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Republican Solution to Health Care Crisis: Head, Meet Sand

Check this guy out.

Texas once again led the nation with the highest percentage of residents without health insurance, a U.S. Census Bureau report showed Tuesday...

But the numbers are misleading, said John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a right-leaning Dallas-based think tank. Mr. Goodman, who helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy, said anyone with access to an emergency room effectively has insurance, albeit the government acts as the payer of last resort. (Hospital emergency rooms by law cannot turn away a patient in need of immediate care.)

"So I have a solution. And it will cost not one thin dime," Mr. Goodman said. "The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American — even illegal aliens — as uninsured. Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to the likely source of payment should they need care.

"So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved."

The fact that this guy is anywhere near actual public policy is scary. He is aware, of course, that you can't get a dental exam, mental health care, or any kind of preventative care at an emergency room? He is also aware that emergency room care is the most expensive of all kinds of health care, and that we should be taking active steps to minimize it, not ignore it?

Just tuck this little nugget away: The man who helped write John McCain's health care plan believes the solution to the health care problem in this country is to literally pretend we don't have one.

Posted by Jonathan Stein on 08/28/08 at 9:26 AM | Comments (2) | Email | Print

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