Rush Limbaugh: 'Pre-Existing Condition Coverage is Not Insurance; It's Welfare'

[DearAbby]

Has anyone said today what a piece of sheeyit Rush Limbaugh is?

Yes, he really said that. He really, truly did, and it's a BFD. digby writes:

Although it sounds ridiculous, Rush is in the process of making his followers believe that the pre-existing condition provision in the health care reforms is something bad and shameful. The reason he's doing this, of course, is because this is the most popular piece of the bill and the one on which the rest of it hinges. If they can divide people on that, the repeal of the plan will be much easier.

Absolutely 100% on the money. The rest of the Affordable Care Act, along with any other proposal for reform like single payer or a public option hinges on one single provision: No exclusion for pre-existing conditions. So the Corpulent One knows that the only way to marshall support for complete repeal is to erode support for covering people with pre-existing conditions.

It drives me crazy now just as it did during the whole debate that there wasn't more focus on effective dates. Waiting until January 1, 2014 for the requirement to cover pre-existing conditions was risky and opens a window for a long, sustained attack. Whether they had passed Medicare for All, a robust public option as part of the overall bill, none of that, or all of that, the heart of the debate is over people who have pre-existing conditions, which are defined by insurers and have been broadened more and more over time. This is only one of many salvos which will be thrown over and over and over again.

digby, again:

People thought it was insane for Rush to say that he wanted the president to fail. But he held the line and made the GOP come crawling for even suggesting that he was wrong. And the party just became more and more radical. They don't see health care reform as sacred and they will feel absolutely no remorse about destroying it.

Listen & More:
http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/rush-limbaugh-pre-existing-condition-covera

[OmahaBlueDog]

1. No

This is the "you don't insure the burning house theory."

The problem comes up time and time again, and insurers have addressed it. The simplest way, in the context of a private, for -profit system with Government backstops, is to create a reinsurance mechanism allowing insurers to cede premium in exchange for upper end limits on payouts.

[KittyWampus]

37. Since private insurers were exempt from liability for denying care to those ALREADY PAYING

for coverage... there is no need tocreate a "reinsurance mechanism".

Insurers are making profits by denying care to those who paid into the system. They have no argument. None that's valid. At least not until that exemption from liability is removed from law.

[Missy Vixen]

2. Considering the fact that Limbaugh would be ineligible for private health insurance

due to his drug abuse, this is pretty damn funny, isn't it?

NOT.

:eyes:

[Warpy]

6. That wouldn't disqualify him but his other health history does

and I'm talking about the MI he had in Hawaii, treated courtesy of Hawaiian SOCIALIST health insurance.

He's just taking his spewing orders from the fascist plutocracy. It's going to get worse and worse until he either explodes from gluttony or struck by well deserved lightning.

[BlueIris]

20. Yeah, really.

I'm not a big fan of what the DNC calls health insurance reform, but Limbaugh of all people should be cheering it. Rush would not qualify for any private plan.

[donheld]

3. Wehere is the Karma?

[HEyHEY]

4. He would know, he was once on welfare himself.

[47of74]

5. Rush is such a pig

[Raine]

9. PLEASE don't insult pigs

they are so far about that POS. x(

[w8liftinglady]

29. lol..yeah...pigs are smart!

[Quantess]

15. Hey! That pig didn't do anything to deserve being compared to Rush Limbaugh!

Not nice.

[ashleyforachange]

7. Disgusting...

I am disgusted by Limbaugh. People like him and Beck use the system to its fullest and now they are trying to make it where people who are in the same position as they were once in cannot get assistance in these economic hard times.

[mediaman007]

21. After all, where would the next Limbaugh/Beck come from?

[lovemydog]

8. what an asshole

[Lasher]

10. What if it is?

How is that bad? The government is obliged to provide welfare. The Constitution says so. Welfare is not a dirty word.

[pnwmom]

12. Unfortunately, welfare is a dirty word to much of the population.

Perhaps even to the majority. Rethugs have often used welfare-terror to win votes.

[Lasher]

17. You are right and that's my point.

Just like socialist and liberal. People know for certain that these things are evil but they can't explain why if their lives depend on it. Propaganda has been so pervasive, we often have to use synonyms to discuss them.

[pnwmom]

11. Insurance companies who drop sick people and refuse to cover everybody

are practicing HIGHWAY ROBBERY.

[eridani]

16. They are practicing mass murder n/t

[yurbud]

13. some of his listeners have been denied health coverage for pre-existing conditions

and some portion of those will realize he does not give a fuck about them.

[KT2000]

14. Huckabee spoke against

requiring coverage of pre-exisitng conditions too. He said it was like offering fire insurance after the house burns.
This appears to be something the RW wants eliminated.
What sick people.

[ejpoeta]

18. i really love when people who claim to be christians who believe in jesus

go around saying this bullshit. from my memory jesus would want us to help the less fortunate and help each other. whatever you do to the least of us you do to me sort of stuff.

