# Health Care Freeloaders! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 21, 2017, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979 "2017-12-21T04:20:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2017, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979/41 "2017-12-23T06:47:54Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > For what it’s worth, it’s perfectly reasonable to believe that a conservative Texas doctor would say something like this, and many probably have. There’s no indication anywhere that the article is satire, unless you already know that the website’s a satire site. > > Poe’s Law in action… Or unless you actually, you know, read the article. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2017, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979/42 "2017-12-23T06:54:57Z")
And this is a site that prides itself on fighting ignorance. Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2017, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979/43 "2017-12-23T06:57:52Z")
FWIW, the doctor is a she, not a he. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979/44 "2017-12-23T15:17:11Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > For what it’s worth, it’s perfectly reasonable to believe that a conservative Texas doctor would say something like this, and many probably have. There’s no indication anywhere that the article is satire, unless you already know that the website’s a satire site. > > Poe’s Law in action… I would agree the first 2 paragraphs do not give much indication that it is a satirical article. They probably reflect the views of many conservatives, doctors included. The second two have some pretty good clues, and it is plainly obvious by the end of the 6th, where she describes the services that she provides, and ends with pointing out that the patients don’t thank her unless their parent tell them to. The rest of the article is pretty dry analysis of the situation and the potential impact upon the children of her state, with a couple of sarcastic quips thrown in. And the Texas Observer is not a satire site, though I’ve not had much contact with it, it seems to be a reputable paper of record. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979/45 "2017-12-23T18:19:07Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > He says he’s a pediatrician, and there is a picture of a baby in the article. Pediatricians don’t just treat babies. They treat older kids and teens, and sometimes young adults who are still on their parents’ policies. Sure, if you know ahead of time the article’s satire then it reads like obvious satire. But if you assume that it’s a serious article written by a serious person expressing their genuine opinions, then it comes across as what any typical Republican Texas doctor would genuinely think, if not actually say in public. Indeed, it’s practically tame compared to the things normally heard from Republican politicians and their mindless supporters. Which is why Poe’s Law works. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2017, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979/46 "2017-12-23T18:21:40Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Pediatricians don’t just treat babies. They treat older kids and teens, and sometimes young adults who are still on their parents’ policies. And that’s why she said “the majority of my patients”. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979/47 "2017-12-23T19:37:34Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > But if you assume that it’s a serious article written by a serious person expressing their genuine opinions, then it comes across as what any typical Republican Texas doctor would genuinely think, if not actually say in public. It really doesn’t. I clicked on the link without reading the thread, and read it with the initial impression that it was a serious opinion piece, and the first couple paragraphs seemed to point in the heartless conservative direction. But the third paragraph is just blatant, obvious satire that shouldn’t be Poe-ing anybody. I mean seriously, “Sometimes, I have to bribe my patients with bright-colored objects, juice or graham crackers just to examine them.” ---
**Author:** ![MadNotAngry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/278dde/32.png) [@MadNotAngry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadNotAngry)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2017, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979/48 "2017-12-23T19:50:49Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Are the kids white? That is a major factor in whether I think the doctor is right or wrong. Oh please, tell me how that impacts anything this ‘doctor’ said? Been an RN for 40 years, must have missed something. Please explain how a person’s skin color changes or re-directs the amount or type of care a patient receives. Mighty curious what I’ve been doing wrong all these years. > [@](#): > > This country is so fucked up. Looking you square in the eye: “Yeah, and some people try to make it worse” ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2017, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979/49 "2017-12-23T21:09:12Z")
In my experience, the people with the biggest mouths and who love the sound of their own voice the most are usually the dumbest. I see no reason to change that opinion. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2017, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979/50 "2017-12-23T23:28:27Z")
> [@MadNotAngry](#): > > Please explain how a person’s skin color changes or re-directs the amount or type of care a patient receives. Post Tuskegee? [Drug prescription](http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Health/story?id=3401076&page=1) [Pain medication](http://www.mdmag.com/medical-news/pain-treatment-disparities-in-emergency-department-based-on-race-) [Abstract - cancer care](http://journals.lww.com/lww-medicalcare/Abstract/2016/08000/Racial_Ethnic_and_Socioeconomic_Differences_in.8.aspx) [broad general review](http://www.medicareadvocacy.org/medicare-info/health-care-disparities/) [NAP](https://www.nap.edu/read/12875/chapter/2) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2017, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979/51 "2017-12-24T00:00:38Z")
> [@MadNotAngry](#): > > Oh please, tell me how that impacts anything this ‘doctor’ said? Been an RN for 40 years, must have missed something. Please explain how a person’s skin color changes or re-directs the amount or type of care a patient receives. Mighty curious what I’ve been doing wrong all these years. Maybe YOU aren’t biased, but anyone who thinks there isn’t skin color based discrimination in the US isn’t paying attention. ---
**Author:** ![MadNotAngry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/278dde/32.png) [@MadNotAngry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadNotAngry)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2017, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979/52 "2017-12-24T00:43:23Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > In my experience, the people with the biggest mouths and who love the sound of their own voice the most are usually the dumbest. Heard that alot growing, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2017, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979/53 "2017-12-24T01:19:08Z")
Whoosh. My sympathies to anyone dumb enough to voluntarily spend time with you. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2017, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979/54 "2017-12-24T01:33:39Z")
**Moderator Note** > [@MadNotAngry](#): > > Looking you square in the eye: “Yeah, and some people try to make it worse” > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > In my experience, the people with the biggest mouths and who love the sound of their own voice the most are usually the dumbest. > > I see no reason to change that opinion. > [@MadNotAngry](#): > > Heard that alot growing, huh? > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Whoosh. My sympathies to anyone dumb enough to voluntarily spend time with you. You don’t have to guess where this is going, do you? Personal insults are not allowed in MPSIMS. There’s a Pit for that. Ya’ll have been around here long enough to know that. Any more personal insults in this thread will receive a warning. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2017, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979/55 "2017-12-24T04:02:41Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > And this is a site that prides itself on fighting ignorance. Jesus. Really … bunch of heathens … doctors don’t normally get puked on … think about it a moment … ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979/56 "2017-12-26T02:53:50Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > **I think we are going to have to be really, extremely blatant for many of the dopers that have both ADHD and a serious reading comprehension problem. The article is satire and the content does not match the headline. If you try your best, you can probably make it to the end with repeated attempts and understand what it actually says. If you still can’t do that, ask someone else to explain it to you.** Thank you for stating the obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979/57 "2017-12-26T03:03:17Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > You don’t have to guess where this is going, do you? > > Personal insults are not allowed in MPSIMS. There’s a Pit for that. Ya’ll have been around here long enough to know that. Any more personal insults in this thread will receive a warning. I sincerely adore Spice Weasel as our new jackboot. Unfortunately my REFRESH button is not working in Firefox so I don’t know what has happened next. Anyway, good moderating. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979/58 "2017-12-26T03:07:38Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > Thank you for stating the obvious. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-freeloaders/804979.md?page=2)