"Johnny Boehner and the House Republicans continue to hold irrelevant votes to undo Obamacare. The votes are meaningless but they continue to waste time and money pulling off these ridiculous stunts," said Buck as he pounded on the table at Nick's Diner.
"And then," he continued, "there are the Republican governors who are opting out of the federally funded expansion of Medicaid. Easy for them since they have top-of-the-line health insurance. Too bad for the poorest people in their states. And these rejectionists are governors of some of the poorest states in the country. One would think that any governor would want to improve the lives of the state's citizens, but not these GOP governors. They suffer from Obamaphobia."
"Can't say I'm familiar with that disease," I said.
"Well it's been around since 2008," Buck continued. "It is characterized by an intense and irrational fear of anything pertaining to President Obama. If the President proposes something, the sufferers of this disease automatically oppose it. If Obama offered to give these phobic governors a brand-new Cadillac, they would refuse it, either because they would fear it would explode the first time they turned the key or because they would imagine that Obama would somehow benefit."
"Sounds like that saying about cutting off your nose to spite your face," I said.
"Exactly. But, in this case, the problem is the GOP governors don't suffer; it's the millions of poor who will pay the price."
"Speaking of price. Can we afford Obamacare? How are we going to pay for it?" I asked.
"Do your homework, Sonny Boy, before you ask something stupid like that. You're beginning to sound as uninformed as Michele Bachmann. The truth of the matter is that most of the experts who have studied it have concluded that Obamacare will save money. Your Republican friends talk about the devastating deficit, but when presented with Obamacare and its money-saving effects, they turn their backs. And that is one of the corollaries of Obamaphobia. Those Republican politicians only started talking about the deficit after Obama was elected. When George W. was president they were willing to spend money like drunken sailors."
At this point, our waitress removed our plates, but Buck was not finished venting. "We are the wealthiest nation in the world and we pay far more for health care than any other nation. Therefore you'd think we provide the best health care in the world. But the sad fact is that we don't. Other countries provide much better care at a significantly lower cost. Go figure."
"I don't have an answer for that, but I do know you are correct about the cost," I said. "Two months ago I was having chest pains and went to a hospital emergency room. After doing a whole series of tests, they concluded that my heart was fine, but they insisted on admitting me overnight 'for observation,' and then the next morning they gave me a stress test. It showed no problems, and I was released that afternoon after being in the hospital and ER for less than 24 hours. Several weeks later I received a bill that was nearly $17,000. Fortunately, my insurance company paid all but $50, but I'm still amazed by the total charge."
"Not to be too sarcastic," Buck said, "the doctor who had you admitted probably got a bonus. He was making money for the large corporation that owns the hospital, and the more ER 'admits' he chalks up, the better for him."
"Nothing like the corporate profit-motive to corrupt an industry based on noble objectives."
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