Franken Schools Right-Wing Analyst On Medical Bankruptcies In Countries With Universal Care: ‘It’s Zero’
Franken Schools Right-Wing Analyst On Medical Bankruptcies In Countries With Universal Care: ‘It’s Zero’
Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled “Medical Debt: Can Bankruptcy Reform Facilitate a Fresh Start.” The hearing examined medical bankruptcies in America, and witnesses included CAP fellow Elizabeth Edwards and Kerry Burns, a Rhode Island mother who was forced into “financial ruin” by her late son’s medical bills.
One of the highlights of the hearing was when Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) questioned Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Diana Furchtgott-Roth about medical bankruptcies. Franken asked Furchtgott-Roth — who claimed that moving towards a European-style system of universal health care would increase bankruptcies — about how many medical bankruptcies there were in countries that have universal health care, like Switzerland and France. Furchtgott-Rott repeatedly told Franken that she didn’t “have that number,” and Franken informed her that the number was actually zero:
FRANKEN: I think we disagree on whether health care reform, the health care reform that we’re talking about in Congress now should pass. You said that the way we’re going will increase bankruptcies. I want to ask you, how many medical bankruptcies because of medical crises were there last year in Switzerland?
FURCHTGOTT-ROTT: I don’t have that number in front of me, but I can find out and get back to you.
FRANKEN: I can tell you how many it was. It’s zero. Do you know how many medical bankruptcies there were last year in France?
FURCHTGOTT-ROTT: I don’t have that number, but I can get back to you if I like.
FRANKEN: Yeah, the number is zero. Do you know how many were in Germany?
FURCHTGOTT-ROTT: From the trend of your questions, I’m assuming the number is zero. But I don’t know the precise number and would have to get back to you.
FRANKEN: Well, you’re very good. Very fast. The point is, I think we need to go in that direction, not the opposite direction. Thank you.
Watch it:
Medical bankruptcies are an epidemic in the United States. According to a peer-reviewed study published earlier this year in the American Journal of Medicine, nearly 62 percent of all U.S. bankruptcies in 2007 were due to health care costs — and 78 percent of people who were driven into bankruptcy by their medical bills had insurance.
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Shorter FURCHTGOTT-ROTT:
I don’t know squat if it provides evidence contrary to what my corpwhorate masters script has written on it.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:44 amAl Franken is THE MAN.
No one is going bankrupt in Europe from medical expenditures because, even in countries like Switzerland and Germany (which do not have a strict single-payer scheme like the UK or France), the government will provide ample subsidies or reimburse those who need aid the most. Couple that with the generous social saftey net and you will never see the absolute hell we have here.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:45 amThank God Al won. Could you imagine Coleman? He would probably kiss this womans ass and agree with her.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:45 amPaul Wellstone would be proud, God rest his soul.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:46 amThe repiggies and their buddies in the health insurance cabal are such a pack of liars.
At Thanksgiving, if any of you are subjected to this pro-repiggie nonsense by any stupid relatives, please don’t sit back quietly and listen to that crap.
Challenge it openly and forthrightly.
It’s way past time to stop being so polite to such a bunch of impolite, nasty people.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:47 amGo get ‘em Al!
October 21st, 2009 at 10:48 amIt was a long, hard slog to get there, but we all are very pleased to have Al Franken as Senator.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:49 amApproximately 14,000 people per day are being dropped by their health insurers.
The repiggies say there is no problem.
The repiggies should be locked up in a mental institution.
Don’t listen to the repiggies, and stop voting for them for anything goddamned office around.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:50 amOne of the things that I like best about Franken is his ability to get his ideas across. I think his training as a comedian serves him well in this. If you want a joke to work, you have to know how to deliver it in a way that your audience understands. So, not only does he say all the right things, but he says them effectively, in a way that people understand right away. Even though I’m not a Minnesotan, I’m proud that he’s a Senator.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:50 amFURCHTGOTT-ROTT: medical bancruptcy is uniquely American.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:52 amFURCHTGOTT-ROTT
– - You can’t make these names up.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:52 amAl Franken, you are good enough!
October 21st, 2009 at 10:52 amFURCHTGOTT-ROTT: Isn’t that the medical term for toe fungus?
