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Earlier today, MSNBC’s Carlos Watson hosted Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo for a discussion on health care.
At one point, Bartiromo was critical of the government-managed health care system in the United Kingdom. “How do I know the quality [of health care in the United States] is not going to suffer” with a public option? she asked.
Thanks to John Dinsmore for passing on this clip of CNBC lunkhead Maria Bartiromo tangling with New York congressman Anthony Weiner the other day. Yet another rich media creature with excellent insurance campaigning against health insurance reform; Weiner in the debate held up a lot better than I did with her a few weeks back.
I was a guest on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to talk about health care and Bartiromo, who used to work closely with a relative of mine at CNN, was friendly before the segment started. So I was surprised when the show started and Bartiromo went on the attack, asking me how I could say America didn’t have the best health care in the world. Everyone, she said, would choose to be treated in America if they could.
I was staggered for a moment, I admit it, because I thought she was kidding at first. We were probably a full minute into the debate before I realized it wasn’t a joke. And here’s the really funny part: toward the end of my appearance, I said something about how health care in America is great, if you’re an executive at Goldman, Sachs. Then I left the set and… guess who they brought right afterward on to rip me and praise the American health care system? Bartiromo’s colleague at CNBC, Erin Burnett, a former Goldman, Sachs executive.
Bartiromo, both with me and in this spot with Weiner, has been hammering home the same point, that the proof that a public option won’t work can be found in the fact that the public health care system in England will not pay for the colorectal cancer drug Erbitux. I guess she is trying to say that there is rationing of health care in a single-payer system — that the fact that the government will not pay for the most expensive non-generic cancer drug on the market is proof that we shouldn’t have a public option in the U.S.
It drives me crazy when people make this argument. Fuck a fancy boutique drug like Erbitux — I have a very expensive private plan and I can’t even go to a doctor, not even to ask a simple question, unless it’s an emergency. I can’t get a routine checkup, can’t find out what that weird lump in my left foot is, can’t have the pleasure of a routine proctological exam unless I want to pay cash for it, and, well, forget about getting a filling replaced or seeing a therapist to deal with my incipient nervous collapse/burgeoning mid-life crisis. Hell, forget about paying for Erbitux, if I wanted to get a colonoscopy to find out if I needed Erbitux, I wouldn’t be able to — I’d probably have to wait until I was a fully symptomatic cancer patient before I could even have that conversation on my insurer’s dime. And I’m one of the lucky ones, I actually have money to pay for care out of pocket, if I had to. No country in the world rations care more than the U.S. There are whole generations of Americans (20-40 year-olds in particular) who don’t know what it is to be able to go to a doctor for preventive care or routine checkups. Erbitux, for Christ’s sake! Give me a break.
I’ve been getting phone calls from some folks in DC with some ugly stories about how the Democrats have systematically sandbagged the progressive opposition, with the White House pulling strings and levering the funding for various nonprofit groups in order to prevent them from airing ads attacking the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. I suspect in the end this is going to be the main story of the health care reform effort, how the Democrats (and some progressive groups) sold out their constituents in exchange for financial contributions from the relevant industries. But at the same time, you can’t discount the role certain media outlets are playing in all of this. Nobody is ordering Maria Bartiromo to lobby to keep poor people from having access to the kind of excellent health care she is fortunate enough to have been given by CNBC, for being so good at flattering Wall Street pirates on air (and off, according to some folks I know at certain banks). She just does it because that’s who she is naturally. I just don’t know how these people sleep at night — it baffles me.
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Bartiromo has her sponsors to protect. She knows what’s important for her career and it doesn’t involved providing healthcare for the masses.
hey matt, i’m from brazil and concerning bartiromo’s comment on how everyone would choose to be treated in america i they could, you should have emphatized on the “could”. decent health care is a luxury in the u.s., and as much as we all love a bit of luxury in our lives, the fact that you have some of the best doctors in the world and you can’t see them until you have an illness is, pardon my portuguese, “uma realidade de merda”. at least in brazil we get check-ups.
