{"id":21735,"date":"2003-11-20T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T07:15:21","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-05-19T07:15:21","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T07:15:21","slug":"until_you_pay_for_health_care_costs_won_t_come_down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/11\/20\/until_you_pay_for_health_care_costs_won_t_come_down\/","title":{"rendered":"Until You Pay for Health Care, Costs Won?t Come Down"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Yes, my friends, he did, and so guess, what I was working for a radio station in Pittsburgh and the management loved it. We\u2019d love to talk about increasing your compensation but, of course, the government has a price freeze on wages. So the wages, the cap on wages, employers are more than happy to observe that, but when you went to the grocery store during that period of time, you found a whole bunch of new stuff that had not been there before the price caps were put in. For example every item supposedly had a price cap on it. You\u2019d go to the store and all of the sudden there would be a new cut of beef, the Delmonico B rib eye, and it was 18 or something dollars a pound or whatever it was. And people said, “What is this Delmonico B rib eye? I never heard of that.” Exactly. Entrepreneurs in the butcher business created a whole new cut that was not covered under the wage and price controls. <\/line> Well, the same thing can happen in health care. All they\u2019ve got to do is change the way a service is provided so that it doesn\u2019t fit a current definition. Voila! It\u2019s a new service not covered by the price cap. It never, ever works. The wage controls do because employers are more than happy to make sure the government stays off their back that way, but even people that are controlling the wages they pay people, those businesses still sell something, they\u2019ll find a way to come up with a new way to package the product so that the price they\u2019re charging people for what they\u2019re producing will not be subject to control. They never work, they never have worked, they haven\u2019t been re-instituted since then because it was a boondoggle back then. And so, “Rush, okay, know-it-all, what would you do?” Easy. If we\u2019re ever to have, and I said this earlier and I\u2019ve been saying it for many, many moons here, a little Indian casino lingo there, which is, by the way, going to be the next source of revenue for politicians, keep a sharp eye, Indian casinos, they\u2019re going to go to those guys and say, “Hey, you know what? This plan we had to let you get some of the stuff back that we took from you and all those cowboy wars, well, guess what? Yeah, we\u2019re going to let you sell the cigarettes, we\u2019re going to start taxing them, just a little, a nickel, and casino profits, yeah, we\u2019re going to start taxing those. And you watch. It\u2019s going to happen.” <\/line>The only way to control, the only way to even have a chance at controlling the out-of-control spiral upward of health care costs is to put the consumer in charge of paying. Right now you think insurance is covering everything and some of you your insurance coverage is good, some of you your insurance coverage isn\u2019t good. You complain about it regardless. It\u2019s still a hassle. No matter how good a coverage you have it\u2019s still a hassle to use it, but if you think you\u2019re paying no money you\u2019ll use it. And so the image, the impression has been left that health care is free – or at least it doesn\u2019t cost you anything. You\u2019ve got an insurance card, it\u2019s Blue Cross or Kaiser or whatever. So you go to the doctor, get a hangnail fixed, give them the card and you walk out of there. Bamm! You feel good. Well, somebody is paying for it. And the fact that you\u2019re not, means that whoever is, is not as concerned about the price as you are, so the prices are going up. And then this starts to affect businesses. Businesses have been just paying these increased premiums because it\u2019s almost a mandated requirement now that employees have health care packages. <\/line>Well, guess what\u2019s happening now? And I have the story here in my stack, but I have the stack memorized, I don\u2019t need to go get the story to tell you what\u2019s in it because I read it because I do show prep because I\u2019m prepared, and the story is this: Employers are now starting to demand that their employees exercise good health behavior. They got to know how much you weigh. You said you had a doctors appointment and you couldn\u2019t come to work the other day, I want to know when you went to the doctor for, what\u2019s the problem? If you have a disease, I want to know about it. I want to know how you\u2019re treating it, and this is starting is to happen now because all these prices have just kept spiraling out of control and the people at the tail end of it, who are paying for it are finally saying wait a minute we can\u2019t anymore and so the government is going, okay, we will, prescription drugs. Well, it all comes back to the taxpayer of this country, whether you think you\u2019re paying for your health coverage or not, you are. And the only way that we\u2019re going to get costs under control is if you pay for it directly. <\/line><\/p>\n

