Republican lawmaker says cancer patients can go to the ER for health care

[CousinIT]

While several Republican senators have registered disapproval that the current GOP Obamacare repeal plan would harm constituents who rely on the Medicaid expansion, there are others who would like to harm even more of their constituents, like the House Freedom Caucus member who thinks cancer patients should just go to the emergency room.

. . .

Florida Representative Ron DeSantis, who is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, which controls enough seats in the lower chamber to effectively veto any health care bill.

When Erin Burnett on CNN asked DeSantis was asked how he and his colleagues would address the story of Tiffany Koehler, a Donald Trump voter and cancer survivor who says she is only alive today because of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, he suggested that anyone without health insurance could still just go to the emergency room:

BURNETT: What do you say to Tiffany? I mean, she’s a Republican, but she wouldn’t be alive, she wouldn’t be here without that Medicaid expansion in Obamacare.

DESANTIS: Well, if you remember when Obamacare was enacted, there were millions of people who had their health care canceled. And so there are stories of people who had certain needs, cancer or whatnot, who got pushed into policies that they didn’t want, and then they didn’t have the same coverage that they had because of the broken promise. So I think this law has really created a lot of different aspects. I would say though, and people who supported Obamacare used to make this point a lot before it passed, there really is no lack of health care. If people really need it, they show up to the emergency room, they do get care, it just gets passed on to other folks.

BURNETT: But she had $1 million in cancer treatments. You’re not going to get that by showing up in an emergency room.

http://shareblue.com/republican-lawmaker-says-cancer-patients-can-go-to-the-er-for-health-care/#.WQskFJjVqzk.twitter

[greymattermom]

1. Hospitals are businesses

and somewhere they will put it in some bill that businesses to not have to accept patients (customers) who can't pay. Hospitals just can't stay in business with a free back door.

[Trekologer]

2. Party of personal responsibility right there

"it just gets passed on to other folks"

We can't make you get insurance if you can afford it, because you might be paying for someone else's care who is sick. But we'll make it so you can't afford insurance and leave you to go to the ER and not pay, making other people pay for your health care.

[docgee]

5. That's a great explanation!

I am going to use that argument.

[malaise]

3. I hope he and his experience their own cruelty to others

That is all

[drray23]

4. this "go to the ER" talking point they use needs debunking.

hospitals are only required to stabilize you so you dont die on the spot ( like from an accident or a heart attack ) . they are not obligated to treat you over time for long treatments like cancer therapy.
in any case, they will still try to collect from you. if you cant pay you will go bankrupt or get your credit report trashed.

[MiniMe]

14. Exactly. Why do these people think that it is free to go to the ER?

I had a heart attack while uninsured in 2010. They took care of me, actually gave me great care. But I couldn't pay them. My credit is just now starting to recover from that.

[MontanaMama]

6. It never ceases to amaze

me how much our lawmakers do not know about the health insurance industry in this country. Almost NONE of them have even a minimal grasp of how it works. I can't think of one of them that is qualified to vote on legislation regarding health care (except maybe Al Franken). That said, while I'm sorry that the woman with cancer, described in this story, may lose her coverage...she's a Dump voter and I blame her for this shit storm. She bought and paid for the hell he has unleashed. Dump TOLD us what he was going to do before he was elected. How can she be surprised that he is doing it? No sympathy. None.

[Docreed2003]

10. All they care about is themselves...

They live in a Randian world where either you are a success that can take care of yourself or your a taker that doesn't deserve to be helped. They have no concept of compassion, of shared risk, of commons, none of it. They are disgusting, heartless assholes.

[MontanaMama]

12. Yes,

they are disgusting, heartless and STUPID assholes. They're stupid because they don't understand that the basic principles of the ACA protect ALL OF US. It protects them too. They don't get that part of it. Insurance corporations will screw them and their loved ones just like they will the rest of us.

[Blue_Roses]

7. What a dumbass

[GeorgeGist]

8. He's likely stupid enough to believe it.

[athena]

9. You're not supposed to go to the emergency room unless you think you're dying.

That's what one of my doctors told me one time when I had a minor scare following an operation and mentioned that I thought of going to the emergency room. She admonished me, saying that the only time I should go to the ER is if I literally think I am dying. And she didn't mean dying of cancer.

The emergency room is supposed to be for emergencies. It is the height of irresponsibility for Republicans to suggest that people go to the emergency room for routine problems or to get treatment for chronic illnesses. They might as well say one should call the fire department every time one loses one's keys.

[lame54]

11. Whenever I hear one of these guys spout this crap - I always picture...

Emergency room Dr's and Nurses all over the country saying "Fuck you asshole, we have enough to do without you filling up our waiting rooms."

[Blaukraut]

13. What they really want to say, but can't:

If you can't afford to pay for your medical care, you're not getting any. Period.