Are all of u really this stupid? Every insurance plan I’ve ever been on I have been able get check ups and talk to a doctor whenever I want and trust me these are the cheap plans. Why don’t we say the real reason price are expensive is because they have to bill everyone else more to make up for the money the government shorts them on Medicare. Have u ever talked to a disabled Vet about what they think about their government care. The Media and goldmann sachs isn’t sinking government care the fact are whats sinking it.
I’m 38 years old, currently unemployed and I don’t have insurance. It’s too expensive, and I don’t qualify for Medicaid. The real reason why healthcare is expensive is because the 46 million uninsured end up raising premiums. Not to mention all those who have insurance who are under-covered.
Hey why dont you tell me where to buy one of these great, cheap plans your talking about! be specific with the provoder and the name of th plan cause damn! i didnt think there really WERE that many plans out there worth buying, even for a LOT of money. so go ahead and provide that info and i’ll be happy to come back and admit how”stupid” we all are.
I’m on an HSA via work, and while reimbursements in CA are crap, I’m able to to get check ups, colonoscopies, treatments, whatever, whenever I want/ask/need them. This “journalist” is either as big a liar as his president or he’s an idiot and doesn’t know how to call a doctor and schedule an appointment. Only in Rolling Stone……
Well said Matt
It’s ironic to me, as I feel that fighting universal health care is the most elitist thing one can do.
To help put things into perspective, as a Canadian, my visit to the doctor last week was covered, as would any referrals or test. The medications I was prescribed however, were not covered by the government.
This is where you are either out of pocket, or if you have private insurance (through work) you have extended health which will likely cover medications,and dental/chiro/massage to limits- $500-$1500/y).
When I was thrown off my bike separating my shoulder earlier this summer, my only cost was the ambulance ($45) and the sling ($45). I shudder to think what an uninsured american would do in the same situation.
Money is controlling this whole damned mess.
Am I the only one who sees the word CORRUPTION writ in large, neon letters with bright red arrows pointed at it while politicians are trying to convince the populace to turn away and complain about litter in its glare?
When the people we elected in Washington are forced to be in the same plan they want to push on us, only then will I believe it is a good plan. I have worked all my life and paid a lot money to the IRS, social security, medicare and all the other taxes & fines imposed on us. Where has it got me? Now I am in my 60’s ready to reap my rewards and the government wants to cut social security benefits as well as reduce medicare benefits to me. If the government is going to be so great at managing health care, tell me why Medicare is going broke?
I have already lost half my savings because of the greed of the big money makers who get bailed out with our tax dollars.
I suggest reading “Web of Debt, the Shocking Truth About Our Money System,” by Ellen Hodgson Brown, J.D. It is a shocker and a mind opener. And you don’t have to be a genius to understand what’s she’s talking about. If this country was run the way it was invisioned when the Constitution was written, the United States Government would have plenty of money and could afford health care for all our people. We should be VERY worried about what is going on in our monetary system because it is tied to everything in our lives. This is what we should be worried about before we tackle health care. When the government collapses they will be NO money for anything, never mind health care. We will be on our own. Maybe those crazy “survivalists” aren’t so crazy after all.
This was always going to be the case with health care reform, Republicans were always going to use the “socialized medicine” argument as a stick to beat any reform. All health care options would have faced the same Republican smears, so the Democratic Party should have gone for what the public want. Single Payer. As for the UK NHS, the fact the the UK has a maximum wait time of 1 day to see a GP, 18 weeks for a non priority operation and free prescriptions for vast categories of people escapes them. And as for Erbitux, it is available on the NHS.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5iTxS0-Kskgaru-1SNMp6TB9aDxxA
Taibi is naive about healthcare. He thinks that somehow the government will be more efficient than private business. Private business builds efficiencies. Government gives out actuarially unsound pensions to employees for 40 years beyond their contribution scheme. Let’s see the U.S. try to fund all those pensions with the weight of the entire medical system on top of it.
The Biggest Banking Heist in World History: Washington Mutual
http://marketoracle.co.uk/Article13894.html
Hey Alina—Matt isn’t writing for the eXile in Moscow now, he’s back in America where the operative language is anglisky, devushka.