Romney: ‘We Don’t Have People Who Die Because They Don’t Have Insurance’

[ProSense]

Romney: ‘We Don’t Have People Who Die Because They Don’t Have Insurance’

By Rebecca Leber

Mitt Romney doubled down on his suggestion that uninsured Americans can find the care they need in emergency rooms, telling The Dispatch that people will always receive the treatment they need, and do not die or suffer because they can not pay for care. He pointed to federal law that requires hospitals to admit emergency patients, repeating his advice that patients rely on the most expensive form of care reserved strictly for emergencies. Romney told the Columbus Dispatch:

“We don’t have a setting across this country where if you don’t have insurance, we just say to you, ‘Tough luck, you’re going to die when you have your heart attack,’  ” he said as he offered more hints as to what he would put in place of “Obamacare,” which he has pledged to repeal.

“No, you go to the hospital, you get treated, you get care, and it’s paid for, either by charity, the government or by the hospital. We don’t have people that become ill, who die in their apartment because they don’t have insurance.”

He pointed out that federal law requires hospitals to treat those without health insurance — although hospital officials frequently say that drives up health-care costs.

Emergency rooms serve as a place of last resort, but 45,000 Americans still die every year because they lack health insurance, or one every 12 minutes. Uninsured adults under age 65 are also at a 40 percent higher death risk. Hospitals may treat patients for emergency medical conditions regardless of legal status or ability to pay, but patients with chronic conditions that don’t require emergency interference are often unable to access needed care.

- more -

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/10/11/990281/romney-uninsured-hospital/

[WI_DEM]

1. Biden and Obama need to hit him on this badly!

Does idiot not understand that uninured people using the ER's is a big reason why health care costs skyrocket? That they put off problems until it is a emergency and it's a lot more expensive then to treat. Preventative care is much less expensive.

[jsr]

2. Another brazen lie.

[ProSense]

15. He's despicable. n/t

[NYC Liberal]

21. Given how out of touch he is, I wouldn't be surprised if he actually believes this one.

This is never something he's had to deal with first hand. I bet you he really does think people can just go to the ER and get treatment for free.

[PDJane]

3. Yeah, you do have people who die from not having insurance.

Romney doesn't even know the statistics for his own country. About 45,000 people die annually in the US due to a lack of health-care insurance. That's a heavy price. Lot of potential there, not to mention collateral damage.

[2pooped2pop]

4. maybe a website of people who have died do to lack of insurance

either because they couldn't afford to go to the doctor and was diagnosed too late or those who have cancer or another illness with no insurance. You can go to the hospital but they will not treat you for your illness. They will stabilize you and send you home. Home to die.

[jsmirman]

16. This would be effective - the things that Romney doesn't understand

could fill many, many books.

[Sugarcoated]

5. Really asshole?

If my sister had coverage in between jobs she'd have very likely been diagnosed with colon cancer 2 1/2 years sooner which could have saved her life.



FUCK YOU ROBME

[cbdo2007]

6. What he is advocating is socialized health care. Who's going to call him out on it??

He says it himself right there - the government pays for those people who go to an ER without health insurance.

[arcane1]

10. Indeed, the cognitive dissonance is striking

But it will go over the heads of the mindless fools who follow him

[Schema Thing]

7. Amazing. This should finish him off if there is a Dog.

[RichGirl]

8. Any doctor would tell you....

That stress not only causes disease (dis-ease) and illness but makes recovery or healing harder.

Having no insurance would certainly cause a lot of stress. But what would Romney know about that. He's never had to worry about money or paying the bills a day in his life.

If any of you have republican friends..I don't....tell them that. Maybe something will get through their little pea brains.

[JHB]

9. Team Obama, your next ad has just written itself

Let's also not forget that emergency rooms don't do preventative care. People avoid going to the doctor due worries about the expense, and things that could have been detected early and treated cheaply are not found until it's so bad the person shows up in the ER, where cure is less probable and the cost is much higher.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. Tell that to the Kodak retirees when the time comes

http://news.yahoo.com/kodak-end-healthcare-benefits-solves-1-2-billion-235609460--finance.html

[ellie]

12. Fuck him!

I am so sick of this lying asshole.

[justabob]

13. maybe not in his zip code(s)

Really.... his complete lack of understanding of how it is for people is truly astonishing.

[gollygee]

14. The other thing is that they don't just pay for it

they charge you for it, and you carry that debt around until you can pay it off. The hospital, the doctors, and the technicians expect you to pay.

[rustydog]

17. My thought: Willard's "WE" is the 1%. None of them die due to lack of insurance, none of them

They have millions upon millions of dollars and can pay cash for medical care, even catastrophic care.

When he says 'we" he is talking aouut the people represented by the attendees at the 50-thousand dollar a plate fundraiser where he called us lazy and "entitled" to food. Now, he thinks snidely, we may feel entitled to Life!

[meow2u3]

18. Yeah, right, and cars don't stall when they run out of gas

[Initech]

19. They don't care. They don't care. They don't care.

[mnhtnbb]

20. He is so clueless. I hope someone at the Town Hall asks a question on this.

Read his comment as "nobody dies in America from not having health insurance" to Romney's view
"nobody who matters dies in America from not having health insurance."

[Stuart G]

22. is this the line? Dumbest thing to say since the 47 percent ??

Juset asking ..I knew Romeny would come up with something..

[ProSense]

23. It seems to me worse than the 47 percent comment. n/t