Associated Press
A month after Richard Mourdock defeated Sen. Dick Lugar in a Republican primary in Indiana, the public is still getting a sense of the limits of his Tea Party worldview. As Scott Keyes noted, there appears to be reason for concern.
[Mourdock] told a local Indiana newspaper that, contra Obamacare's protections, employers ought to be able to deny health insurance to people with cancer.
During a freewheeling interview with the News and Tribune, Mourdock said health care will be the "biggest issue" this election. The Indiana Republican, who opposes the Affordable Care Act, argued that businesses should be permitted to deny coverage to employees with cancer "if they want to keep their health care costs down." "Does that employer have the right to do it?" Mourdock asked. "I would say yes they do."
The Mourdock campaign has acted quickly to remind reporters that the Senate candidate doesn't recommend that employers deny coverage to employees with cancer, and in fact, he hopes that they don't. Rather, Mourdock was making a philosophical point -- he wants voters to understand his worldview, which in this case means businesses should, in theory, be able to deny insurance coverage for cancer patients if they want to.
If this argument seems familiar, it's because Kentucky's Rand Paul presented a related approach on The Rachel Maddow Show during his 2010 U.S. Senate campaign -- he doesn't want businesses to discriminate against customers on the basis of race; he simply believes private establishments should, in theory, be able to discriminate if they want to.
The issue at hand, in other words, is theoretical. In Mourdock's case, President Obama and Democrats believe Americans with pre-existing conditions, including cancer, must be protected from discrimination. The GOP Hoosier is trying to make the case against this position -- he's just doing so rather clumsily.
Mourdock doesn't want to come across as pro-cancer, and by all appearances, he's not. The Republican, rather, is just a callous far-right candidate who would allow Americans to suffer as part of a larger ideological crusade that demands fewer government safeguards to protect the public.
That doesn't mean he wants cancer patients to go without out of spite; it means he'd allow cancer patients to go without as part of a governing philosophy.
The distinction should bring comfort to Hoosiers with pre-existing conditions, right?
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Employers can do whatever they want. But, Doctors have to treat people with Cancer. They took an oath. Health Insurance is on the way out due to the fact that we don't really need a middle man. Health Insurance is becoming absolete it doesn't pay for anything anymore and it costs a fortune ....Bye, bye Middleman. Pretty soon car insurance will get the boot. Choosing to become a lawyer as a profession will not be profitable either soon, since noone will have a pot to chit on. We could give them the shirts off our back that would leave us naked. Back to the Garden we go. Whoopeee...
Ever since becoming a medical transcriptionist, I've become convinced the answer to most of our healthcare woes is the elimination of the insurance companies. They don't care about patients, they only care about their profit margins. Get rid of them, spread all that obscene ill-gotten wealth around to the hospitals that can use it to actually help patients, and see what happens (I say "ill-gotten" because of the way insurers regularly deny coverage, even to their paying customers. They should be in jail for such practices).
Our local medical clinic offers an upfront 30% discount to uninsured patients. I suspect the clinic saves that much by not having to process the claims.
@angel what the hell is with you?
Elaine, I know exactly what you are talking about. I was a medical biller for a few years and I certainly lost quite a bit of hair from having to deal with the insurance companies. If they could get away with covering nothing they would.
Amen, Emanuel. If I had a dollar for every letter I had to type from a doctor begging the patient's insurer to reconsider denying the claim...crooks, every last one.
Elaine -- For-profit insurance companies, at least. My mantra for years has been that all health insurance companies are evil, but some are more evil than others. At my congressman's healthcare town hall back in 2010, wingnuts were screaming "let the free market solve it!" These idiots couldn't grasp that we were already doing that. In a free market, companies don't do what's best for people, they do what's most profitable, and figuring out ways to deny care is way more profitable than figuring out how to be efficient at providing it.
As far as I can tell, bye George, I think we solved that problem.
All the more reason to do away with them. Can't believe no one (who cares about improving healthcare) sees the stupidity of a system that profits from leaving people to suffer and die. But guess that's the new America -- people don't matter. Corporations matter.
"...it means he'd allow cancer patients to go without as part of a governing philosophy."
