DeLay: ‘No American Is Denied Health Care In America’

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/09/delay-health-care/

DeLay: ‘No American Is Denied Health Care In America’

Speaking in the UK yesterday, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) predicted that if a Democrat is elected president in 2008, he or she would seek to install a universal health care, similar to the system in Britain. This possibility “received thunderous applause.” DeLay claimed that, under the U.S. system, “no American is denied health care”:

By the way, there’s no one denied health care in America. There are 47 million people who don’t have health insurance, but no American is denied health care in America.

The audience, understandably, greeted DeLay’s preposterous claims with “derisive laughter,” according to the AP. A recent report showed that for the sixth straight year, jobholders continued to see a decline in employer-provided health insurance, with 38 states seeing “significant” drops in benefits offered by employers.

Observers estimate that anywhere from one to 18 percent of Americans are denied health insurance because of pre-existing health conditions. These conditions can range from heart disease to high cholesterol to yeast infections to being too skinny. A few examples of Americans who were denied health care:

Texas resident Shirley Lowe was denied health care because her breast cancer was diagnosed at a medical center rather than a clinic receiving federal cancer-research funds.

New Orleans bus driver Emanuel Wilson was denied health care when the government refused to pay for his chemotherapy because he had had a job that had provided insurance — a job he lost after Hurricane Katrina.

Thousands of 9/11 workers who worked at Ground Zero were denied health care when the federal government approved woefully inadequate funds to address the permanent health problems, such as sinusitis and asthma, associated with work at the site.

As Michael Moore’s film “Sicko” showed so clearly, millions more Americans who have health insurance are denied the care they need due to insurers’ “cost-cutting strategies.”

[NMMNG]

1. He should be flooded with letters from Americans who have been denied health care

He'd be buried in mail.

[ThomCat]

3. I don't think he'd care.

He's got an agenda to push. He knows he's full of shit, but the agenda is more important than any mere facts. x(

[NMMNG]

12. He wouldn't care

But he'd have a mess to clean up for a while, if nothing else.

[indepat]

27. What DeLay said is no more outrageous than a litany of garbage pouring out of pukes' mouths every

day.

[rodeodance]

5. tossing some rotton eggs would have been more effective!

[NMMNG]

15. Definitely more satisfying.

:evilgrin:

[midlife_mo_Jo]

13. Let the flooding begin

To bgin with, it's a misnomer to say that we have "health insurance." People pay into insurance so that when they need it, they will have it. Right now, you can pay insurance for years, but when you get sick, they drop you.

That's not insurance. I don't know what the hell it should be called, but it's certainly not insurance.

[NMMNG]

16. And if you have a "pre-existing condition" you may not get new insurance

:scared:

[old guy]

20. As I personally know quite well.

[SammyWinstonJack]

35. Or deny coverage/not pay for procedures. Same difference

[11 Bravo]

38. He'll also need to be flooded with people to help him with the big words.

[shadowknows69]

2. Bullshit

some of us have run the course of emergency rooms and racked up thousands of dollars in bills we can't hope to pay anytime soon. Some of need specialized tests as well that won't take you on an emergency basis. I can't afford the 4k it's going to cost for an MRI to find out why my back is fucked and I can barely walk anymore. Want to loan me the money Tom?

[aquart]

4. The UK let him into the country? Why?

If ever a man should be on a No Fly list.

[MrCoffee]

11. he was in Oxford to debate Sharpton...Sharpton was a no-show

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h8E51asVapgNdvJnFaSXyya0aXZQD8SPS1V00

[onethatcares]

17. he is under indictment, isn't he?

for the Abramoff scandal,for money laundering, for being an asshole, why would they let a man travel while under indictment?

[aquart]

26. Would not the rest of us have to surrender our passports?

Well, maybe he doesn't plan to come back. Surely there's a Swiss account he's planning to visit? Or a nice tax haven in the Channel Islands?

[sam sarrha]

6. why are they pulling Bu$hes bitch out from onder his rock to try to lie to 'educated' people .??

[SoCalDem]

7. We just play medical roulette here.. trading health care for financial ruin

spin the wheel :)

[kineneb]

33. We have a Winner! been there, did that, still there

we now live at slightly above the "federal poverty rate", which is meaningless in CA (even rural NorCal) because Hubby needed medical care...