[OnionPatch]

32. That was my first thought when reading this.

How this cruel and heartless person can have even one listener who claims to be Christian is beyond me. It's really sad.

[mediaman007]

22. We don't have the best health care in the World, just the most profitable.

[Ilsa]

23. ...profitable to the insurance companies.

Given the cost and level of training, I'm not convinced that being a GP is any more profitable than some business manager positions.

[laughingliberal]

36. and the for profit hospital corps. nt

[ixion]

19. Not if the person receiving treatment is paying for it

That's a super crappy straw man, even for Gasbag.

[PA Democrat]

24. If it is "welfare" then how does the pig explain how insurance companies

refuse to pay for treatment even if the person has ALWAYS had insurance?

HINT: If you are self-insured, there is no "portability" of health insurance. If you lose employer-provided insurance and switch to an individual policy, or switch from one company's individual policy to another, you will be denied coverage for a preexisting condition even if you NEVER had a gap in insurance coverage. In fact, most companies will flag a claim for a serious condition to try to "prove" that it is "preexisting,"

[lunatica]

25. Except when you have anal cysts. Then it's not welfare

[OneGrassRoot]

26. Thank you for this. I just posted to FB with this rant....

I try really hard not to use profanity at FB due to friends' kids being on there and seeing things, but dayum....Limbaugh and Beck make that so friggin hard.


Yep, he said it. Listen for yourself. "Pre-existing condition coverage is welfare. The idea of requiring pre-existing condition coverage is to drive insurance companies out of business." Have you people SEEN the profits insurance companies have made...obscene CEO bonuses?! If this is the preferred form of "entert...ainment," God help us. He is an asshat, but a rich asshat laughing all the way to the bank on the backs of his listeners, many of whom no doubt have pre-existing conditions, perhaps no coverage at all, receiving unemployment benefits, Medicare, Social Security benefits; you know, all that "evil" socialism stuff that would never have been in existence if Republicans had their way over the decades.

[TheCowsCameHome]

27. .....that from the 300 pound chronic anal cyst......

who cares what that bag-o-pus says anyway?

[SoCalDem]

28. kinda like DRUG ADDICTION, eh?

perhaps his own insurors should drop him..

of course he's wealthy enough to self cover anyway, so it;s no biggie to him,,

[w8liftinglady]

30. holy shit. when I think he can't stoop any lower...

and,yes I am one of those pre-existing condition folks. I don't dare look for another job.
Rush will circle in the depths of Hell,I have no doubt.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

31. Here's an interesting exercise . . .

Is there any way of finding his remarks on Bob "BobDoleSays" Dole's 1994 GOP "alternative" to the plan advanced by the Clinton Admin? Betcha ol' Phlush Phlegmball just LOVED it back then!

Now that it's been triangulated into "Obamacare," it's filthy welfare, creeping socialism and the heartbreak of psoriasis all rolled into one.

Hypocrisy, thy name is Phlush!

[Unvanguard]

33. Well, it is, in a sense:

it's coverage that the "free market" wants to deny, that government forces it to accept.

Good. A laissez-faire health care policy would be a total disaster.

[Javaman]

34. maybe he should chat it up a little regarding his ass cyst..

that is a pre-existing condition for his mental state.

[raccoon]

35. If that's the case, why shouldn't Medicare refuse to cover pre-existing conditions?

Of course, I'm being majorly :sarcasm:

It really pisses me off that I can't buy into Medicare.

[yellowcanine]

38. I am guessing that Limbaugh's preexisting condition of douchebaggery doesn't keep him from getting

health insurance. Someone should point that out to him.

[FiveGoodMen]

39. Just amazing the amount of damage we've allowed that one piece of Satan's shit to do!

How many millions of lives have been ruined or lost because of this fucker's propaganda?

[Initech]

40. What about corporate welfare?

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

41. The Right Wing has been absolutely brilliant and quite successful employing the Southern Strategy...

Because the Republicans have employed the Southern Strategy which has seen its success by characterizing every policy position that Democrats espouse into "welfare policies." They have racialized non-racial public policies, such as unemployment insurance and health care reform, for instance. We've seen it in Kentucky and West Virginia during the Democratic primaries where white people openly admitted that they wouldn't vote for Obama because he's black and because somehow his policies would "reward people who don't deserve it," translation: black and brown people.

The Southern Strategy has worked now for nearly 40 years. I thought Webb would be smart enough to see what's going on.

The reason why there's "Reagan Democrats" is precisely because Reagan played the race card so effectively that white Democrats--particularly white male Democrats--began to vote against their own best interest because they were frightened and/or hated black people who are "shiftless and lazy" and just want a handout.

Watch Rachel Maddow. She has done such a brilliant job rehashing the history of Republicans playing the race card and employing the Southern Strategy. The Republicans want the final vestiges of the Southern Democrats or "Dixiecrats." If the Republicans can grab any remaining Southern Democrats by appealing to their racism and fear, they would have succeeded.

That's what this is about. Limpballs is a racist. Period.