Herman Cain thinks that in other countries, he would've waited six months for cancer treatment

[alp227]

"Cain believes ACA would have killed him" by Steve Benen, WashingtonMonthly.com:

Comments like these come up from time to time. They’re always bizarre.

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said he would “be dead” if “ObamaCare” had been in place when he was diagnosed with cancer.

Speaking at a campaign event Thursday in Lexington, S.C., the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza said President Obama’s healthcare plan would have limited his choice of doctors and prevented him from getting necessary medical testing in a timely manner.

“If ObamaCare had been fully implemented when I caught cancer, I’d be dead,” Cain said.

Cain, who developed stage four colon and liver cancer five years ago, told voters “other countries” would have forced him to wait “six months” to get a CAT scan. He added that “some bureaucrat in Washington” will now be making medical choices “if you get a serious illness.”

This kind of garbage is, alas, not uncommon. In March, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said the Affordable Care Act would have killed his daughter, who was born with a heart defect. He got literally every relevant policy detail backwards. In April, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum (R) said he’s running for national office in part because one of his daughters, who was born with a genetic abnormality, wouldn’t have survived in a country with “socialized medicine.”

It’s hard to overstate how truly stupid all of this is. Indeed, it’s really just the “death panel” argument without the phrase.

Since I’ve already tackled the Johnson and Santorum arguments, let’s focus on Cain. Where are these “other countries” that force its citizens to wait six months for CAT scans? Cain didn’t specify, but (a) they don’t exist in the industrialized world; and (b) the Affordable Care Act doesn’t create such a system.

[nobodyspecial]

1. He "caught" cancer?

Why do so many other countries have comparable or better outcomes than the U.S.?

[Little Star]

2. Cain is a nut.

[Mr Deltoid]

3. It took two months for me to get a colonoscopy

I needed the procedure because I was having serious bowel issues that they could not pinpoint. 2 freaking months of agony for a 15 minute procedure.

I mentioned it to a friend from Australia, he said he waited two days for the same thing. He said he has the 'premium' public plan, $75 a month.

[elleng]

7. Where are you located?

[Mr Deltoid]

8. Seattle

[elleng]

10. Don't understand why it would take so long.

You have a g.p?

[Mr Deltoid]

13. I have had the same Dr for 20 years

The insurance company doesn't want to pay for anything anymore. The GI seemed to drag his feet too, came across as indifferent. Money taints everything it touches.

[jmowreader]

4. He's neglecting to tell you this...

If Herman Cain would have been an entry level part-time pizza baker at Godfather's, instead of its CEO, he ALSO would have died from cancer--simply because in the kind of business he was running, health insurance is either not offered to part-timers or they cannot afford to buy it.

[provis99]

5. If you're poor in America, you never get cancer treatment.

So your wait time is effectively "forever".

But I think we should rethink how we deal with the cancer of rich conservatives. Here's one solution that might work:

[Jackpine Radical]

6. You kinda lost me at "Herman Cain thinks."

Nevertheless your point is right.

[muntrv]

9. Hey Sen. man-on-dog! Your daughter survived because of your

taxpayer funded congressional health plan.

As for Herman, how many of Godfather's Pizza's employees even got health insurance?

[JoePhilly]

11. Ask Cain if his pizza delivery employees get the same Health Care he gets ...

Then watch as his body begins to shake and convulse.

And before he can form an answer, ask him if his life is more valuable than the lives of the pizza deliver folks.

If a reporter does this, they should be ready with an EMT crew standing by, so that when Herman has his seizure and he starts to swallow his tongue, he'll get the best treatment possible.

[BiggJawn]

12. Lying sack of shit.

What he doesn't tell you is that he can afford to pay for treatment at Mayo out-of-pocket. He don't NEED no steenkeen Cigna or UHC.

In Amurrika, his employees would wait for the rest of their (shortened) lives for cancer treatment.
That's because we're EXCEPTIONAL...

[intaglio]

14. Stage 4 What did he mean

The TNM scale is used for staging of coleorectal cancers Wiki on Coleorectal cancers so either Mr Cain is talking about stage T4 - "Tumor invades adjacent organs or perforates the visceral peritoneum" or possibly M1 (used to be Stage IV) - "Distant metastases present" and any markers from the previous T and N stages.

In Europe if the cancer had proceeded to stage M1 without medical intervention, Mr Cain's medical advisors would have been at severe risk of been struck off for gross misconduct/malpractise! Even a patient presenting with stage T4 would at least trigger an investigation as to who had cocked up. In either event the MRI would have been scheduled as an emergency and probably done the same day.

[tanyev]

15. He'd better pray that it doesn't come back.

U.S. Scrambling to Ease Shortage of Vital Medicine

So far this year, at least 180 drugs that are crucial for treating childhood leukemia, breast and colon cancer, infections and other diseases have been declared in short supply — a record number.

More than half the recent shortages have resulted because government or company inspectors found problems like microbial contamination that can be lethal on injection. Others have occurred because of capacity problems at drug plants or lack of interest because of low profits, according to the F.D.A.

Doxil, the cancer drug Ms. Nomikos needs, is made by Johnson & Johnson. Monica Neufang, a company spokeswoman, said, “Our third-party manufacturer has had some manufacturing issues related to capacity.”

Heather Bresch, president of the generic drug giant Mylan, says the shortages grow out of a sweeping consolidation of the generic drug industry into a few behemoths that compete only on price and have foreign plants that are rarely inspected.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/20/health/policy/20drug.html

[Vinca]

16. Disclaimer: I am a beneficiary of "Obamacare," even though I had to

tap into my Social Security earlier than I wanted to pay for it. That said, as soon as I was covered in the pre-existing condition pool, I made an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon who rapidly diagnosed my completely deteriorated hip and scheduled a surgery. This was not a life threatening condition - incredibly painful, but not life threatening - and I am sure an urgent condition would get immediate treatment. I'm so sick of the GOP bullshit. I'm still a single-payer advocate (without SS I would still have no coverage and would still be in pain), but "Obamacare" is no death panel.