October 21st, 2009 at 10:54 amI guess when you’re dealing with the mouthpiece whores of the insurance lunatics, Sen. Franken is finding that the scripting is not all that different from SNL. You go, Senator. I think the whoremongers do their best to try and find ‘attractive’ women to do their potty mouthing, but have you ever noticed how many of them are horsefaced. OK, that was totally sexist and I shouldn’t have said it, except it’s true. This one, Betsy McCaughey, etc, etc, ad nauseum.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:58 amAs soon as I saw the name FURCHTGOTT – ROTH, it made me chuckle a bit.
FURCHTGOTT translates roughly from the German into “fear” or “dread” of God, quite a chilling concept.
I wonder if Ms. Furchtgott-Roth has any fear of God zapping her for her outrageous lying.
I lived in France for four years, and the health care system is fabulous.
No one bites their nails worrying about how to pay for medical and dental care.
It is so screwed up here, that I may go back to Europe to live.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:58 amFinally, someone with the balls to call it as it really is.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:58 amLurch-gut-Rot didn’t do her homework, did she?
October 21st, 2009 at 10:58 amNorm Coleman says:
Ms. Furchtgott-Roth that’s a lovely pearl necklace, did your husband give it to you?
– - Why yes, yes he did, right after he tea-bagged me.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:01 amThe look on her face: Priceless.
Heh. Good on Franken.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:01 amDelivery for Ms. FURCHTGOTT-ROTT, It’s your ass, hand delivered to you by the other Al.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:01 amRUC@13, LOL! You’re bad. But it does sound like a fungus! In fact, people like this broad are LOWER than fungus.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:01 amIf a comedian from Saturday Night Live takes you to task over the lies and B.S. you are spewing, what does that say about someone like this woman that earns large salaries just to mislead and outright lie to our government and the American People? Is it just me or does Frankin seem to be one of the very few Democrats that has the balls to call these idiots out? I think we need more people like him in our government.
Keep up the great work Al!!
October 21st, 2009 at 11:02 amI loves me some Franken!
Notice how FURCHTGOTT-ROTT tries to change the subject at the end of the clip (hmmmm, sound familiar?).
And SENATOR Franken won’t allow it!
Booya!
October 21st, 2009 at 11:03 amYou’ve been schooled!
Well so far Al you have proven your critics are all wrong and never new it.
You are doing one of the best jobs a freshman senator can. Keep up the good work and yes you do make MN a lot better. Good on you and MN.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:07 amRepublican plan to end medical bankruptcies:
Hurry up and die from your medical condition. The dead can’t file for bankruptcy.
That Rep. Grayson was on to something……..
October 21st, 2009 at 11:07 amhe is seriously kicking some ass at his new job.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:07 amIt has been long overdue that we had a Senator who speaks to the point, like an adult.
Methinks too many moron lawyers have been elected for too long.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:08 amMinnesota is so lucky. They get Franken AND Bachmann.
It’s not fair that one state gets to hog all the awesome (Al) and lulz(Michelle)
October 21st, 2009 at 11:11 amThe new rookie gets up to bat and smacks it out of the park! Way to go, Al!
Now, what about all those other ‘more experienced’ (and especially Republican) Senators? What kind of tough questions did they ask, and what points were they trying to make pointing out the plethora of false arguments of the health care and insurance industries against health care reform?
Oh, yeah, ZERO. That’s because they are all sucking on the money teat of the insurance and health lobbyists and can’t get their mouth open.
Thanks, Al. Maybe there is hope yet. The rest of you Senators – well, you just got schooled, too. This is how it should work.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:11 amEnnuiDivine says:
“No one is going bankrupt in Europe from medical expenditures because, even in countries like Switzerland and Germany (which do not have a strict single-payer scheme like the UK or France), the government will provide ample subsidies or reimburse those who need aid the most.”
Strange. The country with the HIGHEST expenditure of its military, who acts as the “World’s Police”, would also have the HIGHEST medical bankruptcies.
Makes me wonder, are we funding the worlds largest military by taking from the care of “We the People” just to be able to bomb and kill around the world?
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:11 amDwight Eisenhower 1953 speech
To #9 — plus Al Franken is actually very intelligent, even though he has played a clown lo these many years, and earned a nice living doing so, the guy is really smart.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:12 amthank you, SENATOR AL FRANKEN!