Let me guess, he's Christian. If he (or his immediate family) does get cancer, I wonder if he would still say the same thing? These people aren't just waxing "philosophical" platitudes, these people are mean, cold-hearted, soul-less, selfish, small in both mind and character - which in my book makes them sociopaths!
Wake up Americans! Pay attention! These people are NOT looking out for the best interests of either you or this nation! The are the immorality plaguing this nation, for they are the ones sucking at the government teet, while denying those that really need help! Remember Wisconsin, and vote against your own economic interests if you choose to, just don't start belly-aching when the hammer comes down on you!
Off camera, he was heard to say that cancer is "God's punishment" for bad behavior. Evangelical vote is now in the bag!
He needs to be, forcibly if necessary, taken to Saint Judes Children ward, look those innocent babies in the eyes and tell them- their sickness is God's punishment. Look into the faces of their siblings and their parents and tell them that the beautiful baby suffering is suffering because GOD wants them to. What a totally F@#$ed up man this really is- and anyone else that believes such vulgar blasphemy! As a person that has very little faith in "Faith" I am stilll shocked and dismayed and feel a true angst that there are possibly true demons walking the earth and this man is one.
One sick *ucker, and he is so lucky "GOD LOVE HIM" because soon he will be standing alone,.
Day: Is there any proof of his horrific comment? . . Why isn't this being reported? . .
Does Mourdock have a viable Democratic opponent, or are we stuck with this clown in the Senate the next 6 years?
Yes, Mourdock's opponent is Joe Donnelly, a moderate Democrat and current Congressman from Northern Indiana. He has a good chance if he can secure enough statewide funding to compete with the Club For Growth money that will support Mourdock. Donnelly beat a Tea Party backed candidate in his last Congressional race in 2010, but then state Republicans redrew the districts to make it almost impossible for him to get reelected. A lot of moderate Indianan who supported Dick Lugar are probably more likely to support Donnelly than Mourdock.
Not really. His dumbocrap opponent is a Blue Dog DINO.
The repukes in the Mississippi of The Midwest (Indiana) are totally wacked out and the dumbocraps are spineless DLC/DINO/Repuke-Lites.
Even worse, the 2nd dumbest person on the face of this earth is going to become the next repuke governor. Yes, we are still looking for that one person who is stupider than Mike Pence. The dumbocrap running against him has a platform of cutting corporate taxes and cutting the top individual tax rates. Thoroughly nauseating and depressing.
so sadoldvetreran, you rather for this sob to let cancer patients dies?
We here in Indiana are not quite as bad as SadOldVeteran would have you believe, but he is correct the Dem candidate is somewhat of a blue dog. Joe Donelly knows how to get elected as a Dem outside of Lake county and that is to lean toward the blue dog. He is however sane and willing to do his job such as pass legislation. The one thing that SadOldVeteran does speak truth of is our GOP candidate for governor, Mike Pence. We have good candidates for our Governor and Lt. Governor, but they just don't get elected in Indiana. Look for some really horrible,awful news coming out of the Hoosier state (we are Hoosiers, not Indianans) after November when Pence takes us back to the dark ages. As a teacher I fear not only for my job, but for the kids in Indiana that will have evangelical christian education shoved down their throats in the private schools paid for by state vouchers.
Your eloquence has quite blown me away. A note for the future, though, calling names like "dumbocrap" and "Repuke-Lites" doesn't do anything but get you laughed at and dismissed.
Your eloquence has quite blown me away. A note for the future, though, calling names like "dumbocrap" and "Repuke-Lites" doesn't do anything but get you laughed at and dismissed.
Actually I am taking a page from the GOPpers and not dismissing, laughing or condemning the statements. I will say something completely useless such as "those aren't the words I would have used"....
He is running in IndiaBama where he is sure to get elected.
Teresa ... I hope Indiana Dems can put together an effective ground game. Donnelly may be a Blue Dog, but he's 1000 times better than Mourdock.
What's happened to your state? I used to have great respect for the good common sense of people in the Midwest, though I'm beginning to rethink that position. Let's hope that moderates and true independents demonstrate that common sense in November.