Imagine, my friends, if we all had hotel insurance coverage. Why, we\u2019d all be staying at the Waldorf Astoria. You couldn\u2019t get a room at a Ritz Carlton. Nobody would be staying at the Motel 6s. That\u2019s what\u2019s happened to health care. Except when get into a hospital room, it may as well be a Motel 6, even though it\u2019s cost you 1200 bucks a day, right? You ever eaten the food in there? Ever called for a nurse? May be two days before you get one. You\u2019re paying 1200 bucks a day for it. You may as well be staying in a Motel 6 At least the Motel 6 you\u2019ve got a towel in the room. <\/line> <\/line>So just look, you know, hotel rooms are priced on what various elements of the economy can afford to pay. That\u2019s why there\u2019s Super 8, Motel 6, Best Western, all the way up to, take your pick. But in health care there\u2019s no concern for whether or not a patient can afford anything, because insurance companies are making the decision what gets paid and how much and so forth. So to fix this, medical savings accounts giving you the equivalent of the money that\u2019s being spent on you in health care, give you that money, let you go shop it with the proviso that you get to keep what you don\u2019t spend. You\u2019ll start shopping, and you\u2019ll start trying to find the lowest price you can for health coverage, just like you do every other phase of your life. Why did this cease to be the case, you\u2019re asking? Because politicians wanted the power, the control over your health care. And now treating health care is as important as a lawyer, health care is almost a God-given right, health care is an entitlement to being a human being, and so somebody ought to pay for your health care, you\u2019re not allowed to suffer, we\u2019re not allowed to suffer here, we shouldn\u2019t, and we\u2019re a compassionate society, we don\u2019t want people to suffer. <\/line><\/line>But it\u2019s lost all elements of anything to do with a free market. If you look at the health care industry, and if you want to find out what socialism would be like throughout our society, if you want Macy\u2019s to be like health care, vote liberal Democrat. The health care industry in this country is as close to socialism as we can get, and it\u2019s not as bad as it is in full socialist countries like Canada or Britain. Try to get a doctor over there. Try to get a doctor in Canada. Try to get a doctor in Great Britain if you\u2019re over there. Just for an average little thing that you need to go see, it\u2019s a mess, as everybody knows. We\u2019re not that bad, yet but we\u2019re on that road. But compared to the other elements of our free market, the health care business bears no resemblance to it and if they\u2019re ever going to get fix it and get prices down that\u2019s the only way, not capping prices and not new entitlements and all this other stuff. And there might be one other thing, too, and that would to be try to convince people that, you know, you may not need medicine every day to have a happy life. You may not need medicine every day, you may not need to see a doctor every year, especially if you\u2019re 30. <\/line>Now, I\u2019m talking about people who are healthy. I know some of you out there are chronic this and chronic that. I\u2019m not talking about you – let\u2019s being intelligent here – I know there\u2019s genuine sickness out there, but we\u2019re not that bad despite the obesity that everybody talks about being out there but there\u2019s this whole cycle here that is just getting bigger and bigger and bigger and repeating and repeating and repeating, and at the root of it is this hideous notion that people somehow don\u2019t think that they can be or are responsible for certain aspects of their lives. And one of them is their health.<\/line>COMMERCIAL BREAK<\/line><\/p>\n

