I am so mad I could spit - to put it mildly. This morning on C-Span I happened to catch a Republican caller claim that everyone already has heath care. He said that “when you go into an emergency room no doctor has ever said that if you don’t have the money I won’t set your broken leg.”
But, what about a woman who feels a lump in her breast? Say, for instance, she goes to an emergency room for treatment. Will they give her a mammogram? Will they do a lumpectomy? Will they do a mastectomy if needed. Will they perform reconstructive surgery after the mastectomy? The answer is obvious. The emergency room people are not equipped to do this kind of health care. They would refer her to a specialist.
This is where the anti-comprehensive health care people have it all wrong. They are so brainwashed by the conservative media that they buy into the lie of emergency rooms as being “health care.”
I have had to go to an emergency room for help twice - each time after falling and injuring a wrist - one time my left wrist, one time my right wrist. Each time the people in the emergency room took x-rays, but were unable to determine the exact nature of the breaks. They are not bone specialists. Both times I was referred to a orthopedic specialist. And specialists cost money. I was fortunate both times to have insurance which covered the cost of the emergency room, the specialist and the follow-up care which was needed.
So when I hear the anti-comprehensive health care people spew that garbage about emergency rooms being “health care” I want to scream. They are repeating all the lies that they hear from their talking-head masters. I wish they would shut up. They don’t know what the hell they are talking about. The emergency room as “health care” scenario is a propaganda tool used by the Republicans to defeat the public option.