Again, I’m sorry the poor woman got hurt and I really hope she gets better.
And yes I understand that, as a high-ranking politician, she has great health insurance.
I don’t have any health insurance at all.
Yet I’m being forced to help pay for her rah-rah motorcade from one elite hospital to the next?
Then you should just go out and buy health insurance. If you buy good enough insurance, then you too can go to an ‘elite’ hospital.
I’m being forced to pay for wars I don’t want, education for other people’s kids, and police protection for people in danger. See, we have what’s called a ‘society’. We pay to promote the general welfare of our citizens. There was a paragraph written on that a couple-hundred years ago. Might be a bit obscure, though.
Sorry to tell you, but neither hospital is ‘elite’ Both are just normal, PUBLIC hospitals.
If you are in Tucson and are badly injured, you go to University Medical Center. If you are an illegal immigrant suffering from heat exhaustion in this desert, you go to University Medical Center. If you think you child may have appendicitis in the middle of the night, you go to the emergency room at University Medical Center.
Nothing elite about it.
And Hermann Hospital in Houston is similar. Public, available to all who need it.
Of course she doesn’t have to worry about the medical bills like the rest of us, but the hospitals are good ones, but not elite.
Really? Just “go out and buy it”? Just like buying a new microwave? Even if I have cancer and it’s a “pre-existing condition”? Thanks, I’ll get right on that.
That was my point.
I remember thirty years ago, it seemed I was constantly having to pay a doctor to stick a finger up Ronald Reagan’s ass. And sometimes even a camera! :eek:
A - FUCKING - MEN!!
Why don’t more people get this rather than think about themselves all the frick’n time?
Sure and those without insurance or not good enough insurance, can declare bankruptcy and lose their home.
It’s doable, but for that distance, it’s probably actually cheaper to take an air medical plane. At an old job, I did a few long distance transports. The longest was 8 hours one-way. We had a 3 person crew who took turns driving and we did have to stop for fuel a couple times.
The write-up in today’sDenver Post says that the plane she used was owned by a family friend. I don’t know if it was already “specially equipped” or not. But the taxpayers didn’t have to pay for the plane itself.
This is the US. This is how we do things. You want a bargain? Shop elsewhere.
Your ‘tax-dollars’ are good any country on the globe.
Bon Appetite.
I doubt you are smart enough to know how dumb this sounds.
A couple of points here:
First of all, transporting her 900+ miles by road ambulance would not be good for Ms. Giffords. It is FAR less stressful to use an airplane, and she spends less time out of a real critical care facility (which is honestly where she needs to be at the moment) if she takes an airplane.
The airplane was supplied by a family friend,** it cost the taxpayers nothing.**
No doubt some medical personnel were along and there were probably a few interior furnishings in the airplane moved around. The medics were there to take care of her, and likely were covered by her health insurance which, as a member of Congress, was certainly better than almost anyone else’s policy outside of that legislative body. However, quite a few private policies would cover that if medically necessary. Personally, I’d prefer to avoid needing an air ambulance in the first place.
Most of the motorcycles accompanying her ambulance in Arizona were volunteers from local VFW’s. This was at least partly in response to the looney toons Westboro Baptist Chuch saying they were going to show up and picket funerals or what not and spread their bile and hate. The volunteers were to prevent the religious stupidity from getting close enough to an injured woman to disturb her. And, I repeat,** this cost the taxpayers nothing.**
Transporting people via helicopter to the hospital is not reserved for Congress people. Poor folks get that service, too (and they also get billed for it later, but whatever).
I have friends who used to donate time in their planes to transport sick and injured people to medical care far away from where they live. Yes, a police escort to the airplane is a little unusual, but then, most poor folks don’t become headline news when shot. There are a number of US charities that coordinate donated airplane time with people who need transportation. What’s unusual about Gifford’s situation is more the media attention given to it than anything else. Medical transport via airplane and/or helicopter is very routine these days.
Why did she go all the way to Texas for rehab?
It’s an excellent center and her husband is based out of Texas (he’s an astronaut) and apparently they have a strong support system (friends and family) there.
^ This.
Having family and friends nearby can be a great asset in rehab. The best rehab facility for a particular person isn’t always the one closest to where they were injured.
Also, given that her husband is involved with a multi-million dollar mission that would be seriously disrupted if he took a leave of absence, and keeping HIM sane and collected MIGHT be a good thing, it might actually cost the taxpayers less to transport Giffords to Texas than rework a shuttle mission.
To be fair, I doubt North Koreans haven’t heard anything about it.
You own property in the community where I work? Great! You’re helping to pay for my health insurance.
You shop a a supermarket lately? You’re helping to pay for the health insurance of the workers there.
You fly lately? Guess what? You’re helping to pay the health insurance costs of the flight and ground crew.
It sucks to have a job with no health insurance. In a couple of years, you’ll probaby be covered. In the meantime, you can find a job where others will help pay for your insurance coverage, just like the majority of people who have health insurance in the USA.
I guess us taxpayers are lucky they didn’t decide to transport her in the space shuttle, eh, Fell through the Ice?
My dad had a severe heart attack and was transported by ambulance and emergency flight from palm springs where they were vacationing to the Cleveland Clinic for surgery. We don’t live in Cleveland but it was the best hospital for this type of procedure. He was on Medicare so it was subsidized by tax payers. He didn’t have a motorcade, but it wasn’t cheap. It’s just what a society does sometimes.