As for Mike Pence, you have my sympathies. He's another Walker/Kasich/Snyder/Scott/etc. Working class folk in your state need to wake up and try to head him off at the pass. Indiana has enough problems as it is, without this wingnut adding another layer to them.
@thomas...
In no way, shape, or form did I state or imply that I would prefer the Teabagger over the Blue Dog.
@ezekiel... @terriels...
As a progressive, I truly believe that the Democratic Party is lead by dumb, crappy politicians who persist in believing that they cannot (or will not) run progressive candidates and who persist in believing (in spite of historical evidence otherwise) that democratic party candidates have to run as kinder and gentler republicans and not as real democrats. For evidence, in the last senatorial election here, the dumbocraps ran a DINO against the lobbyist Coates and he lost badly. There is evidence that a nationally known person had some interest and could have been persuaded to be the democratic party candidate. Unfortunately, John Mellankamp was snubbed by the party leadership because he is a person who is known to care for working people and is a known liberal.
....
The democratic party had there convention recently and announced their candidates for this fall. Based upon historical evidence, that is about the last time most of them will be heard of again until they become footnotes as the losing candidates.
...
We had a convention of all of the progressives in this state two weeks ago and by a vote of 21 to 7 agreed to hold our noses and support the democratic party candidates. Being a progressive in Indiana is like being a Chicago Cubs fan; we keep hoping for things to get better, but it never happens.
Teresa Wiley said "(we are Hoosiers, not Indianans)".
Doh! I've lived in Indiana for 20 years. I should have known that.
I stand corrected.
Ahhhh how nice it is to have these nuts tell us how they would rule. Trouble is they actually have a fan base.
Methinks paradise was lost long ago and replaced with chaos. Remember to keep smiling--it ticks the nuts off.
I agree somewhere along the way these people have lost a sense of reality. They need to get out more and visit the people they're trying to do away with. Helloooo... we're still here you haven't killed us yet, see we're still smiling.
Well Mr Mourdock . I wish theoretically you or one of your relatives would get cancer with no health insurance and be forced to go to say, Jackson Memorial in Miami via the emergency room. See what fun you would have getting that form of socialized care that republicans seem to favor .
This was the case with a friend of mine and it was not pretty . Not to disparage in any way the treatment he received from the caring individuals there , but they are overloaded with people who unlike yourself do not have government provided health care .
Imagine if it had been caught early , the pain and suffering that could have been avoided.
That's what they are hoping happens, and it is. There has to be a network of service providers out there that will help people using a payment plan of some sort. You would think by now that conscientious Physicians would offer this. I know they have Health Care events in some cities hosted by the man who used to work on "Wild Kingdom" there was a story on him on 60 minutes. This may be an opportune time for Natureopaths and Homeopathic medicine providers to help. I'll look into this. Once people get healthy and stay healthy and are aware of how to do it, it would cut down high medical cost significantly. And if they would stop trying to feed people flavored plastic cardboard to eat we could start becoming the healthiest nation of people again and encourage other nations to do the same, if they aren't already. They should never have tried to Incorporate health to begin with, it is our God given right and those that had the opportunity to go to school to learn medicine have God to thank. Jesus is the great physician but, he could always use a little help.
Yes Angel#77,I also think the food we eat is responsible for at least 90% of our health and mental problems!. The remaining 10% is caused by the contamination in the air and and water.
WooHoooo, I am the walrus. People have to watch overdoing it on vitamins too. Back to Eden is a great book that was written in 1933, the same year my Daddy was born. It's helped me.
To appreciate fully the level of Mourdock's confusion, it is crucial to remember that he was discussing health insurance plans that are subsidized by the federal government. The net cost to employers of employee health benefits is lower than the benefits' market value; it is therefore cheaper to insure employees than to pay employees the cost of insurance as wages. All this happens because of tax breaks to employers who provide health insurance.
Most of us believe that the justification for this gift from taxpayers to employers lies in the fact that it provides health care to tens of millions of employees. Mr. Mourdock apparently feels differently. He believes not only that employers should enjoy this benefit, and that they should continue to enjoy it, even if the "insurance" they provide leaves employees who develop cancer without any coverage for medical care.
