I've enjoyed reading the fantastic comments posted by Healthcare United supporters on a recent Huffington Post article.

The article, which was sent to our subscribers yesterday, reports on recent statements made by Sen. John McCain's healthcare advisor, John Goodman. Goodman said, "The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American...as uninsured."  He continued, no one is really uninsured because they can always just go to an ER to get treatment. We suspected that, like me, other healthcare workers would have plenty to say in response to Goodman's "expert" analysis. Furthermore, it's clear that healthcare workers needed to be part of this online debate--for we have the actual experience of being on the frontlines of healthcare in this country.

Here's a few of our favorite comments:

"I am OUTRAGED! I am a Registered Nurse living in a medium sized city. Our ER wait times are terrible. They are overrun by parents bringing their kids in with pink eye, seniors needing their blood pressure meds refilled, and even parents coming in to have their kids vaccinated. All of these visits, that would be handled by a primary care provider if the person had insurance, serve to clog our ER's and delay care for EMERGENCIES. They also cause the cost of care in the ER to rise astronomically...." - KristieShannonRN

"As an emergency physician, I can tell Mr. Goodman from personal experience that "no one is uninsured because they can all go to an ER for care" is a ridiculous statement. The emergency department is not the place for providing primary (including preventive) care. Emergency departments are for acute care, but are already over-crowded with both acute and a substatnial number of non-acute patients. This leads to long wait times, boarding of patients in the hallways, and other situations not conducive to optimal patient care and safety. Not to mention that the emergency department is not set up to do routine physicals in the midst of all the patients needing immediate attention. Are we to do Pap smears with follow-up, prostate exams (and what if we find a nodule?), sigmoidoscopies or referrals for colonoscopy (no insurance for screening colonoscopy, remember)? The whole idea of the emergency department as the designated site for care for the uninsured is mindbogglingly myopic." - ljlmd84

"I work at an acute care inner city hospital that is not for profit. I get to see all the uninsured patients that he says does not exist. I can also tell you that an emergency craniotomy after a traumatic head injury and the care that MUST come after that does not happen in the ER and is not paid for except by my hospital cutting money from the budget. On an average day I see 8-12 patients and of those over half are uninsured. Just this week a woman on a trip, had a massive stroke w/ no movement on one side, and is now in our city and now sits in our ICU and will be here for awhile until she can handle a plane or car trip home. Her state is not going to send us a check for taking care of their uninsured... At present they are breathing and struggling to get better, but the future uninsured may not be able to come to our doors as we will have shut down when we run out of money and energy trying to keep our heads above water."- nimornam

"Hearing Mr. Goodman's statement about the non-existent uninsured really floored me. As an EMT I see people every day who do not seek treatment directly because they know they cannot afford a trip to the emergency department. They do not take their prescribed medication because they cannot afford the meds AND food. They do not get diagnosed of treated for diabetes, cancer, any other life-threatening disease because they cannot find a doctor who will treat them without insurance and the ER does not diagnose until they are at a crisis they may never recover from. Don't tell me that Americans are not in a health care crisis. Take a look." - greymoon

Let's keep the conversation going. Visit the article and post a comment now: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-rosenbaum/john-goodman-think-tank-h_b_122168.html (Note: Registration required) 

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