…
i really don’t understand what happened to “conscience”…
this morning on TODAY, there was a story about some grandparents who are being forced out of their home, which is up for sale anyway but not selling, because they are raising their granddaughter and the home association doesn’t allow anyone under 55 to live there…
and, another baby being turned down from health insurance -
becaue she is TOO LITTLE!
… greed, obviously…
hey! wasn’t it obvious that gordon gekko was an AZZHOLE…?
October 21st, 2009 at 11:12 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Having never suffered a bankruptcy, I have to assume that some creditors lose money in a bankruptcy – why aren’t these creditors screaming for this reform??? how about business speaking up and adding there voice. perhaps if the Chamber of Commerce would pull their head out of the global warming sand they could actually do some good
October 21st, 2009 at 11:15 amTo #9 — plus Al Franken is actually very intelligent,
Which is exactly what post #9 says, without you “clarifying”.
:)
October 21st, 2009 at 11:16 amGood morning all!
I decided on my moniker after I heard so much of what this woman is spewing. “High five” to Al Franken for telling it like it is. As I sit here typing this, the TV is on in the background, there’s a story on NBC about healthcare denial to an undersized (low weight?) baby by United Healthcare.
Now you know why I don’t post very often; but sometimes my “dander” is raised so much that I have to vent…
October 21st, 2009 at 11:18 amWow, he looks positively pissed. And rightly so.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:19 amThe citizens of Germany & Switzerland have no medical bankruptcies because their socialized medical system absorbs all those cost.
AWESOME!
Which is exactly what the U.S. needs if we are to avoid further economic collapse.
BTW, it’s nice to finally meet a dog with it’s but shaved, who’s been trained to walk backwards.
Always thought that was just a joke until now.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:19 amAl Franken: the only professional clown ever elected to public office.
Wrong. That would be Ronald Reagan
And G.W. Bush would be a close runner up.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:22 amYou’re not particularly educated, are you? Both countries have a hybrid public-private system. You know what “private” means? It means that private insurance options exist and the system is by definition, not socialist.
Schmuck.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:23 amThanks for the feedback DFNP ;) I guess I could have added he is a Harvard grand and was a Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, but I guess that would be unnecessarily clarifying too much.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:24 amI’m forming a theory that being a comedian (where you have to notice incongruities and accent them) gives Franken a unique BS radar.
And he’s not afraid to use it, either.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:24 amdeebaser says:
Minnesota is so lucky. They get Franken AND Bachmann.
Well, every comedy duo has a straight man and a funny man. Depending on your perception, these two fit the bill.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:24 amReally? How much money do they owe China?
October 21st, 2009 at 11:25 amAtta boy, Al. America needs more elected officials like you.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:26 amThe repiggies and their corporate buddies are bringing this nation to its knees.
One wonders if some secret deal has already been struck with Russia, China or some other power to just walk right in and take over, after the total social and economic collapse in this nation.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:26 amStupid people rule #1: If you can’t win an argument, change the subject.
I suppose in loco@34’s eyes, Amurka is not going bankrupt??? Wall Street Wolverines!1!1!1!1!
October 21st, 2009 at 11:26 amThe question still remains : How in the hell can a state who has provided us with enlightened , caring , intelligent progressive souls like Wellstone and Franken , foist pieces of shit like Bachmann and Pawlenty upon us , too ??????
That makes less sense than this FURCHTGOTT-ROTT(EN) dope does…..
October 21st, 2009 at 11:27 amLocomotivebreath should be kicked in the caboose for his outrageous lying.
Switzerland and Germany don’t begin to have the outrageous debt that our nation has to China.
When will the mortgage-holding Chinese call in the note?
Thanks to eight years of psychotic repiggie nonsense, we are in this terrible financial pickle with nothing to show for it.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:29 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Bravo to my senator Al Franken and boo to the right wing analyst who after being proven wrong uses the typical right wing tactic of changing the subject, a subject whose numbers in itself are questionable.
