Mitt Romney, On 60 Minutes, Cites Emergency Room As Health Care Option For Uninsured

[TomCADem]

Source: Huffington Post

WASHINGTON -- Downplaying the need for the government to ensure that every person has health insurance, Mitt Romney on Sunday suggested that emergency room care suffices as a substitute for the uninsured.

"Well, we do provide care for people who don't have insurance," he said in an interview with Scott Pelley of CBS's "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday night. "If someone has a heart attack, they don't sit in their apartment and die. We pick them up in an ambulance, and take them to the hospital, and give them care. And different states have different ways of providing for that care."

This constitutes a dramatic reversal in position for Romney, who passed a universal health care law in Massachusetts, in part, to eliminate the costs incurred when the uninsured show up in emergency rooms for care. Indeed, in both his book and in high-profile interviews during the campaign, Romney has touted his achievement in stamping out these inefficiencies while arguing that the same thing should be done at the national level.

* * *
In the "60 Minutes" interview, Romney stressed that each state should address the problem of the uninsured through different means. But he didn't speak with the same alarm about the cost of emergency room care.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/23/mitt-romney-60-minutes-health-care_n_1908129.html

---

I guess we should not be surprised given his view that the poor have it good with a great safety net, so he isn't worried about them.

[truthisfreedom]

1. rMoney supports the most expensive and damaging option to the American taxpayer.

He's so out of touch that he might as well be on the moon.

[Cha]

22. I say

Pluto. He's a sneering, smirking Plutocrat.

[Scuba]

30. Exactly. Worst site possible for all but true emergencies.

[TomCADem]

75. Also, This Means That States and/or Hospitals Eat The Costs...

...Which means they pass on the costs to everyone else. Of course, I bet the Romney would then want to relax rules requiring Hospitals to provide ER care to the indigent.

[Sandy one]

36. Dumb and getting dumber

Just use the ER? Romney is just an ingrained ultra-rich man who has lived no other life and cannot fathom what it means to be poor. He considers himself and his wife above the crowd. He is blind, deaf and dumb when it comes to empathy and understanding that ordinary hard working people have the right to living a decent life with real healthcare. He fired thousands to make his millions with no understanding the he was destroying families. It's all just spreadsheets to him...... and Ann wants us to stop picking on him. Perhaps she would like to have us wash his feet.

[Jazzgirl]

52. Gee I wish I could favorite a post.

Welcome to DU!

[alp227]

58. No, the moon is for Gingrich! He wants a moon colony!

[elzenmahn]

80. How much more proof do we need..

...that a Mittwitt adminstration would be a rerun of Bush II?

Didn't the Shrub say exactly the same thing about the poor and emergency room? The most expensive form of care, paid for by the state anyway? Exactly the type of thing that the Repubs like to rail against?

[nauthiz]

2. Ummm

Good thing that you recognize that problem and reformed health care in Massachusetts so that every who could would have to buy health insurance, therefore making the ER just for...you know emergencies, thereby lowering cost for everyone.

Oh wait, you didn't FUCKING MENTION THAT RIGHT WING ASSHAT

[closeupready]

47. No, in fact, he doubled-down - by vowing to repeal "Obamacare".

Such a slithering snake, he is.

[CBHagman]

3. It's more efficient (and more humane) to have universal insurance...

...so that it's easier to monitor health and avoid finding out the worst only when someone is hospitalized. The current system is set up to cost more and let people fall through the cracks.

And whatever Romney says, people DO die, either by forgoing care, putting it off, or getting cut off by their insurance company.

If he's such a hotshot businessman, he ought to acknowledge that other industrialized nations pay less per person than we do and live at least as long, maybe longer. I hear the U.K.'s better at monitoring diabetes better than we are, for instance.

[Tx4obama]

4. Apparently Romney doesn't have a clue.

Emergency rooms do not take care of non-emergencies so folks with cancer etc, under his plan, would just stay home and die.

Guess we all should hope that if something goes wrong with us it will be 'only' a heart attack!

[Heather MC]

81. I guess uninsured pregnant women don't need prenatal care either

they can just show up to the E.R. when they go into labor. Assuming they make it to term
Can you imagine the look on the intake nurse's face when you tell him or her. This is my first time seeing the DR. Mitt Romney says you are my insurance plan

[BREMPRO]

5. His cognitive dissonance and lack of self awareness if FRIGHTENING!! my god this guy is looney toons

think back to the not to distant past kING Rmoney>>>you ARGUED for UNIVERSAL COVERAGE in MA to SAVE on EMERGENCY ROOM HC COSTS AND TO HAVE EVERYONE INSURED SO AS YOU SAID WE DO NOT not HAVE "FREELOADERS" ON THE SYSTEM.. AND HAD A MANDATE FOR THAT COVERAGE and PASSED a LAW to do EXACTLY THE opPOSITE OF WHAT YOU ARE NOW ARGUING IS A GOOD POLICY!!.(which is of course BAD PUBLIC POLICY) REMEMBER????? NO i guess NOT.... stunning...

