Hat tip to Rum, Romanism and Rebellion: And they wonder why they have a gender gap
This is our very own Senator from Arizona and the Senate Republican whip, complaining that his insurance plan (which he is part of a pool that includes females) covers maternity.
Is it any wonder, when Republicans keep electing chauvinists like Senator Kyl to their leadership, why women have voted more and more heavily Democratic over the years?
I hope he will write a thank you letter to female members of his insurance pool next time he gets a prostate exam.
Kyl got dropped on his head, apparently time and time again, when he was but a little baby.
ReplyDeleteHow is it ethical to force men to pay for insurance that covers maternity care, something they cannot ever possibly receive? We don't do this with any other kind of insurance, e.g., I'm not forced to pay for the insurance coverage of a Ferarri on my Honda.
ReplyDeleteS.K.
ReplyDeleteYou pay for a whole lot of coverage that you won't use. The idea of a risk pool (something that your insurance is almost certainly a part of, whether it be people who work for your employer or people who have been pooled together to buy self-employment insurance) is that the costs and benefits are pooled.
I'm not aware of any risk pool anyplace that is limited to men only.
Sofa King,
ReplyDeleteAs a taxpayer, I don't want to pay for Kyl's government-provided dementia coverage either. When he's finally properly diagnosed, let him wander around the streets with a shopping cart.
You do realize that science has now provided a way for women to re-populate without men? Why on earth should we keep conservative men healthy? The quicker you die off, the more money we will save on medical insurance...and a lot of other things like endless wars and no-bid contracts.
And, yes, you are supplementing the insurance on that Ferarri. We are all taking a combined risk for the few...including those who own expensive cars and drive too fast.
Grow up. Life is a shared experience whether you like it or not. Either you pay now or you will pay later.
Kyl says that men should not need to pay for maternity care on their own policy. What is so difficult to comprehend about the statement?
ReplyDeleteDon't play stupid.. You know what he said.
Kyl-Palin 2012
JL Mealer
Mealer Companies LLC
http://mealercompanies.com
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& 100% Self-Regenerative-Fueled
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You pay for a whole lot of coverage that you won't use.
ReplyDeleteI didn't ask why I should be forced to pay for coverage I won't use - obviously, I can't know in advance what may happen to me, and so I bank against the possibility it might be something bad by getting insurance that I have to fund even if that never comes to pass.
No, I actually asked why I (theoretically) should be forced to pay for coverage I can't use, even in the worst of worst case scenarios. Don't you see the difference between these two questions?
Why on earth should we keep conservative men healthy?
Why indeed? Do you think I trust in the goodness of others to keep me healthy? Not to put to fine a point on it, I don't trust you, or the people in government. I've no factual grounds on which to do so. I know you probably meant your little threat as snark, but I don't actually believe you only mean that sarcastically. Really.
And, yes, you are supplementing the insurance on that Ferarri. We are all taking a combined risk for the few...including those who own expensive cars and drive too fast.
Well, if that were true, then I would expect that the insurance premiums on Ferraris and Hondas would be roughly similar.
Curiously, I find that they are not. So one thing, your supposition or reality, must be incorrect.
Grow up. Life is a shared experience whether you like it or not. Either you pay now or you will pay later.
I'm finding it increasingly likely that I shall be required to do both.
JL Mealer:
ReplyDeleteThe whole concept of a pool is that the overall risk is spread around. For example, as a male you are at higher risk for heart disease, stroke and cancer before the age of 65 (when medicare takes over) than women are. But being in a pool you pay the same health care premium that they pay.
Apparently you are the one playing stupid. If there were no risk pools then you could indeed buy health insurance tailored to yourself (exactly like car insurance, which is therefore a faulty comparison) and as soon as the risk went up (i.e. once you got sick) the premiums would zoom upwards.
Think of it this way--- your health care costs $X. If everyone only insured themselves, they would have to pay $(X+Y) where Y represented the cost of administration, overhead and profits to the insurance company above what they paid. Ergo it would then never make any sense for anyone to buy any insurance-- just paying your own cost would be cheaper (and unlike car insurance where liability at least is mandatory, your having a heart attack won't result in injuries to anyone else.)
But if you don't understand the whole concept of a shared risk pool, then I'm sure that your company is a crappy one to work for because either you don't provide your employees with health insurance, or you don't employ any females.
In fact, since even insurance companies have not talked about segregating risk pools by gender, I would go a step farther and suggest the same thing I just wrote as a comment on Rep. Shadegg's AZ Central blog:
ReplyDeleteThis comment by Kyl and Rep. Shadegg's article about risk pools both represent diversionary tactics-- "ideas" they are not really serious about pushing but meant only to try and throw thumbtacks in the road to try and slow down the health care reform bus. I mean, if this was such a great idea why didn't Senator Kyl push for no-maternity coverage policies during the dozen years when he was in the majority?
Well screw him too.
ReplyDeleteMost health insurance plans pay for viagra, but he thinks the mother should pay for the delivery room.
Typical guy way of thinking. Too bad I can't get my vote back from when he ran against Peterson.
SK,
ReplyDeleteYes, I was being sarcastic. But I was also making a point: No one can pick and choose what risks they face in life.
Insurance companies could not make a profit if they sold policies without a pool. It doesn't work the way Kyl wants it to work. He's demonstrating his complete ignorance of basic insurance principles and acting infantile about it, too.
This only goes to show how delusional and dysfunctional the Republican "leadership" has become. Some of things the Birthers are saying make more sense than what these crazy old geezers in the Senate Country Club are spouting.
Kyl might as well have said he'd throw his mother under the bus to get a better rate. Now that's a real adult way of handling a major problem that is dragging down our economy.
If young Soccer Moms needed another excuse to continue voting for Democrats in the future, this old fart gave it to them. That tape will come in handy during the next campaign with Independents.
It's like some Freudian hangup.
Sandyh,
ReplyDeleteThank you. I'm one of those 'young soccer moms.'
Like I said, I wish I could have my vote back from last election when I voted for him, but I won't make that mistake twice. Next time he runs I'm voting for somebody else.