These morons on the right cherry pick numbers on health care just like they cherry pick biblical scripture and intelligence reports.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:30 amGod, she’s creepy. These people have no soul.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:30 amI was ready to suggest that the holy roller and mormon trolls on this blog start spreading the GOPshite on their gardens, but then I thought that the GOPshite might kill all the plant life around with its sulphuric burn.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:31 amlocomotivebreath1901 says:
——————————————————————————–
Al’s attack dog stage show only illustrates the obvious.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:14 am
Yes , it does ; it revealed that you’re pretty much a complete and utter useless dipshit ……..
October 21st, 2009 at 11:31 amtim.ned @ 51
October 21st, 2009 at 11:32 am————————————————————-
From what I know and someone correct me if I’m wrong but I believe Switzerland has Universal Health Care which is run by private insurance companies who are heavily regulated by the Swiss government.
If someone asks her tomorrow how many medical bankruptcies they they have in France, she won’t know the answer.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:33 amI had to laugh at this one. Out loud actually. Does this troll not watch the news?
Does this troll not know about gw bush and the promised era or prosperity that tax cuts for the rich was supposed to usher in?
October 21st, 2009 at 11:34 amSomeone should have asked that insurance company shill does she know how many bankruptcies have occurred in the US the past decade , and what the point of not trying something else would be…………That would have really left her exposed
October 21st, 2009 at 11:37 amDemocrats’ Fuzzy Health Care Math
FOXNews – Sean Hannity – ?24 minutes ago?
Regardless of what side you’re on in the health care debate, there’s no denying the Democrats’ plan is going to cost this country a great deal of money.
i dunno… just struck me as very funny… sean hannity…
October 21st, 2009 at 11:37 amI’m proud and happy that an American like Al Franken can make the sacrifice, serve the country and Make A Difference. I’m dismayed by the “Liberal MSM”s non-coverage of his courage. So much for the MSM.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:39 amkaty says:
——————————————————————————–
Democrats’ Fuzzy Health Care Math
FOXNews – Sean Hannity – ?24 minutes ago?
Regardless of what side you’re on in the health care debate, there’s no denying the Democrats’ plan is going to cost this country a great deal of money.
i dunno… just struck me as very funny… sean hannity…
October 21st, 2009 at 11:37 am
Yeah , completely unlike illegally and stupidly invading a sovereign nation that was no threat whatsoever to us , eh , She-Yawn………..?
October 21st, 2009 at 11:39 amThe only thing that “trickles down” is sweat from your groin.
Money, unlike bullshit, flows up-stream.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:40 amRE: #38. Your moniker: “frenchfries”
OT Thanks for putting a smile on my face; needed one today!
Going to college transfer center to get some assistance with transfer (to State U.) application that I am unable to submit online; there’s a “bug” in the applet that’s not allowing me to submit said application online…wish me luck…
October 21st, 2009 at 11:41 amAl kicked that woman’s ass every way he could, and she damn well deserved it.
I love that man!
October 21st, 2009 at 11:41 am13. RUCerious says:
FURCHTGOTT-ROTT: Isn’t that the medical term for toe fungus?
Actually I think it is the German word for gut-rot caused by semen
October 21st, 2009 at 11:41 amYeah, or in light of how many Americans are going bankrupt. That’s not cost?
I gotta tell ya, I’ve got a cadillac insuance policy that costs my wife and me a ton and they deny every claim.
We have to fight every time we use it. I am getting ready to turn it over to a lawyer and let them deal with him.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:43 amThank you, Al.
This is what I’ve been waiting to see since January.
Corporate funded self-interest groups disguised as public service think tanks should be identified for who they are, and what purpose they promote.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:44 amHudson Group was founded by military strategist Herman Kahn and his colleagues from RAND Corporation.
PissedOffByTheLies says:
October 21st, 2009 at 11:41 am
Good luck, my fellow student!
October 21st, 2009 at 11:44 amDiana Furchtgott-Roth (note spelling) and her husband, Harold Furchtgott-Roth, are a well-known DC power couple:
http://www.furchtgott-roth.com/
October 21st, 2009 at 11:45 amI wonder if Hannity knows how much we have spent to give the Iraqis universal health care?
I’m joking, of course. I’m sure Hannity knows nothing about that, and he will make sure that he never finds out about it.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:45 amFred says:
——————————————————————————–
October 21st, 2009 at 11:43 am
Too bad you don’t live in the Tri-State area ; I’d sic my niece and her fiance on them …..