[aletier_v]

6. Yes, something is very wrong

Either Romney's campaign isn't legit (he's throwing it) or he's very very very fucked up mentally.

I can not wrap my mind around how many blunders he makes EVERY weekend.

[NICO9000]

55. It's simple - he's a lifelong entitled douche and a moocher!

Plus, he's obviously just not as clever as he thinks he is. I can't wait for him to lose BIG!

[maxsolomon]

54. He explicitly knows this but HAS to argue against it

It's not lack of self-awareness or cognitive dissonance. He knows what he's saying is a dodge and a platitude. He knows he said virtually the opposite in 2010.

Every response he makes on healthcare has been test-marketed to focus groups of undecided voters. He can't retreat or he loses his teaparty right, so he's decided to sit in the middle and avoid saying anything real.

[libguard]

7. Romney promotes an Unfunded Federal Mandate, as the healthcare solution.

And redistribution from those that pay for healthcare, or insurance, to those that have none.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

8. Emergency rooms are badly overcrowded

and a lot of hospitals are shutting them down, especially where I live in California. When my mother of 90 fell and broke her wrist, she had to wait six hours in the ER waiting room before someone called her. Universal health insurance could help to ease this overwhelming tide of uninsured people who flock to the ER when their untreated ailments like pneumonia, flu, or urinary tract infections, for example, become severe and give them no other choice.

[kestrel91316]

9. Ok, I'm overdue for a mammogram and don't have insurance. I'll just

shlep over to my local ER and ask them for one. Oh, and a pap smear.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

13. I just pictured them jotting it down and asking, "Will that be for here or to go?"

[progree]

21. Or "do you want to supersize that?". Or "do you want fries with that?" n/t

[thucythucy]

53. You could go to Planned Parenthood for those, but of course Romney

wants to defund Planned Parenthood as "one of the first things" he'd do as president.

The other patented Mittens solution to your problem: get your parents to loan you the money! I mean, doesn't everyone have rich parents?

[kestrel91316]

57. My parents are dead.

[thucythucy]

63. I'm sorry to hear that.

So are mine. And they didn't even leave me with a trust fund!

[kestrel91316]

69. I got $9k when my mom died. Kept my head above water for a year, but now I'm back where I was.

I don't think there has been a single, solitary trust fund anywhere in our family's history. And little in the way of inheritances.

[mgarr]

10. I was wrong

So, now we are back to the old "let them use the emergency room" solution.

Mr. Romney is an idiot. What is he thinking? What are his campaign staff thinking?

I am always assumed that Mr. Romney was disinterested and unengaged.

But not stupid.

I was wrong.

Mr. Romney is stupid.

[Fearless]

11. Let them have cake! n/t

[Spitfire of ATJ]

12. Republicans OPPOSED the law that forced Emergency Rooms to treat you.

[southerncrone]

14. My god! Could this creep be anymore out of the know!

Any emergency room employee will tell you that's EXACTLY what we want to GET AWAY FROM! That's one of the main reasons hospital charges are so high now!

What a buffoon he is!!

[davidn3600]

15. Many diseases are cheaper and easier to treat when caught early

However when a disease is in its early state, symptoms sometimes are not bad or even completely non-existent.

People only go to the ER when something is already very bad.

[primavera]

37. Ah, but in the Republican parallel universe...

... an expensive pound of cure beats an inexpensive and humane ounce of prevention every day of the week.

[SIDURI]

16. Here's my grown daughter's experience with the great ER system

She got blood poisoning from an infected splinter that she couldn't get out of her big toe. The pain was so bad all the way up to her groin that she went to the ER. They kept her for 4 hours giving her IV antibiotics, then sent her home with instructions to go to an Urgent Care center the next day for follow-up.

The Urgent Care center put a port in her wrist so they could give her IV antibiotics every day, dosed her, then sent her home. This went on for 4 days, at which point the UC people got a bit worried (!!!!) that she wasn't getting better fast enough, and sent her to the ER. The ER sent her back. When she finally got to see a surgeon he said to her: "What do you want me to do, start digging?"

Back home, still damn sick.

