Monday, January 28, 2019

And clueless. Did I mention clueless?

Trump's remarks at a healthcare pricing meeting.
We’re here today, though, to discuss how the healthcare system too often harms people with unfair surprises. They have some really — surprises in a very negative sense: medical bills and the like. The pricing is hurting patients, and we’ve stopped a lot of it, and we’re going to stop all of it. It is very important to me.

[...]

It’s a very difficult subject, it’s a very complex subject, but we’ve all gotten to understand it very well. And the strides we’ve made are rather amazing.

[...]

Nearly 40 percent of insured adults report receiving a surprise medical bill in the last year. Patients should know that the real price — and what’s going on with the real prices of procedures, because they don’t know. They go in, they have a procedure, and then all of a sudden they can’t afford it.

[...]

When you go to a grocery store, or you go to see a mechanic, you know the prices upfront, and you get a receipt that shows the cost of every item. Every single item. You know exactly what you’re paying. You go and get your car fixed and you say, “How much?” But people don’t do that with the medical to the same extent, and they get some very unpleasant surprises.

And one of the things that happens is when you don’t make a deal upfront, then the doctor, or whoever it may it be, all of a sudden doubles and triples the price, because they figure you don’t care or you’re rich — you have plenty of money; you don’t have to worry about it. And we don’t want that happening.

  White House transcript
1) They jack up prices because of insurance; they don't know or care whether you're rich or poor; but I'm pretty sure they know you care.

2) He obviously has never taken a car to or received a bill from a mechanic. Why is he even talking about mechanics? He thinks they're like grocery stores. I'm guessing he's never been in a grocery store, either. Perhaps someone told him that going to the doctor was like going to the mechanic, not like the grocery store where everything has a price sticker, and he got mixed up.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

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