BTW
Good luck to you , PissedOffByTheLies ……
October 21st, 2009 at 11:46 amSo much for Al Franken being a “joke” just like his bill on government contractors and rape overseas. That was no “joke” either. 38 male republicans senators voted against his bill on contractor rape. Nice.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:47 amI keep watching this over and over!
October 21st, 2009 at 11:48 amIt is so freakin kool!!!
Wow! just Wow!!
I feel like Tom Cruise on Oprah.
I sent Senator Franken a Thank You via his gov website.
(hint hint)
October 21st, 2009 at 11:51 amSundry but Ironic information: Dr. Furchgott-Roth has 6 kids – all attended the French government run and subsidized school in Washington, D.C., the Lycee Rochambeau. I know because 2 of her kids were in my kids classes.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:51 amBoy, that Al Franken, what a funny, funny guy…
Wait – that wasn’t funny. That was insightful. That was standing up to power. That was speaking truth.
Boy, he better be careful or he may never get another SNL gig.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:51 amIn my family, we actually say
October 21st, 2009 at 11:53 am“I’ve got a touch of the got-rot”
when you have that last night’s bad burrito feeling.
#72 – bureaucrap,
Excellent research and great find on that link. Keep it up.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:53 amI’m very proud to have had the opportunity to meet and vote for Al Franken.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:57 amYou know why 78% of the bankruptcies due to Medical issues are people who had insurance? That’s because if you don’t have insurance you don’t get treatment, unless its and emergency. Emergencies probably make up the other portion of medical bankruptcies. So if you don’t have insurance you die without bankruptcy but you die more quickly.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:00 pmSeriously Al’s performance makes me want to demand John Stewart and Stephen Colbert run for office.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:09 pmYou got to love it when people come armed with the facts. Thus far, Franken is becoming a thorn in the side of the right wing.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:12 pmDr. Furchgott-Roth must be feeling like a big fool that walked into a trap. Next time, she will think twice before agreeing to testify in hearings. This exchange is not something she is going to put on her resume.
Nicely put, TP! p.s. the natural, secondary regression of this (your)parent set of bankruptcies, automatically indicates the benefit of subsequent speculations, which pertain to the core conclusion: if your neighbor filed for bankruptcy, he or she could have been highly in debt, from medically related costs.
One secondary conclusion you had pointed out, was that private health insurance was held by a majority of the parent population(78%). I’ll suggest two additional logical, hypothetical conclusions:
i) any or all other causes for bankruptcy other than health care costs, are IMPOSSIBLE to know within ANY population!
ii) only universal health insurance, may possibly safeguard against a bankruptcy, as it would not be unreasonable to assume that, bankruptcies will occur at all levels of health insurance coverage, including no coverage, ‘cadillac’ coverage, or other levels of coverage, in between.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:17 pmlokidog says:
Republican plan to end medical bankruptcies:
Hurry up and die from your medical condition. The dead can’t file for bankruptcy.
That just compounds the problem for the heirs. These vultures will go after the heirs to get the bills paid. I know because that is happening to my daughter. Her mother-in-law’s physician ordered numerous tests (at a lab where he is partial owner) and treatments during her last six months of life running up a huge bill. After her death there was over $10,000 in unpaid bills that my daughter and her husband are being hounded to pay. They get an average of four calls a night. The funny thing she does is every time she gets a bill from them, she forwards it to the physician, since he was the one who ordered all the tests and treatments.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:17 pmEvery time a corporatist allows anything to vent from their pie hole, it should be understood that the last five unarticulated words of their statement are, “…as far as you know.”
With that in mind, we have to further understand that just a little research, just a bit of familiarity with the subject makes it nearly impossible to fail in refuting them.
You could vent from the other end and still completely wreck their argument.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:20 pmWhere are the rest of the Democrats? Why is it only Franken who has the balls to speak the truth and ask the tough questions? Why aren’t the other Dems hanging these lying witnesses up on the own petards? Thank God that we have at least one Franken in the Senate.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:20 pmI have to say that I am very glad that these discussions are going on right now. I had no idea that insurance companies could even cancel you once you start running up big bills. I also had no idea that they do it on a daily basis. This makes a decision I have to make in January easier.
