ER Rooms and Rhetoric

Posted by John LaPlante in Uncategorized on Aug 28th, 2008 | no responses

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Can you tell the difference between a rhetorical device and a serious plan? Apparently some folks cannot.

John Goodman, whose comments we occasionally feature on this blog, is drawing ridicule from CBS News. Goodman observed that under federal law, hospital emergency rooms must treat everyone who walks in the door, without pay.

"The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American — even illegal aliens — as uninsured."

Writing at CBSNews.com, Steve Benan chides Goodman for prescribing as official policy the most expensive form of care.

Now, while I’ve met Dr. Goodman a few times, I don’t know him very well. Still, I suspect that those comments are a rhetorical device and not a serious proposal. What he is driving at, I think, is the misplaced emphasis, in public debates and campaigns, on working towards having everyone covered by insurance, regardless of cost or whether they want to have it or not.

What is important is not whether you have insurance—for you can have insurance and still not get the care you want or need—but being able to choose the care you want, and being able to afford it.

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