John Boehner Demands Fairness to Arkansan Butch Matthews and His Wife, and Offers to Give Up His Own Healthcare Insurance, Just to Start the Fairness Thing Rolling.
WASHINGTON — House Republicans emerged from a closed-door meeting on Friday with no new strategy to end the budget standoff and an angry plea to President Obama to negotiate over his health care law.
“This isn’t some damned game,” said Speaker John A. Boehner, his voice rising in anger. “The American people don’t want their government shut down, and neither do I. All we’re asking for is to sit down and have a discussion, reopen the government and bring fairness to the American people under Obamacare.”
— With No New Plan, Boehner Makes Angry Plea on Shutdown, Jonathan Wiesmann and Ashley Parker, New York Times, today
I totally agree that we need fairness to the American people under Obamacare. But which, presumably, Boehner means that Obamacare should be amended to ensure that everyone has medical insurance with full benefits (the “gold” policy) without struggling to pay the premiums.
No more having to pay $13,000 per year for a married couple with $10,000/yr., $150-per-office-visit, deductibles. Even if, like Arkansan Butch Matthews and his wife, you’re a lifelong solid Republican.
No more being rejected for healthcare coverage because of a preexisting condition.
No more fear of bankruptcy or the loss of your home, or both.
No more being asked the status of your mortgage payments and car payments in a hospital emergency room, as a prerequisite to non-lifesaving but necessary emergency treatment.
No more not being treated like citizen of any advanced nation in the world except the United States, when you need medical care. Which you probably aren’t. Or like you’re not a member of Congress or the spouse or child of one. Also which you probably aren’t. No, sir. No, ma’am.
Oh, but wait. I think I misunderstood Boehner’s comment about fairness to the American people—a comment he has made, repeatedly, this week. Apparently, he didn’t mean that the multitudes of American people who now have no access to healthcare insurance, or have huge deductibles and struggle to pay the premiums and those deductibles because they have lower incomes than John Boehner and his colleagues, and who now will have medical coverage without struggling financially to pay for it while still worrying about the huge costs if they do need major medical treatment, will now have access to affordable and comprehensive medical insurance.
What he actually meant is that the Republicans are demanding that they and their congressional colleagues and their families henceforth be denied healthcare benefits for preexisting conditions; that those who have no persisting conditions and therefore can get medical insurance have huge deductibles and pay premiums that they can afford or instead have comprehensive insurance and pay their utility bills only every other month in order to be able to afford the premiums; and that they take pay cuts sufficient to make the payment of those difficult financially.
It is, after all, fairness that they’re demanding. Parity. And since they now say that they’d settle for just a one-year delay in Obamacare in order to pass a short-term budge and a debt-ceiling increase, they are demanding only a one-year removal of their own healthcare benefits. At least until next year, when they renew their demand, for another year.
I suggest that Boehner contact Mr. Matthews and his wife directly and tell them the good news. They’re sure to welcome the fairness.
Beverly
I agree with you about Boehner. Now that he can do “anger” as well as “tear up” maybe he can get a job in Hollywood. With a few good pictures he might still have a chance to become President.
But I need to tell you that for much of the world “fairness” is not the same as “parity,” or even equality. It’s more like “it’s my money, I earned it by my own work. it is not fair for you to force me to give it to you or anyone else just because they have “less.”
I should add that in general I favor progressive taxation for necessary government… including welfare when needed… but the idea that you are owed the other guys money as a RIGHT just won’t hold up in the real world.
A time may come when medical care is so expensive that “we,” even you and I, will not only decide we are not so humane after all when it comes to paying for everyone’s life saving care, but we decide to forgo it ourselves.
Ah. Boehner said “fairness for Americans under Obamacare.” So you’re saying that he meant “fairness for Americans who already have gold-plan medical insurance, paid for entirely by their employer, tax-free.” Fairness being: It is not fair to force those people to help force private insurance companies to offer decent coverage at affordable prices to anyone else. Including to those who are foreclosed from individual insurance plans because of a preexisting condition.”
I wish Boehner had spelled that out.
Beverly
you are working too hard at what I said. if i wanted to engage you in a long pointless argument i might say that the gold plated plan paid for by the employer is part of that workers compensation for whatever work he did for the employer. in other words “he earned it.”
i might agree with you about the need for some kind of federal subsidy so that poor people do not go without reasonable medical care. but as long as you are going to cast it in terms of “fairness,” i felt a need to remind you that other people’s idea of fairness may be different from yours.
me, i don’t want to “force” the insurance companies to do anything. free market and all. i just want to put them out of business by offering government insurance paid for by the workers themselves, just like social security.
to the extent that some workers cannot afford the fair price for insurance (their expected costs) i would add a premium paid (as a flat tax up to a maximum) to cover the risk of “one day YOU might be one of those who can’t afford the fair price for insurance for expected medical costs. expected in this case meaning “average cost over the whole population without regard for pre-existing conditions.
but that is just too hard to explain.