I was thinking about buying one of the “stop gap” policies when I lose my insurance company. For a little over $400 a month I can get a policy with a $20,000 deductible. The purpose would be to cover me if I get really sick and run up huge bills so that I won’t lose my house. Now that I realize the insurance company will take my money and then cancel me when I need to make a large claim, I’ll simply do without. I’ll bank that $400 a month for future medical needs. In the meantime, I am quit claiming my house to my daughter. It’s too bad I need to take these actions.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:23 pmAnyone who listened to Al Franken’s show on the radio, The O’Franken Factor, knows that this guy comes prepared, asks great questions and will not hesitate to hammer someone who is b.s.-ing him. I’m looking forward to getting used to this. Franken is fantastic.
Go ahead and keep calling him a clown. Go ahead and keep thinking of him as a stupid entertainer. He’s going to eat your lunch.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:26 pmWho’s the clown now?
October 21st, 2009 at 12:30 pmSmack Down Al, you go get em tiger.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:32 pmYou GO Al!
…just wondering to myself if Norm “Toker” Coleman would have been asking those same questions.
NOT!
You GO Al!
October 21st, 2009 at 12:32 pmAl certainly put her in her place. That look she was giving him at the end of the clip is priceless!
October 21st, 2009 at 12:33 pmFranken/Grayson 2016.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:35 pmIf only all the Democratic Senators could be as well prepared and well spoken as Franken and all the Democratic Congresspeople like Grayson, we would be in fine shape in this country.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:39 pm.
R E M E M B E R:
AT one time smoking didn’t cause lung cancer…
… Even when it really did and still does.
.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:41 pm3 year old denied medical coverage for being too small.
So God forbid this kid ever have an accident of any kind and her parents have to shell out several hundred thousand dollars in hospital bills. I’m pretty darn sure that would be instant bankruptcy.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:42 pmYou can add one more medical bankruptcy to that list. My sis just filed. Between the bills from her hubby’s two week coma a few years ago which they are still paying for and the severe heart attack she had over the summer they were over they heads in uncovered medical bills. He can’t get health insurance because his asthma is considered “pre-existing”, and her diabetes was also considered “pre-existing” because nearly everyone on our father’s side of the family as well as half our siblings are (you guessed it) diabetics.
You just have to LOVE capitalism in our medical industry. Profits before people!
October 21st, 2009 at 12:44 pmObviously, as with the entire anti health care for all Americans but profit for corporations group, she reached her conclusion before looking at or choosing to completely ignore them (I’m going with ignoring). This is the problem for Americans today, because the news services continue to fail us in questioning these lies and labeling them as lies.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:46 pm.
Q U E S T I O N:
Since FURCHTGOTT-ROTT was there to address bankruptcies, funny that she didn’t have figures and facts to back up her claims, “Moving toward a European style will create MORE medical bankruptcies.”
#1) BULL SH!T! and smoking doesn’t cause cancer.
#2) NOTE: When claiming expertise in a field, come prepared to talk about that field with facts to back up your case and RESEARCH IT!
#3) Don’t get in front of Congress and attempt to pull the wool over their eyes. There will always be new blood that hasn’t been fooled before like the senior group is used to being treated.
#4) And when cornered, throwing some “straw man” argument out as a defense, when it clearly was designed to “DISTRACT” from you expertise because it so badly sucks, only exemplifies your stupidity and foolishness.
SMOKING DOESN’T CAUSE CANCER, MY @SS…
… Just like FURCHTGOTT-ROTT claims that Universal Health care will cause a rise in Medical bankruptcies. It won’t. It’s just a LIE!
.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:48 pm.
When ever do we need an angry chide from the peanut gallery:
“YOU LIE!”
It is now!
.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:51 pmBilbo – what they are doing to your daughter is illegal. They cannot force her to pay the bills unless she at some point agreed in writing to be responsible for them, or unless there is an estate that has the assets to pay the bills.
Tell her to inform them that the next time they call her, she will immediately call her lawyer and the Federal Government to turn them in for the CRIME they are committing through their fraudulent collection attempts. Also have her inform them that any notes on her credit report related to this debt can be settled in a civil court while they stare down the business end of a very expensive lawsuit. If that doesn’t shut them up, then prove to them that it wasn’t a bluff and file the papers.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:51 pm99. AllYouNeedIs,
That is so evil it is mentally sick. By definition, 5% of the “normal” population will be in the lower 5%. If the height and weight curves track the normal age progression, there is no problem.
