Idaho GOP Congressjerk: "Nobody dies because they don't have access to health care"

[lumbercartel]

@shylocxs

Access doesn’t equate to actual care, and certainly not affordable care.

Access doesn’t even mean “access.” There are far too many places in the West especially [1] where saying that you have “access” means that there is someone, somewhere, who will see you. It doesn’t mean that it’s close enough to do any good. Our local hospital routinely gets ambulances from Pie Town [2], which is just about an hour and 20 minutes away. Ours is a small hospital, so there’s a lot that they can’t do. In that case add another hour to get to Albuquerque. I’m guessing that Idaho has plenty of places that are more than two hours from definitive care.

If you don’t have time (the whole “Golden Hour” thing) then it’s helicopter time, and that ride will set you back around $30K, even for a condition that in other places would be easily handled by a run-of-the-mill ambulance for less than a tenth as much.

[1] Now an increasing number in Red States like Kentucky and Tennessee as well
[2] Yup. It’s a real place right on the Continental Divide. The have a Pie Festival every September.

[shylocxs]

Living in Tennessee, I’m going to just back you up. Yeah, access can be terrible and it definitely doesn’t mean what Republican assholes think it means. I can’t imagine what it would be like to treat my son’s asthma emergencies or trying to save his life if he went into anaphylactic shock from accidentally eating nuts living 50 miles from the nearest hospital.

On a lighter note, never heard of Pie Town but it’s on our way for our planned great American road trip (this would be the leg between Marfa, Texas and the Grand Canyon). Worth the visit?

[popobawa4u]

I am proud to be a Nobody, where at least I know I’m free.

[anon67050589]

@gellfex

Hey, notice when we diverged from everyone else, just when good ole Ronny came to office? Coincidence? I doubt it, though offhand I don’t recall his vandalizing healthcare, just everything else.

One of the main things I remember acutely is that the mental health budget HALVED, so that every single patient had to go down at least one level in care/treatment: if they were in-patient, they went to out-patient, if they were out-patient, they were simply out on the streets with no further support, that sort of thing.

[anon67050589]

Weirdly, that has been the one prescription I’ve had no trouble paying for, whether on my own or especially for the past few years under ACA. It’s the others that I’d love to have an at-home recipe for!

[manybellsdown]

Yeah I think that’s my cheapest prescription. It’s just that 3/4 of the people in my household need it. And if we couldn’t see a doctor to prescribe it I’ve no idea how I’d even get it in the first place.

(It’s a family joke that my husband gave me thyroid cancer. His whole family has thyroid issues, my family has zero history of thyroid problems, and yet… )

[anon61221983]

@Brainspore

This isn’t some goddamn partisan football game for some of us.

[anon67050589]

But you had kids, right?

The reason women develop the lion’s share of autoimmune disorders is because pregnancy is incredibly hard on the immune system. They’ve even proven than women who were pregnant with boys still have Y chromosomes in their blood stream years later. Basically, our bodies don’t get a break from fighting off foreign DNA.

[anon61221983]

@Mister44

So I guess “lucky” for her she is poor enough and/or disabled enough to qualify for medicaid.

I’m sure that’s coming to an end soon enough.

[lumbercartel]

@shylocxs

On a lighter note, never heard of Pie Town but it’s on our way for our planned great American road trip (this would be the leg between Marfa, Texas and the Grand Canyon). Worth the visit?

Not too far off the scenic route. The country you go through on the way is lovely – it’s US 60 between I-25 and I-17, or skip I-17 and stick on Arizona 260 to either Camp Verde (nice pre-Columbian site near Camp Verde) or north from Payson up to Lake Mary and from there to the Canyon. My preference is to go to Williams and take the scenic railway to the Canyon, but you can also drive there. Parking ain’t cheap, but neither is the railway.

Between I-25 and Pie Town you cross the Plains of San Agustin with the VLA radiotelescope, then some pretty hill country[1], Pie Town (pop. 186, but some good cafes and pricey but award-winning pie. Do try the apple/pinon/green chile one, it’s awesome and not significantly picante.) After Pie Town, it’s more pretty country of a very Western sort, running an altitude of around 7500-8000 feet. Quemado is nice, small, but has a good cafe (the Largo) and next is Springerville. Springerville has several modest restaurants, nothing special, but decent fuel prices (don’t plan to fill up between Socorro and Springerville) and you can either go west on US 60, jog south and then west on AZ 260, possibly some nice side trips off of 260, or west a bit on 60 and then north on 191 to I-40 or on towards Navajo country.

