfish? No. How can one expect to take care of others if they are not prepared to first ensure (Not INsure) their own health to the best of their ability. How on earth can you take care of your loved ones if you are in poor health yourself?
The fact that is getting lost in this “Health care” debate is that insurance companies are for-profit enterprises. The so-called “Health Care Reform” act just seeks to transfer that profit directly to the government along with all the side benefits of complete government control of our lives.
The insurance company is going to make a profit by betting that you will use less $$ in medical services than you pay them in premiums. Betting (Through fear) that you will have a long term life threatening illness that will soak the insurance company is exactly what drives their profits. They KNOW that more people will pay expensive premiums and NOT get sick and they will therefore make a profit. This will work even better when the government takes over.
The way to beat the odds is self inflicted suffering; make yourself sick by living on high fructose, deep fat, cigarettes and booze while living behind a desk and in front of the TV.
...or you can live a healthy lifestyle and put money away for emergencies like Momma taught me when I was ten years old. I, for one, will not bet against myself or deliberately make myself sick in order to beat the odds.
Insurance companies and governments thrive on fear. Health care professionals, no matter how well intentioned, only make money when people are sick. Doctors, paid by the insurance companies, game the system by actively looking for things that they can bill the insurance companies for and long term treatment regimens that will keep the billing flowing.
Insurance is gambling. The insurance company bets you will live a long and relatively healthy life and you bet that you will suffer long term illness requiring expensive treatment that you have not prepared for or taken steps to avoid. As with all gambling, the odds are stacked in favor of the house.
No doubt some worthy here will pipe up with “Yeah, just wait ‘til you get cancer. Then you’ll change your tune.”
My answer to that is - I already had cancer. Put quite a dent in my savings account, but since I have been saving since I was young and since I am now old, I still have enough to take care of myself, and therefore my family, for as long as I am likely to last. Regardless, I would not expect anyone else, and certainly not the government, to take responsibility. That is mine alone.
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