To make it worse, what kid doesn’t have a broken bone at some time in their life ? A simple broken arm costs thousands that I sure couldn’t afford.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:55 pmsmidget says:
Bilbo – what they are doing to your daughter is illegal. They cannot force her to pay the bills unless she at some point agreed in writing to be responsible for them, or unless there is an estate that has the assets to pay the bills.
My daughter IS a lawyer and she knows it is not legal. She has reported them but she has still been unable to stop them. They haven’t put anything on their credit reports because they know that will be too blatant. But she can’t seem to stop them from calling her and sending her bills. She did get an angry phone call from the physicians office telling her to stop forwarding bills to his office. She told him “You authorized those bills so you pay them”.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:57 pmMapleStreet says:
To make it worse, what kid doesn’t have a broken bone at some time in their life ? A simple broken arm costs thousands that I sure couldn’t afford.
The only reason why that broken bone would cost thousands to fix would be because it would be treated in an Emergency Room. The beauty of universal health care is that EM’s will no longer have to charge exorbitant rates to make up for the uninsured they have to treat. Unfortunately I think they will continue to charge those rates to increase their profit margins. That’s why we need single payer with established rates of payments to all providers.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:00 pmSide note – those that say smoking doesn’t cause cancer are correct when the semantics of what they are saying are taken into consideration.
If smoking CAUSED cancer, then all smokers would get cancer…the problem is that that isn’t true.
What smoking actually does is facilitate the formation of cancer by creating a sticky surface for carcinogens in the areas that come into contact with the smoke such as the lungs, larynx, mouth, etc, to stick to, whereas a non-smoker could expel them, thus dramatically increasing the risk of cancer in smokers.
Full disclosure – saying that smoking causes cancer is perfectly true from a casual perspective, I’m a non-smoker (hard to quit, btw, but worth it…we all do stupid shit as kids, you know?), and smoking is still responsible for thousands of deaths, even those not directly caused by cancer.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:01 pm“She has reported them but she has still been unable to stop them.”
If she’s a lawyer, then she knows exactly how to stop them. Sue the shit out of them.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:02 pmBTW – love that solution of sending the bills back to the physician. ROFL!! That’s classic. I should have known she was a lawyer when you put that in the first posting. Freaking awesome.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:03 pmWhoa… does Ms Furchtgott-Rott ever look angry and embarrassed in that clip, as SENATOR Franken dresses her down in front of an audience.
Way to go, Al! I can’t begin to imagine Norm Coleman doing that. Hell, Norm would probably have probably ended up offering to give her a tongue bath at the time and place of her convenience…
Furchtgott-Rott… why does that sound like the common German name of an embarrassing skin rash???
October 21st, 2009 at 1:03 pmRock on, Senator.
And Inhofe, I believe it was who said it, just which side is sending in the clowns? Maybe a touch of Cover Girl on your nose?
October 21st, 2009 at 1:04 pmsmidget,
Sorry…
… And medical bills don’t cause bankruptcies.
They just facilitate it a bit. Like smoking does cancer, NO?
R E M E M B E R:
Other people have lied to Congress about known and provable FACTS!
.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:20 pmIf you lie in a court of law, it is perjury, and it is punishable by law.
What is the penalty for knowingly lying in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing? Is it against the law to lie under these circumstances? If it is against the law, then why isn’t this person facing any penalty (other than derision)?
October 21st, 2009 at 1:50 pmI wonder how the republicans and their supporters like getting their @$$e$ handed to them special delivery by the senator they dubbed a “clown” now.
Keep making clowns of them, Senator Franken. They’ve earned it, and they deserve it.
October 21st, 2009 at 2:37 pmKeep hammering away, Al! Rub their faces in the dirt just like they’ve been rubbing our faces in the dirt for the past 50 years.
October 21st, 2009 at 2:39 pmIt would be great ratings for Fox if they let O’Reilly rant about Franken and O’Reilly’s head explodes.