60 west from Springerville is OK, but I’ve driven it too many times to like it much. Plenty of recent cinder cones and lots of cattle. Either 60 or 260 will get you to Show Low, lots of restaurants and the cheapest fuel you’ll see before Payson. From Show Low, head NW towards Heber. More high plains, forest, etc. and after Heber you’re on your way to the Mogollon Rim and Christopher Creek. Absolutely DO take this stretch in daylight, not because it’s dangerous (twisty, but not hard) but because you’ll be going down the Rim and the view is amazing. Just before 260 goes down the Rim, there’s a visitor center/viewing site on the south side of the road. Great place to take a break and breathe clean air and … well, you’ll see.

From Payson you can head over on 260 to Camp Verde (above) or north towards Pine and Lake Mary. Near Pine there’s a truly awesome travertine bridge over Pine Creek, with a park etc.

[1] If you skip Pie Town for Reserve, fork off 60 at Datil and head southwest through some lovely valleys and ranches. Reserve west takes you to Alpine, then north on 191 to Springerville through dense forest.

[stinkinbadgers]

@piratejenny

(he left for a reason!)

I always assumed people would leave because of the smell from the paper mill. Never understood how anyone could live down there with that smell 24/7.

[ixcheldelgato]

I think one of the “gifts” of this recent election cycle is the way that the varnish is peeling off. We all knew on some level the evil that was in these people’s hearts, but as they make it ever more plain, I feel less like a lone loony when I point it out.

Small comfort, of course.

[shylocxs]

Wow, thanks for the great information! You may have altered our plans, very much for the better.

On a slightly weird note, have you ever driven past Walter de Maria’s Lightning Field? We can’t get tickets since they’re sold out for the entire season but we know where it is and just wanted to drive past and see it, even just from the car.

[lumbercartel]

Walter de Maria’s Lightning Field

Is about 45 minutes off of the US 60 route I described. It’s north of Pie
Town, east and north of Quemado.

Depending on the time of year, you can meet some VERY hard-core bicyclists
along that stretch; the Continental Divide Trail runs through there and
draws bikers from all over the world. I had a delightful chat with one
from Nederlands over lunch a few years ago and have met whole troops of
them taking 60 from coast to coast (!)

If you’re coming through this stretch and like birds, we have a couple of
really great sanctuaries along here too, but they’re best during the winter
when we get enormous flocks of migratory waterfowl.

Winter or summer, though, be careful driving at night. We have elk. Lots
and lots of elk.

[Daaksyde]

@Shuck

This is one of those statements that’s so obviously wrong that you assume no sane human being would ever say it. Like, “Nobody gets pregnant because they have sex” or “nobody dies because they don’t have access to a parachute when they jump out of an airplane.” I can’t even begin to understand what he thinks he’s saying.

Sounds a little bit like “If it’s a legitimate disease or injury, the body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” [ref]

@kwhitefoot

Where I live (Norway) they use taxis for that, no need for any special vehicles.

Taxis are special vehicles in most of the U.S. (outside of a few megacities). Plus it would add a couple of hours to the wait time.

@JeffreyHayner

for some reason Vision and Dental is never included. It’s almost like your eyes and teeth are not part of your body, for accounting purposes.

It’s ridiculous. AMA vs ADA rivalry, and they can claim that anything other than a simple extraction is an elective procedure that is not medically necessary. I have no idea why eyes are different…probably some similar nonsense.

[Shuck]

@Daaksyde

Sounds a little bit like “If it’s a legitimate disease or injury, the body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

I keep hearing/reading about all these Republicans who seem to be saying that if people lead good, virtuous lives, they don’t get sick, so it might be more, “If it’s a legitimate disease or injury, God has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” in this case.

[LDoBe]

Absolutely. You should hear my grandma.

“Well, you know, homeless people deserve it. I was born during the great depression. Always had a home. You have to save, and you have to work hard.”

As if she’s the only one who knows what a hard day’s work is. Or that the average american can easily get honest pay for honest work.

I guess she’s a product of that idyllic time, when, if you were a woman who could type, you could afford “spending money” doing that. Or if you were a man with a strong back and a suit, you could walk into any business and have a 1 in 10 chance of getting hired on the spot.

[some_guy]

“She didn’t die from lack of medical attention, she died from ulcerative colitis.”

or perhaps . . .

“It’s not the bullet that kills you, it’s the bullet hole.”

[douglas_stuart]

@anon55609254

metal awards

Can we use lead from the water system in Flint?

[anon67050589]

@LDoBe

Or if you were a man with a strong back and a suit, you could walk into any business and have a 1 in 10 chance of getting hired on the spot.

My grandfather was a manual laborer. Used a shovel every day of his work life, outdoors in Minnesota. And yet: had a house, two kids (who both got excellent public education through college), and a stay-at-home wife.

Those were the days, indeed.