This Democrat Congressman doesn't have health insurance. I understand that he is making a point. While he makes a very good point that people should negotiate with their health care providers, his overall message is terrible for everyone with whom he comes in contact.
Two things come to mind that tells me that this guy isn't a good role model for anyone. First, he is letting his 28 year old nurse practitioner daughter in Miami go without health insurance. I believe it is the responsibility of family to take care of their family. Currently, the government or the hospital system picks up the tab for people like his daughter, even though she hails from a family of wealth and privilege. When government takes care of people, there is no incentive for family to take care of their own. This is a real problem.
(On a related point--12 million illegal aliens are considered in the 46 million uninsured, but how many of these are sending cash back to their relatives in Mexico, instead of buying health insurance?)
Second, the point he is highlighting by going without health insurance, is actually showing millions of other people that it is possible to go without health insurance. Every day, millions of healthy people think health insurance is optional and makes a financial decision to spend their disposable income on cable tv, cell phones, and alcohol, instead of health insurance. This Congressman (and his daughter) are included in the 46 million uninsured number, pushed as a reason for health care reform.
(on a related note--24 million of the 46 million uninsured Americans are between 18-32, or make more than the poverty rate)
I don't know the situation of his daughter, but having insurance is just as important as having food, clothing and shelter. But millions of healthy Americans don't think about health insurance as their responsibility. Why?
The answer is simple. Millions of Americans (although a small minority of the larger population) have a perceived safety net called the United States Government and it's bankruptcy laws. The safety net creates the large number of uninsured as healthy people make a choice to buy a big screen television instead of a health care policy, of which they will not need unless they become unhealthy.
How many people are out there that fit into this category? I don't know, but every able bodied, uninsured person who has cable and a cell phone could reprioritize their life and purchase a catastrophic, high deductible policy. If his 28 year old daughter is working as a full time nurse practitioner and is having a hard time paying the bills, I would like to look into her spending habits. Does she smoke? Does she drink? Does she have a nice new car? Does she live alone in a nice apartment instead of with a roommate in a less posh neighborhood? Does she own a $200 pair of jeans?
I find it hard to believe that his daughter "couldn't afford" health insurance. Instead, I believe she "chose" not have health insurance.
This is the message that our friend, the Democrat Congressman should be talking about, first to his daughter, then to his constituents.
And since he doesn't and choses to make a point by pandering to people and their bad decisions, I call his actions stupid...
By the way, the reason conservatives are frustrated about people that don't adequately plan for the future, is that we understand that life requires us to save for the future requires huge amounts of sacrifice. We are tired of being asked to pay for people that make bad choices and don't sacrifice.
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