October 21st, 2009 at 2:40 pma) I live in Switzerland and hail from Germany. I have seen both healthcare systems and have received very good medical care in both. While the Swiss system is a regulated private system and far from perfect (for more see today’s post at TheZoo) the notion that anybody suffers bankruptcy due to medical bills is unthinkable here. This is why we have a health care system regulated by governments (read “the People”), because we know the risk.
b) Last time I checked neither Germany nor Switzerland were bankrupt. Suffice it to say: The US$ is at an all time low towards the Swiss Frank and the Euro. And sinking. And the US’s debt is mindboggling.
October 21st, 2009 at 2:51 pmAL FRANKEN FOR PRESIDENT!!!!
October 21st, 2009 at 3:06 pmSNAP! Sweet Jeebus, I love this guy.
October 21st, 2009 at 4:40 pmFranken is so very smart. He knows the answer to the question before he asks the question. This is exactly what a great lawyer would do. It took long for Franken to be seated. Thank you MN for voting for this man. He is truly an asset to our Government and to the people of the United States.
October 21st, 2009 at 4:49 pmI am glad to finally see this discussion being focused on the devastating economic stranglehold this insurance cartel is having on the economy. Of course the inhumanity of it arguably the country’s biggest scandal, but re-route those unearned, anti-trust dollars back to the disposable income side of the ledger to the American consumer and we could make a giant step towards repairing what the Wall St. banksters have destroyed.
October 21st, 2009 at 5:38 pmMy sh** for brains Congress Critter, John Culberson, is running a poll on the homepage of his website. Vote for or against H.R. 3200. Only about 134 votes so far with the knuckle draggers in the lead by about 70% to 24%. http://culberson.house.gov You know what to do!!!
October 21st, 2009 at 6:01 pmThanks again, Senator Franken. It is truly nice to see a real Democrat in the Senate finally. The only other real Democrat in the Senate calls himself an independent.
It is beautiful to see our representatives actually advocating for the lower 98% income bracket and using common sense and indisputable facts to do it.
October 21st, 2009 at 8:24 pmWhat is truly beautiful and refreshing about this exchange is that it was clear that Franken did his research and quickly quashed the neocon distraction technique of trying to change the subject to cancer rates based on cherry-picked, irrelevant data, and entered that into the Senate record, instead of cowering in a corner and letting a intentional misrepresentation stand.
October 21st, 2009 at 8:43 pmThe best part was Al’s reply to her q, namely that cherry picking statistically is done by many but bankruptcies seem to be a U.S concern only. He impresses me with his policy knowledge and not just skin deep aide provided information. he truly is his intellectual fervor and basic human decency.Bravo!
October 21st, 2009 at 11:47 pmYou did good, Minnesota.
It’s about time someone took on the factless distortions churned out every day by the far right. To get a sense of the nasty propaganda of the right, get Newsmax emailed to you. Many articles deliberately designed to deceive and stir hysteria, especially among the elderly.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:44 amThis Women has no soul.
She will BURN for her ways.
How can a state elect a Michele Bachman and then elect Al Franken?
What is with that?
Way to go Freshman!
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:16 amHere’s what I took away from that. Either she’s saying that by moving towards a health care system that produces no medical bankruptcies, Americans will screw it up so badly that not only will we create medical bankruptcies for the first time in that system, we’ll create more than the worse system we have now, or she’s just lying to the United States Senate.
Offensive either way.
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:54 amFranken Schools Right-Wing Analyst On Medical Bankruptcies In Countries With Universal Care: ‘It’s Zero’
No, it will just drive the USA into bankruptcy.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:44 pmTHIS is why I voted for Senator Al Franken. I know how smart he is – he does his homework, he’s got a sharp mind, and he can also think on his feet. Challenging that RWNJ Tool – and if she is a medical doctor, she should have her license revoked – about other studies was brilliant because he reads everything and knows his stuff. People should know better than to show up to a fight with Al unprepared.
October 22nd, 2009 at 4:36 pmctcadguy – We also voted in the first Muslim into the House with Rep Keith Ellison and remember – Al sits in Paul Wellstone’s seat – Dist 06, where Bachmann is and where I grew up – is a gerrymandered weird district that encompasses the most conservative portions of counties around the Twin Cities. We’ll probably lose that one to the census once the numbers are counted, actually. Good riddance, too.
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October 28th, 2009 at 4:33 am