That means Mr. Mourdock says we should be providing welfare to employers, even when that welfare produces no meaningful benefit to employees. In fact, he believes we should be paying that corporate welfare, instead of providing direct insurance benefits to taxpaying workers.
Mr. Mourdock appears to believe his statement represents some kind of laissez-faire capitalism, but it doesn't. He is advocating a forced and direct redistribution of wealth, from taxpaying workers to business owners. Republicans are fond of comparing various social welfare programs to slavery. Perhaps they'd like to examine this proposal a little more closely.
He doesn't WANT employers to pad their bottom line by cutting health insurance to people who need it (after all, what's magic about cancer? The same philosophy applies to diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, asthma, high blood pressure, ...), but you know that the first priority of a CEO is to his shareholders.
"So sorry, guys, but as a responsible CEO, I have no choice but to deny you any insurance whatsoever. Suck it up and take responsibility for yourselves. And don't ask who's paying for my medical insurance."
If the Dems can't beat this guy to electoral death with his own words, there is no hope or cure.
It's Indiana. You think there's much hope?
correction NOT Indiana but IndiaBama where we want to live down to expectations and have the governor to prove it
I still prefer The Mississippi of the Midwest.
For those who suggest that somehow this dork should put himself in the place of someone else suffering from cancer whose boss just cut them off, you are misguided. These people are incapable of empathy. They truly do not regard other people as being real. The world revolves around them, and no one else counts. Appealing to their better natures is an exercise in futility because they just do not HAVE better natures.
I worked for one of those Republican Mormons who fired me 8 months after I was diagnosed. I went to work everyday and treatment everyday the 1 or 1 1/2 hours I would miss I used my vacation time. When I was first diagnosed he told me do not worry you will always have a job, well that did not last long. Once my cobra ran out I had to obtain coverage on my own, the problem is most companies would not return my calls, the few that did said they would not cover my illness because it is pre-existing. The company I was insured with while employed the cost was 425/month, when I obtained coverage through them after the cobra ran out it cost $1,200/month.
Good god Lorr, that's awful. I'm so sorry you have to endure this madness first hand.
What makes my blood boil is that I actually know GOP voters that, while they would feel bad for you as good Christians, would still say it's not their problem and why should their taxes have to go up just so you can get health care, which you probably don't deserve anyway because you made bad choices. Seriously, they've said this kind of shyte.
"That doesn't mean he wants cancer patients to go without out of spite; it means he'd allow cancer patients to go without as part of a governing philosophy."
To be more exact, it's this dickweed's warped idea of individual freedom/liberty that informs him there is no obligation to others in society, only to self.
Imagine that 50% of Americans would, right now, vote for the party that has brought this dipshhittian asswhole Ayn Rand progeny as a possibility to be a member of the U.S. Senate. I still can't believe this has come to pass. You can't get too scared. And you can't blame Democratic cowardice in fighting this for 30+ years enough. Welcome to our libertarian future.
Wow... just... wow. And people flock to this... moron. And they vote.
What in the HELL has America come to that this... inane... horrifically inane... mentality has become mainstream?
At what point do people and the MEDIA get up and walk out? Just because you wave your First Amendment rights before spouting off... GARBAGE... does not mean we have to promote it.
They have outworn the First Amendment excuse and construed it to mean something horrific by their own standards.. they have misinterpreted it for so long now that it has lost it's true meaning. They actually want to be free to shut you and me up for good and then step all over us and say that it's constitutional. They are un-American and always have been the minute they stood there with their hands out asking for our money, now they're just taking it without asking in the form of taxes, but don't dare ask their buddies, oh no, give them all the freedom of speech they desire and while they'e at it let them play monopoly with our money Just let them gamble it all away that's okay. They've been promised jobs on the board of these Large corporations. .let our People Corporations do what they want. We have been bought and paid for.
Can we put away the notion the the gop ever wanted healthcare reform now? It was all a ruse , just like tax reform, or any reform , they want all forms of gov destroyed , so uncle buba in cob county can say what is right and what is wrong , them and their corporate handlers
The distinction should bring comfort to Hoosiers with pre-existing conditions, right?
