Limbaugh “provides leadership” for America’s uninsured … not

As if his declaration that America’s healthcare system was “just fine, just dandy” from his perspective as a wealthy celebrity with VIP treatment wasn’t bad enough, Rush Limbaugh goes one step further and declares himself the “leader” of the U.S.’s 47 million uninsured. As if his example was one anyone should follow, even if they could.

Transcript from Politicususa:

“I realize I'm on a tough challenge here, and probably going to lose it because we've had 50 years to establish a mindset which basically has most people believing that healthcare should not cost anything or it should cost very little, and when somebody comes along like me, and accepts responsibility for paying for it, look I am one of the 47 million uninsured, and I'm, look at me in one way, I'm providing leadership. I'm advocating a system get reformed so that people can afford it, that their be a relationship the patient, the provider, and the hospital, without some middle man or two, where people could actually afford it just as they're able to afford other services throughout our economy.”

Yeah, sure, Limbaugh is indeed uninsured. But, that’s because he’s got more than enough money to be able to pay for his healthcare in cash, without insurance. The thing is, not everyone has got tens of thousands just lying around, especially the uninsured, who struggle to even be able to afford food and lodging, much less health insurance premiums.

Worse still, check out the types of arguments and analogies the gasbag uses to try and claim that health insurance really is actually cheap and that anyone can get it:

“You hear here that multimillionaire, only Limbaugh could afford it, that's such a misrepresentation of the truth. I'll just tell you if you can afford a car, you can afford what I did in the hospital. If you can afford a pretty expansive media room, you can afford what I spent in the hospital, and with all the tests and everything else. If you can afford an SUV, could have gone to the hospital 3 or 4 times for what I, it's just a matter of choice, what you want to budget for and pay for, Rush we got to have a car to get to work, and we got to have a house, yeah but everybody says they got to have healthcare too. The people don't prioritize it the way they do other things.”

The problem with this sort of thinking (well, one of the problems) is that Limbaugh makes it sound like, “if you can afford X, then you can afford Y (health insurance)”, when in reality, it’s more like, “you can afford either X, OR Y (health coverage)”. For those who are unable to get insurance, it’s not about being able to get coverage just because they’re also able to get a home or a car; it’s about choosing between the home, the car, and healthcare coverage.

Limbaugh may be one of the 47 million Americans who don’t have health insurance, but his case is a rare exception, not the norm. Others don’t have coverage because they simply can’t afford it, instead choosing to prioritize such things as paying for their home and putting food on the table. Limbaugh doesn’t have coverage, because he literally can afford not to. This is exactly how and why his “leadership” is the worst kind there is for those who don’t have health insurance.

(via @todayspolitics)