Finally, after at least a week, she was given an MRI and an actual foot surgeon got the splinter out, gave her crutches and one of those boots to wear on her bandaged foot. She's now on oral antibiotics. She's substantially better, but trying to do too much because apparently no one told her she's still convalescing and not well.

Personal responsibility? Well, she probably should have a primary care physician so someone in the local system at least knows her name, but since she's in the throes of a very nasty divorce she's not sure what she has. She makes sure the kids have a pediatrician and a dentist, but she's barely keeping her head above water in every other respect. Having a doctor for herself is way down the list.

And it could have killed her.

So much for the ER as primary health care provider and safety net.

Siduri

[DallasNE]

17. So Who Does Romney Thinks Pays For That Heart Attack By An Uninsured Person

I presume the hospital first tries to collect from the patient. After taking his car and his house they pass the rest on to those with insurance/Medicare in the form of higher premiums.

[defacto7]

18. He does what????

quote:
"Well, we do provide care for people who don't have insurance," he said in an interview with Scott Pelley of CBS's "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday night. "If someone has a heart attack, they don't sit in their apartment and die. We pick them up in an ambulance, and take them to the hospital, and give them care.

We provide care? We pick them up in an ambulance? We give them care?

You don't do a damn thing Romney! We this, we that, bull shit.

Stop shovelling!

[lexx21]

19. So the ER is a great option for the uninsured is it?

Me three years ago...

No insurance
Slipped on a wood deck
Broken elbow
Ulna and Radius pushed up into my deltoid area
Pulled arm back down to somewhat normal myself
Taken to hospital by friend
Given great drugs, had arm fixed, had cat scan on said arm
Sent home with great drugs and arm in a temporary cast
Went to an orthopedist for those without insurance
Orthopedist did a bang up job

I was given a bill for $13,000 for all treatment.

Now... if I could have afforded to pay that, then I certainly could have afforded to pay for insurance even having sleep apnea as my "preexisting condition".

Romney should try this plan out himself. I'm sure that with all of the functions that he attends at the various country clubs, his liver could lube a car.

[Skittles]

20. see, he does not really believe that

he's playing a role forced on him by teabaggers, a role he despises and plays very badly

[Bette Noir]

23. So, is Romney more stupid, or more corrupt?

I guess the answer depends on whether he believes the crap coming out of his mouth.

No, they don't let you die if you have a heart attack. They pick you up in an ambulance, take you to the hospital, and then sue you and your family for everything they own.

They let you die if you have cancer.

[progree]

24. I didn't think he would top his 47% comment, but this does or comes mighty close

in the way of gross insensitivity and stupidity.

From the Internets:

[font color=purple]Mitt Romney. Dodged the draft in France. Keeps his money in Switzerland. Likes to fire people. Sends American jobs to China. Because he loves this country SO DAMNED MUCH! [/font]

[font color = magenta]Can't trust Romney on anything..he laughs at every question..what an idiot..cant wait for November bye bye mitt u....[/font]

[Festivito]

25. Typical borrow and over-spend Republicanism. /nt

[Matariki]

26. And then they are forced to declare bankruptcy and lose their house

that guy is rich enough to afford to buy a clue...

[MiniMe]

27. They have to treat you

But you still have to pay, out the nose in most cases.

[Quantess]

29. Or you can be dishonest and give a fake name,

and let the taxpayers soak up the cost! Either way, it is a lose-lose for the public.

The fact that uninsured people rely on the ER is a huge problem! This is so extremely irresponsible for Romney to endorse this unfortunate by-product of our crappy and inefficient health care system.

[oldsarge54]

28. I can't figure it out?

Why IS Romney blaming Obama for the trouble he is having with his campaign? It seems that Romney, when allowed to even choose the subject of his comment, tends to fire rounds through his own foot.

[bucolic_frolic]

34. Romney Campaign needs to go to ER

Hoof in mouth disease

[oldsarge54]

41. Actually

I call it athlete's foot of the tonsils.

[MadrasT]

31. Because it's a great idea to wait until that heart attack strikes

before you get medical care.

This kind of shit is what killed my ex. He thought he couldn'd afford to go to the doctor for routine care, then went to the ER when his blood sugar was 900 and died there.

FUCK. YOU. MITT.