That's too short-sighted, Steve. This Pennsylvanian with a pre-existing condition facing the prospect of having this "person" in the Senate helping to determine national healthcare policy is both horrified and terrified.
Noone can insure anyone of anything. The Insurance Industry is a big scam. Noone is really insured for anything. People get sick, cars crash, pets get sick, towns get flooded these things happen all the time. Having Insurance will not stop these things from occurring. The Middle Class is surviving, I haven't had a raise in 15 years. The Cost of living is based on that of millionaires. As citizens we cannot afford to pay for anything on our own, we aren't being paid enough to do this. So, if they would lower the cost of everything say, back to what it was like in the 1950's people could once again afford to pay for their own Doctor or a car when it crashed. Why are we as American Citizens paying, in taxes the salaries of these mega-billionaires when we can hardly afford to put food on the table for our families. What's more important human life or another million dollar castle to live in. Being the richest isn't all it's cracked up to be, just ask any CEO they're not really happy, they must be miserable because they still want more and more they're never satisfied and never will be. And I for one do not want to give them one more penny. Especially when they are against helping the poor, elderly and sick of our great Country. They are ruining the very principles in which our soldiers lost their lives fighting for. They should be ashamed of themselves. They have a lot of deadly sins to work on and as a Poor person in America I am waiting for them to get their heads out of their you know what and start working on their moral integrity. We don't care if you're wearing million dollar cufflings, we deserve better. One thing Dimon said that I agree with is "We need to go back to the old model," the 1950's model, before it became corrupt and greedy.
As long as you're willing to make $2,500/year, forego any and all diagnostic tools in medicine, pollute the environment, give up your air conditioning, eliminate assistance such as food stamps and unemployment compensation - just to name a few.
I don't plan on doing any of that. So, I guess it's back to the future for me.
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/president-should-use-his-power-pardon-everyone-country-convicted-only-possession-marijuana/6wGVBvCS
Self explanatory Free those who got busted with weed!
I SHOULD be able to levitate, but that damned Law of Gravity keeps me from doing it!
Do it anyway, before they declare that illegal.
mourdock gave the election to the dems, thanx!
Wow.
it would be interesting to see what would happen if Doctors in a given area would totally shut down for a week for everything except emergency room care. If people need specialty care, they can be shipped to a hospital in another city.
The doctors can say, "We're supporting our elected representatives this week in expanding their medical practices. Please visit their offices for all of your health care needs this week, since they seem to believe they're far more qualified to determine your medical needs than your or we."
when I worked on implementing Domestic Partner health benefits at the University of California, we learned that pregnancy was far and away the biggest healthcare cost driver for insurers. (It deflated the cost argument used against us.)
It makes me wonder when the tea-baggers will make the argument that pregnancy should not be covered, in order to protect their insurance industry buddies...?
One thing at a time. First they have to get rid of contraception and abortion.
When we moved to Texas in 1070, insurance for teachers was a purely local contract. My district's Blue Cross-Blue Shield policy stated that it would cover the pregnancy of the covered spouse of the covered employee, but not of the employee. Hence, if you were a female teacher, it would cover your husband's pregnancy but not yours.
In the case of cancer, "pre-existing condition" means that if the cancer is of a type (such as multiple myeloma or most skin cancers) which has been present in an indolent state for a long time prior to becoming noticeable, they can deny based on it having been present prior to your becoming covered 15 years ago.
We now have enough information on cancer genetics that a biopsy sample can be tested to identify how long ago the cells in it first went off the main sequence -- and that's usually at least ten years for most adults. Needless to say, insurers have loved this where they have been allowed to take advantage of it.
I can only hope that this ahole gets cancer as soon as possible!!!!!!
I'm not saying they SHOULD, I'm just saying that they should be allowed to while simultaneously enjoying all kinds of tax cuts and subsidies given by the government to help their profitability. Because it's an infringement on their corporate sovereignty to say they have to mean it when they say they'll provide health insurance, but it's just free market capitalism when you give them money to help them succeed. Makes sense, right? That's consistent, right?
I can only hope that this despicable piece of crap gets cancer as soon as possible!
Another "Christian" Tea Party Darling.