RUSH: Sandy, Humboldt County, California, up there near Eureka and the Earth First crowd. Welcome to the program.<\/line> <\/line>CALLER: Thanks so much for taking my call.<\/line> <\/line>RUSH: You bet.<\/line> <\/line>CALLER: Okay, I totally agree with you on the drug program.<\/line> <\/line>RUSH: Okay, and thanks much for the call. <\/line> <\/line>CALLER: Okay no, I have something I need to say. Don\u2019t cut me short, okay? I have lung cancer and I was on chemo for like nine months.<\/line> <\/line>RUSH: How you doing?<\/line> <\/line>CALLER: Well, I\u2019m getting better because I\u2019m now on a pill that\u2019s called Iripa. It\u2019s made in the UK. It cost me $1700 a month for 30 pills.<\/line> <\/line>RUSH: How much, $1700 a month for 30 pills?<\/line> <\/line>CALLER: Yes. The reason that it\u2019s very expensive is because it is kind of a trial thing.<\/line> <\/line>RUSH: Yes.<\/line> <\/line>CALLER: If I was on welfare or on SSI it would be free. But because I worked for 50 years and I paid some money, not a lot, needless to say, and we do have our own insurance just a supplement to Medicare, but it doesn\u2019t cover any drugs, I\u2019m paying for it myself. But if we were in a socialized country I couldn\u2019t get it because this medicine is made in the UK and they don\u2019t furnish it to their citizens because it\u2019s too expensive.<\/line> <\/line>RUSH: There you go. It\u2019s made in the UK and the Brits can\u2019t get it because their socialized healthcare plan has adjudged it to be too expensive.<\/line> <\/line>CALLER: That\u2019s right. And I called up there to try and get it for a lesser amount than in in California because it\u2019s so expensive. I\u2019ve also checked with Mexico and they don\u2019t have it, either. And what I\u2019m saying is, without this, though, I would probably be dead, okay? And so I\u2019m so grateful and I\u2019m so thankful that we do not have socialized medicine. If they pass this bill – I\u2019m 66 years old, by the way, and I\u2019ve worked for 50 years.<\/line> <\/line>RUSH: Yes.<\/line> <\/line>CALLER: If they pass this bill, it\u2019s just one stop closer to socialized medicine.<\/line> <\/line>RUSH: Yeah, you know, that, by the way, your case, I\u2019m sure there are a lot of cancer patients that are taking very expensive drugs as well, some of them experimental, some of them approved, some not, but still, once the federal government becomes in charge of the dispensation of prescription drugs, that\u2019s where the price caps are going to come, and the government is going to say that\u2019s too expensive, we can\u2019t, and it\u2019s not going to be available unless you can buy it yourself.<\/line> <\/line>CALLER: That\u2019s right. But like I say, I happen to be fortunate enough, I worked for 50 years, I worked in the real estate business, my husband works in timber and we\u2019re in an area so overrun with Democrats and all these liberals.<\/line> <\/line>RUSH: I know, I\u2019ve been there.<\/line> <\/line>CALLER: We have teachers that are teaching kids how to protest in the sixth grade.<\/line> <\/line>RUSH: I know that. I mean, I was scheduled to speak out there at Humboldt State University, and well, this is way back in the Rush to Excellence Tour, and there were some people at the university who threatened to not allow me to campus.<\/line> <\/line>CALLER: Oh, you wouldn\u2019t believe it.<\/line> <\/line>RUSH: I was too conservative. Denied the use of some lecture hall there.<\/line> <\/line>CALLER: Thank God that Arnie got in.<\/line> <\/line>RUSH: Yeah, well, we\u2019ll keep a sharp eye on that. There\u2019s some stuff about Arnie. I\u2019m glad you reminded me that. We\u2019ve got some stuff to talk about that. Democrats are already trying to, as predicted, sidetrack Arnold. But, look, Sandy, best to you, okay?<\/line> <\/line>CALLER: Thank you so much, and best to you, too, because when I started taking the pill four months ago I was hooked on medicine that I was taking for pain and I don\u2019t have to take it anymore, but it took me over three months to get off of them. It\u2019s a tough situation.<\/line> <\/line>RUSH: Yeah, that\u2019s, I know. I know. That\u2019s a tortuous three months, too.<\/line> <\/line>CALLER: I\u2019m hanging in there and I\u2019ve been on myself and I\u2019m out protesting myself and trying to recall our district attorney here because he\u2019s one of them.<\/line> <\/line>RUSH: One of “them.” Sandy, I got to run here because of constraints of time thanks much and really, keep on. All the best to you.