[MysticLynx]

61. Unisured E.R care nothing more than illusion

Even if he had gone earlier chance are he would have been sent home with some meaningless diagnosis rather than being referred for proper care
I have had an auto-immune disorder since I was a teen-ager. I have not had ins for over 20 years. I can not get my medical records with the diagnosis that I got when I still had insurance, without my medical records with a previous diagnosis, E.R doctors just right me off as there is no documented 'proof' of my condition, but the ins companies can sure enough find my records and diagnosis. As a consquence of this untreated auto-immune condtion I have had several strokes. I went to the E.R, and as is common for those who do not have insurance did not recieve treatment, I was told I was having an anxiety attack and sent home. Not the first time I was dismissed from the E.R with a false diagnosis, that eventually caused more damage because I did not recieve the proper treatment in the first place. I now have lesions in my brain, have partially lost my eyesight, my memory, and have mobility issues, I would have never known about the lesions, except for a free walk in clinic where fortuantely the doctor not only listened to but believed my past history of an auto immune dis-order, recognised something was not quite right with my gait etc and ordered scans. What little job I did have I was let go from after the second stroke, though I was at the time being seen by a renal specialist and had a note from him for 'limitied' work detail and some minor changes to my work station so I could continue to work.. I was let go on a 'medical, which in a right to work state like I live in is pefectly legal, no recourse for me there. No emergency rooms for those without insurance- are not the place to get treatment EVEN for conditions that should be treated in an emergency room such as heart attacks, kidney failure and strokes. As I listen to Ann Romeny talk about her struggles with M.S ( an auto-immune disorder simliar to mine) I know she has never experienced what many of us suffers have which is that we suffer for years, being ignored by insurance companies and doctors, sometimes we suffer for decades even until death without ever recieving care and medications that would make our lives more managable. Welcome to Romeny World- don't get sick- and don't ask for help when your right to work company dismisses you when you do get sick. Please excuse the spelling and typos, as the spell check causes my browser to crash.

[avebury]

32. K&R nt

[bucolic_frolic]

33. Positively Dickensian

Cutting down on the surplus population.

But it is inconsistent with the right to life.

So they want to let older and sick Americans die
with grossly inadequate medical care

but want to force women to give birth to unwanted children

to grow up unhappy and at risk for all the problems such people

have such as alcoholism, diabetes, heart disease, cancer?

Sounds like a vicious merry-go-round

Does it make any sense?

[Stuart G]

35. Exact same comment as George Bush about 6 years ago..that connection is it...nt

[reflection]

38. "I'm not worried about the very sick..." n/t

[hexola]

39. A true, "Let them eat cake" moment

more to come...

[olegramps]

40. I can't help for thinking about what Ann Richards said about Bush:

She said he was born with a silver foot in his mouth. It sure applies to this jerkoff.

[hue]

42. ER care for non ER medical problems IS a prime reason our healthcare system is broke!!

Rmoney's statements validate he knows NOTHING about healthcare!! Not that he KNOWS anything at all!!

[bamacrat]

43. Notice how he uses an apartment for a persons home who has no insurance.

I mean it may just be me looking for a reason to see him as a dick. But, its like oh you are too poor to have insurance, you must not have a house.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

45. Good catch. (Goodness, those people probably don't have boats or dressage horses, either.)

[4lbs]

44. Yeah, that makes sense. Emergency room care is as much as 400% more costly than regular care.

Not exactly what you want to do when trying to keep healthcare costs DOWN, now is it?

BUt, I doubt the Mutt knows this because he never really had to check the healthcare bill whenever a family member got health care treatments, to see if he could afford it, or to ask for a payment plan.

He most likely simply handed the bills to his accountant, said "pay this", and went back to taking over companies and putting people out of work.

[jsr]

46. Christian compassion from a Mormon bishop

Heartless asshole.

[JCMach1]

48. Ignorant Social Darwinian spew

This man disgusts me.

[drynberg]

49. Rmoney doesn't care about the 47%, remember, why is this a surprise?

He just cares about his rabid RW base and of course his "Patrons" like the Koch brothers. In this framework, he's consistent and clearly the Enemy of the People. He needs to not only get his ass whipped real good, but humiliated and driven from politics forever, and of course this goes for Lyin' Ryan as well. Time to sink the Minnow and J. Thurson Howell. After all, this has been hard on Lovey...

[HelenWheels]

50. Preventative care not provided by ER

If the guy in the example with a heart attack had received preventative care the heart attack may never have happened. Preventative care would include BP checks, cholesterol tests, dietary advice, and MD exams. All this is to prevent more serious and costly problems.

