2010-02-26

ME-gan McArdle is Universal Catastrophic Health Care

I still kinda like Yglesias despite his not spitting in McArdle's face before leaving the Atlantic.  But that's because I'm an optimist and one of those bleeding hearts that tries to see the good in everyone, giving folks the benefit of the doubt whenever possible.  I assumed that Matt's treatment of ME-gan is due to his being a passive-aggresive pansy who's frightful afeared of confrontation, even with a pathetic lightweight and brainless vapid wreck like the McArdle thing.  Srsly, I meant that in a good way, I'm totes about avoiding conflict and confrontation whenever possible (except for you, Whale Chowder.  Your due for a good thrashing, once I'm done having intercourse with your mother).

Then again, this sort of bullshit reminds me that I've been wrong about things before.  First, let me start off with the disclaimer that there is no fucking way I am going to read McArdle's bullshit.  No.  Fucking.  Way.

Okay, that out of the way, let's go on to tearing it apart.  I'm guessing that the gist of it is legally codifying the GOP answer to the uninsured - "Everyone has health care, you can just go to hospital emergency rooms."  IOW, if you have an easily treatable condition, all you've got to do is ignore it until it becomes serious and then they'll take care of you at Emerg.  ME-gan's kind enough to believe that if you're unlucky enough to be in this situation, you shouldn't also have to declare bankruptcy because of it (unless you have a shitty job and the lost wages while you're convalescing do in your finances - but she really doesn't hate poor people - she just wishes they would go away).  Yeah, that's a great fucking plan - if it were twenty-five years ago.  Wait, let me guess - ME-gan's plan also expands this coverage to people who have been diagnosed with very expensive to treat conditions (incidentally with no provision to screen people who aren't already seeing a GP regularly).  Fan-fucking-tastic.  Even if she's proposing to pay for this program with a special tax on asshole-douchebaggery that bankrupts Cheney and that Blackwater Xe Prince guy, I'd still think it's a useless proposal.

TL:DR version - ME-gan thinks that the best way to help the uninsured and down on their luck is to provide a benefit that helps folks in proportion to how much health care they already have.  Also, preventative medicine is a crock and you can keep costs down by letting things develop into Emergency Room situations before doing anything about them.

I've already acknowledged that I've been wrong before, so if I'm wrong about the ME-gan plan To Save The World And Make Everyone Happy, I'd be glad to recant.  Forgive me if I don't hold my breath waiting.

1 comment:

Dragon-King Wangchuck said...

Fantastic. Matt doubles down on not calling ME-gan an idiot.