<\/line>END TRANSCRIPT<\/line><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes, my friends, he did, and so guess, what I was working for a radio station in Pittsburgh and the management loved it. We\u2019d love to talk about increasing your compensation but, of course, the government has a price freeze on wages. So the wages, the cap on wages, employers are more than happy to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nUntil You Pay for Health Care, Costs Won?t Come Down - The Rush Limbaugh Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/11\/20\/until_you_pay_for_health_care_costs_won_t_come_down\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Until You Pay for Health Care, Costs Won?t Come Down - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Yes, my friends, he did, and so guess, what I was working for a radio station in Pittsburgh and the management loved it. We\u2019d love to talk about increasing your compensation but, of course, the government has a price freeze on wages. So the wages, the cap on wages, employers are more than happy to […]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/until_you_pay_for_health_care__costs_won_t_come_down.Par.0002.ImageFile.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"description\":\"Excellence In Broadcasting\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/11\/20\/until_you_pay_for_health_care_costs_won_t_come_down\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/until_you_pay_for_health_care__costs_won_t_come_down.Par.0002.ImageFile.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/until_you_pay_for_health_care__costs_won_t_come_down.Par.0002.ImageFile.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/11\/20\/until_you_pay_for_health_care_costs_won_t_come_down\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/11\/20\/until_you_pay_for_health_care_costs_won_t_come_down\/\",\"name\":\"Until You Pay for Health Care, Costs Won?t Come Down - The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/11\/20\/until_you_pay_for_health_care_costs_won_t_come_down\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-19T07:15:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-05-19T07:15:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/11\/20\/until_you_pay_for_health_care_costs_won_t_come_down\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/11\/20\/until_you_pay_for_health_care_costs_won_t_come_down\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/11\/20\/until_you_pay_for_health_care_costs_won_t_come_down\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Until You Pay for Health Care, Costs Won?t Come Down\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Until You Pay for Health Care, Costs Won?t Come Down - The Rush Limbaugh Show","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/11\/20\/until_you_pay_for_health_care_costs_won_t_come_down\/","twitter_card":"summary","twitter_title":"Until You Pay for Health Care, Costs Won?t Come Down - The Rush Limbaugh Show","twitter_description":"Yes, my friends, he did, and so guess, what I was working for a radio station in Pittsburgh and the management loved it. We\u2019d love to talk about increasing your compensation but, of course, the government has a price freeze on wages. So the wages, the cap on wages, employers are more than happy to […]","twitter_image":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/until_you_pay_for_health_care__costs_won_t_come_down.Par.0002.ImageFile.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"11 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/","name":"The Rush Limbaugh Show","description":"Excellence In Broadcasting","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/11\/20\/until_you_pay_for_health_care_costs_won_t_come_down\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/until_you_pay_for_health_care__costs_won_t_come_down.Par.0002.ImageFile.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/until_you_pay_for_health_care__costs_won_t_come_down.Par.0002.ImageFile.jpg"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/11\/20\/until_you_pay_for_health_care_costs_won_t_come_down\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/11\/20\/until_you_pay_for_health_care_costs_won_t_come_down\/","name":"Until You Pay for Health Care, Costs Won?t Come Down - The Rush Limbaugh Show","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/11\/20\/until_you_pay_for_health_care_costs_won_t_come_down\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2011-05-19T07:15:21+00:00","dateModified":"2011-05-19T07:15:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/11\/20\/until_you_pay_for_health_care_costs_won_t_come_down\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/11\/20\/until_you_pay_for_health_care_costs_won_t_come_down\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/11\/20\/until_you_pay_for_health_care_costs_won_t_come_down\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Until You Pay for Health Care, Costs Won?t Come Down"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21735"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21735\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}