...have gone through Ch. 7 bankruptcy

...will probably be stuck at poverty level for rest of my life in order to keep gov. medical coverage for the poor (pre-existing condition)...

Think good thoughts for Hubby...he is in the hospital with a chest drain, and is down to 130 lbs (not good for guy of 5'9"). I hope he will be able to come home. I will be calling Hospice for assistance next week.
:cry:

[SoCalDem]

36. Hugs to you and your husband

I hope his health improves.. Sucks to be sick anywhere,,but especially here :hug:

[Bozita]

8. The relationship between bankruptcies and medical bills is astounding.

Medical bills are a major factor in over 50% of personal bankruptcies, and over 70% of those HAVE health insurance.

DeLay has never been one to trouble his beautiful mind with facts.

[kineneb]

34. survivor of Ch. 7 - medical expenses

:hi:

[Trillo]

9. The DeLay dude has his head stuck {insert preferred dark place here}

K & R

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. BULLSHIT

[closeupready]

23. Yep.

n/t

[young_at_heart]

14. Ask people in LA if that is true

A woman was found wandering on a city street still in her hospital gown after she had been "dumped" by Kaiser (I think it was them).

[babylonsister]

18. I think Michael Moore has that, or a similar incident in LA, on tape. nt

[MrCoffee]

21. what about that woman who died in the ER waiting room at King-Harbor?

LOS ANGELES - A woman who lay bleeding on the emergency room floor of a troubled inner-city hospital died after 911 dispatchers refused to contact paramedics or an ambulance to take her to another facility, newly released tapes of the emergency calls reveal.

Edith Isabel Rodriguez, 43, died of a perforated bowel on May 9 at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital. Her death was ruled accidental by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

Relatives said Rodriguez was bleeding from the mouth and writhing in pain for 45 minutes while she was at a hospital waiting area. Experts have said she could have survived had she been treated early enough.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19207050/

[waiting for hope]

19. The Cockroach King!

Tom DeLay needs to be shut up in a slum apartment and given only roughly $200.00 a week (min wage) and let's see how well the slime fares.

[WilyWondr]

22. How's this?

If I go to an emergency room and have no ID on me and I give them a false name with no insurance.

Are they not going to treat me?
Are they going to fingerprint me before they let me leave?
Are they not going to let me leave?

I have been thinking about using this tactic if I ever have to go to the emergency room.

I know it's illegal, but it wouldn't be the first illegal thing I have done.

[achtung_circus]

24. Welcome to DU

enabling your profile, even if you choose not to fill in some or all of the info is generally seen on DU as a friendly thing to do.

[BrklynLib at work]

25. When did DeLay have the pre-frontal lobotomy???

:crazy:

[BornagainDUer]

28. Now here is where somebody should ask:

" How do you expect us to believe one damn word you say after your sleazy profiteering off of the suffering of the not so fortunate. I saw Bill Moyers Capitol Crimes where you used your office rip of those poor workers in the Marianas so your reppiggie friends and yourself could do golf tours in Europe. The gutter is to clean a place for you".

[SaveOurDemocracy]

29. To Tom DeLay ...

[L0oniX]

30. He's been smoking something

[Solly Mack]

31. Much like Bush, Delay has never met a lie he couldn't tell

[brer cat]

37. LOL, well put, Solly Mack!

It's not a funny thread...I'm one of the "withouts" and with a pre-existing condition so I will not be "with" until Medicare kicks in.

But laughing is much more fun than crying.

[windoe]

32. From indictment

to international lecture circuit? Whaaaaaaaa?

[PinkyisBlue]

39. How about the little boy who died from lack of dental care from an abscessed tooth?

Some people who have private insurance are denied medical care (as we saw in Sicko). Some people with Medicaid and Medicare are denied medical care as well; more and more medical and dental practices are refusing to accept Medicare and Medicaid patients due to low reimbursement rates. And people with no insurance at all are the most vulnerable. I believe any assets they have, such as a car, will make them ineligible for Medicaid and are at risk when they seek healthcare.

People like Tom DeLay wouldn't know about this (or even care). I bet he still has full health care benefits paid by us, the taxpayers.