[Grammy23]

51. Scott Pelley reminded Romney

that going to the ER is the most expensive way to deal with medical care. Yes, in some circumstances, the ER is the way to handle the problem. If you're having a heart attack (Romney's example), you damn well better get to the ER as fast as you can. But he never addressed the every day routine health issues that people face. Going to the ER is most definitely the wrong way to handle that and could result in less than optimum care and cost more. I am not dissing the ER docs. I think many of them do heroic work, pulling some of us back from the brink of death. That is one of the things they do best! But when you've got a head cold or the flu, they are not your best option. And if you need follow-up (such as a recheck for in infection or to remove stitches), the ER is not the best way to handle that.

Mr. Romney is really, really out of the loop when it comes to what we should do about our health care problems. Suggesting that going to the ER is the appropriate way to handle routine problems is irresponsible. Of course, people don't get turned away but the care they get is the most expensive way to deliver that care. Telling a person with no insurance and NO MONEY to go to an urgent care center is also bad advice. In that case, with no money, they often put off getting checked until they are MUCH sicker and then go to the ER (where they WILL get care) but at the most expensive rate since they are sicker.

Romney scares me with his smooth talk and bland words that show he has no real dept of understanding. And the REALLY scary part is that he appears to be this lacking in understanding on MANY subjects. Foreign policy, health care, needs of our poor and near poor, the middle class, the military. For the folks in the upper classes, he has a clear vision of THEIR needs. The rest of us.....not so much.

[locdlib]

56. Just keep talking, Mittens

With each passing day Mittens profound arrogance and stupidity is highlighted.

[renate]

67. I know! Everything he says makes me cringe...

And I don't want it to stop till Election Day.

Welcome to DU!

[locdlib]

72. thank you!

Those are my thoughts exactly.

[cbayer]

59. While EMTALA assures some care for all emergencies, many hospitals have

closed their emergency rooms for just this reason.

And it provides nothing for follow up care nor does it provide any payment mechanism for those who receive care in the ER.

Just another case of him speaking about something that he understands not at all.

[Hukdonfonix]

60. guess he hasn't waited for 6 hours

to get stitches before

[Warpy]

62. And of course Pelley didn't call him on that

They have to preserve their access to lying sacks of shit.

[kiranon]

64. Romneyism = Survival of the Richest.. He's a man without a soul.

[Angry Dragon]

65. If you go to the ER just tell them Willard sent you

and he will take care of any charges

[renate]

66. bwhahaha!

Love it!

[sakabatou]

68. Because people weren't doing that before reform, right?

[KamaAina]

70. Well, if you get sucked out of an open airplane window,

I'd think the ER would be the logical place to go.

[Cynicus Emeritus]

71. A plutocrat that has no understabding.

his fool called Mitt Romney doesn't get it. Another plutocrat politico pretending he understands the problem when he obviously doesn't begin to understand either the problem or the solution.

[jonesgirl]

73. He keeps saying "We" as if he owns the hospitals. I would love to see his stock portfolio and

his other business interest.

[hexola]

74. Im bumping this one too, airplane windows are getting too much play!

This was a bigger screw up, and more relevant political flip-flop and should get more play.

The airplane windows thing - too many threads on that already! Almost as silly as the Obama "57 states" thing.

[fascisthunter]

76. shows why this country is so fucked... because of rich...

... folks like him who have access to our government. I do not want this elitist head case in power.

[pangaia]

77. And how does the guy with the heart attacl PAY for the ER? or even pay for the ambulance?

I mean, the absurdities in this one comment are endless circle firing squad.

I have a dentist appt tomorrow.. a pretty good dentict, BTW, but with a huge house in the hills and another lakefront home plus 2 boats and a Mooney!!
So a couple years ago I had a tooth extracted on the bottom. He said I should get an implant because of not all kinds of bad things would happen. How much is that, DOC? $3500. WHAT! Sorry, Doc. I can not afford it and I have no dental insurance. (DID you ever see individual dental insurance that will actually pay out more in benefits that the premium?)

So DOC says.. GET THIS--"Well, you can out it on your visa." TF!!! If I can't afford it, how is 'putting it on my visa" going to make it affordable. I DO NOT HAVE $3500 for a tooth.

He's just another Mitt Romney with a drill.

[judesedit]

78. What a total asshole

[spiderpig]

79. How I hate this man

And I know I'm not supposed to hate, as it's a self-destructive mechanism.

But I'm going blind. I can't read my monitor unless I amp it up about 5x.

My spouse's insurance just dropped the HMO that has taken care of us for over a decade. We now have to go back to the world of co-pays and fighting with the carrier over what they will or won't pay.

Mittens makes me sick. He is a turd of the worst order.

Every waking second I'm dropping things and falling over things in the house I've occupied for 21 years. Maybe I should go to the emergency room, huh Mitty?

Jackass.

If he steals this election I'm dropping cyanide. No joke.