Multimillionaire Sean Hannity almost certainly has a generous health insurance policy that he either buys for himself and his family or is provided him courtesy of Fox News. But for those Americans who have had trouble getting coverage and looking forward to Obamacare, Hannity has this message: start saving and pay for much of your treatment yourself.
Hannity did an hour-long special Friday night (8/2/13) that was little more than a promotion for Republican efforts to defund Obamacare, with a few moments of opposing opinion for “balance.” During one such moment, a businessman challenged Hannity’s attacks on Obamacare by saying, “The crux of this political football that we’re doing is we want to – as an advanced society – be able to have people to have affordable insurance.”
Hannity interrupted to say, “But the problem is, the CBO says 30 million Americans with this plan will still be uninsured.” What he forgot to mention is that, as PolitiFact pointed out, “The number of people without insurance would be much higher without the law.”
But Hannity wants you to know he has a solution, “and it would be personal savings accounts,” he said. Fox News medical contributor, Dr. Marc Siegel, agreed. “Personal responsibility would be really important here.” He suggested that some (rich) people won’t be able to get care and that costs will go sky high because of all those people getting “entitlement coverage”: “If you can’t get in to see us or we’re ordering very expensive tests that are variable prices, there’s no way that we can afford it, there’s no way we can keep practicing medicine the way we want to.”
Later, attorney Kisha Hebbon asked, “What is the ultimate solution for the problem of so many Americans not having health insurance?”
Hannity replied, “I think the answer is we stop this because it won’t work. I prefer medical savings accounts with catastrophic care – and build the money up over a lifetime.”
Well, that’s big of him. He didn’t point out that medical savings accounts do more for health insurers than average Americans. Wendell Potter, a former health insurance executive explains:
The median household income in this country is less than $52,000 a year (lower than it was 10 years ago after accounting for inflation), meaning that most families simply don't have the cash after paying the mortgage and buying groceries to fund an HSA. Yes, HSAs can be just what the doctor ordered for the young, healthy and highly compensated among us, but many others who enroll in these plans find out when they get sick that coverage is far from adequate. So inadequate, in fact, that growing numbers of Americans in these plans who do get sick are losing their homes and filing for bankruptcy.
As more young, healthy and well-to-do people enroll in these plans, the cost of more comprehensive or even adequate coverage is skyrocketing. This means that even though many Americans should steer clear of high-deductible plans, they can't afford anything else. Insurance companies, meanwhile, are reporting higher profits because they don't have to pay out nearly as much as before in claims.
Do you think Hannity has such a plan for his family?
Amen to that. No system is perfect but the American system is perfectly inhumane for people without the means to afford the best care in the world. The USA ranks somwhere around 35-38th on the scale of wellbeing (life expectancy, morbidity and mortality, child mortality, etc. etc.)
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Nothing hardly comes out of his own pocket except for a bite to eat which is usually high in calories and high in fat.
He earns additional income from real estate deals, use of his name for promotional purposes, speaking engagements, book tours, Amazon, advertising sales, etc. This Long Island Lolito is a pro when it comes to hustling money. He’s a smooth operator with street smarts to woo grandma out of her life savings.
Hannocchio sends his two spoiled children to private school in Long Island. He has no problem paying for school uniforms and other school expenses and fees. Tennis lessons and tournaments for the spoiled ones are no problem. He can well afford it with his extremely high income.
He has a residence outside of New York. The Florida property is so expensive the average person could never afford it.
He can afford to fill up his oversize, overpriced vehicle. This bog complains about the price of gas to his audience as if he can’t afford it. What a bold face liar.
The Stop Hannity Express knows how this bog operates. His complaints about high costs are bogus. Otherwise, the Dowdy One would have to cut trips to the salon and high-end shopping ventures.
NOTE TO HANNIBOTS
You are being taken for a ride. PT Barnum says “a sucker is born…”
Nobody working today can really afford to open a HSA and expect that will cover your medical expenses. One sudden illness or injury would wipe that out as soon as you left the ambulance. I’m sure his sheeple are all for the HSA’s, but still hold up signs telling the gubmint to keep their hands off their Medicare.
For Hannity to tell his viewers and listeners that they should just try to save a few extra pennies to somehow cover a catastrophic injury or illness is beyond hypocrisy – it’s actually offensive.
And it goes beyond just the cheap shots at the ACA. What the GOP won’t tell you is that they would have been fine to support this plan, particularly after President Obama caved and took out the most important component, the public option. But they didn’t want to support it under this President. As former President Carter noted when he tried this and was blocked by Senator Kennedy, they didn’t want him to have that achievement. When it passed anyway, the GOP went into full tantrum mode. Now they just keep playing this game of trying to pass repeal or defunding votes, none of which will pass the Congress. It’s childish, and it’s the sort of thing that causes most Americans to throw up their hands when they see what people are doing in Congress. Or just throw up, one supposes…
What suggestions do you have Sean if they do as you wish, but one catastrophic illness or injury wipes out those savings? Save more? I hope that someday the United States will have the single payer plan that is so successful for every country that has it. It’s not perfect, nothing ever is, but the only losers will be those few who profit so greatly at the expense of so many who needlessly have to suffer, financially and physically while phonies like yourself wave the flag.
Does it really matter that it is “tax free” if they charge you so much more?
I probably should have stuck with my normal insurance since my premiums went DOWN for the first time in my life. That can only be a result of the pressure “Obamacare” has put on them to stop gauging us so badly. Unfortunately, they are finding ways around the lowered premiums and charge us more for other things. The “Mafia” would be proud.
Can it really be considered insurance if you’re paying for everything?
Um, what planet is he living on? Does he really think most people can afford to pay into a medical savings account when they can barely afford to pay their mortgage or rent, and then build it up over a lifetime? If he’s talking about the young and healthy Americans, these are the kids who can’t find a job because they’re either underqualified or overqualified, and have a mountain of college debt to pay off. In the meantime, their parents and even grandparents are still working to pay their own bills, and possibly working multiple jobs. Plus, without a decent wage and “building up a medical savings account”, these college grads won’t even have the money to buy a house, part of the American dream, and have to settle for living with their parents until their parents die, and hopefully they’ll inherit the house, assuming their parents were able to pay off the mortgage and keep the house.
I’ve heard Slanthead say several times that Fox pays for his health policy. Even with his millions, Hannity probably can’t afford it himself; the premiums must be sky high since his daily diet is a matter of public record — Big Macs, supersized fries (extra salt, please) and 64oz Cokes.
How soon before he’s diagnosed with Type II DM, HTN, etc., and needs bypass surgery?