Georgia insurance commissioner: It’s ‘your fault’ if you have a pre-existing condition

[TomCADem]

Source: Rawstory

Georgia’s Republican insurance commissioner Ralph Hudgens told a group of Republican women in November that having a pre-existing condition like breast cancer or asthma is like being at fault in a car accident and that insurance companies should rightfully be reluctant to cover you.

* * *

“I’ve had several companies come in and they have said just the fact — just the fact — that in the individual market pre-existing conditions have to be covered on Jan. 1, that that is going to double the cost of insurance,” Hudgens said.

“And if you don’t really understand what covering pre-existing conditions would be like, it would be like in Georgia we have a law that says you have to have insurance on your automobile,” he continued.

“But say you’re going along and you have a wreck. And it’s your fault. Well, a pre-existing condition would be you then calling up your insurance agent and saying, ‘I would like to get collision insurance coverage on my car.’ And your insurance agent says, ‘Well, you never had that before. Why would you want it now?’ And you say, ‘Well, I just had a wreck, it was my fault and I want the insurance company to pay to repair my car.’ And that’s the exact same thing on pre-existing insurance.”


Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/05/georgia-insurance-commissioner-its-your-fault-if-you-have-a-pre-existing-condition/

---

I guess if you have cancer, it's your own darn fault, which does explain much of the Republican opposition to coverage of preexisting conditions.

[Phlem]

1. Boom!

The ignorance pimple pops and get's all over everyone.

-p

[TomCADem]

2. He Is The Freakin Commissioner of Insurance for Goodness Sakes...

...and he is comparing a health condition with being involved in a car accident that's your fault. Yep, I can imagine him telling a parent with an ill child that.

[Phlem]

3. And I'll have to update my post

to meaning, "he knows exactly what he's doing".

-p

[Dustlawyer]

9. Well, I guess if you can't do it we will just have to switch to single payer!

[QuestForSense]

12. His heart is as empty as his head.

[maxrandb]

38. The asshat tell the parents that

it's "God's Will" because you must have been a sinner.

Look, there are crazy, ignorant, bigoted and ass-hatted people everywhere, but until we get a little more "purple" in the deep-red South, this shit is going to continue to happen.

Are there crazy ass folks in Dem states? Of course there is, BUT, Blue States seem to keep their idiots locked away in the attic, Red States make them Insurance Commissioners or Attorney's General.

If red states want to stop being laughing stocks, they need to put less ignorant people in positions of authority.

[BlueJazz]

4. ...and that guy is the Georgia insurance commissioner??

I've seen smarter people in homeless shelters.
I'm serious, ..I volunteer at 2 shelters and a lot of the people I talk to are pretty well-versed in the complexity of the world.

This Guy from Georgia sounds like an 8th grader.

[TomCADem]

7. Update - "Obamacare critic Ralph Hudgens has a pre-existing condition himself"

The stupid must really burn. To make things worse, Hudgens has a pre-existing condition, which makes him an absolute hypocrite. I guess someone must have explained things to him, because he has begun to walk back his comments.

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/political-insider/2013/dec/05/obamacare-critic-ralph-hudgens-has-pre-existing-co/

Hudgens is a prostate cancer survivor. He had surgery to remove the cancer 11 years ago when he was 60 and still gets checked regularly.

“He fully understands why it’s not somebody’s fault (he or she) has a pre-existing condition because he has one,” said Hudgens spokesman Glenn Allen.

The revelation comes amid a walk-back by the commissioner of the statement last month at a GOP luncheon. He told us Wednesday that he used a “really poor analogy” and “nothing could be further from the truth. ... It’s not the person’s fault they have a pre-existing condition.”

Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies must not discriminate against customers -- via higher premiums or cancellations -- based on pre-existing conditions. Hudgens was lamenting the fact that insurance companies say this will double the cost of insurance.

[BeyondGeography]

11. The ingratitude of these faithless children never ceases to appall

[cynzke]

30. DUMB ASS....

He either get his health insurance through state government or Medicare, so he is safe from being denied coverage.

[RobinA]

24. It Seems

pretty obvious why this guy is insurance commissioner.

One hates to wish ill on somebody, but...may he learn the error of his ways. First hand.

[ck4829]

5. Alright, let's compare people to cars for a second here and do what he says

Let's see car insurance companies deny paying for repairs when there is a blemish on the paint job or the tires aren't inflated right.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/more-resources-on-individual-insurance/

[madrchsod]

6. i guess dumb fuck did`t get the new republican message..how to be nice to women.

i really am dumbfounded by the utter stupidity of the republican party.

keep it up boys and the democrats will run this country well into the future

[freshwest]

16. Oh, no, he's right on target. Bullying and trying to shame women. Will the focus group buy it?

The possibility of our DEATH, SICKNESS and DISABILITY are conditions we are all born with.

His intent is how to make a buck, not save lives. Bet he's a Pro-lifer, too.

IOW, he's full of crap.

[daybranch]

23. I am happy dems will run the country

but how many will be 3rd wayers?
Does Bill and Hillary equal democratic leadership conference which equals 3rd way which equals favoring wall Street, Corporations, and the Banks over people?
If republicans recognize their intolerance drives people away, and change will we not then just have a rule by even more corporatists, dem or repub?
Is the emphasis on so many social issues, right to choose, planned parenthood, birth control, immigration reform, voters rights, etc.. just a ploy welcomed by the the corporatists of both parties who want to turn our attention away from the underlying concentration of power and wealth and the economic injustices it engenders to create more profits for our rulers- corporation owners?
It ain't just business, it is personal.
Oh by the way I am a progressive not just a liberal.

[SoapBox]

8. The first thing that came to my mind...

The Flintstones...Episode # 24...March 10, 1961...The Long, Long Weekend.

Fred and Barney stand outside a meeting room, while the Grand Imperial Poobah of the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes, orders the Women's Axillary to fill in for staff at a resort, during a convention. Group A to do the Cooking, Group B to do the Washing and Ironing, then Group C to do the Cleaning and Dusting.

Fred: "Look Barney, they're breaking up the chairs!"

Barney: "Sheesh, I've never seen women get so mad!"

Sigh. I can dream.

[Politicalboi]

10. I remember that one

Then Fred gets a promotion to be in charge of the women as they chase after him. Then Willma and Betty tell Fred and Barney what they expect of them. I loved the Flintstones.

[Art_from_Ark]

15. But then there's Episode 21 from Season 2,

"The Happy Household", where Wilma gets a job as a TV chef. However, Fred gets really angry because her show appears at the time when he thinks Wilma should be making *his* dinner, and eventually forces her to quit the show.

[Skittles]

13. he makes the case for single payer

with assholes like him out of the picture

[Ratty]

22. He's making the case for the individual mandate

He's right of course - comparing only buying medical insurance after you get sick to only buying car insurance after you get in an accident. Without hearing the tone of his voice or getting more context I don't actually see what he's saying as offensive at all. If he's bashing ACA and claiming insurance companies STILL - even with the individual mandate - should be able to deny coverage then yes, he's an asshole.

[Skittles]

31. f*** insurance companies

according to those assholes it's oh so wrong to buy insurance when you already have something wrong with you yet those bastards thought it was A-OK to DROP PEOPLE from their insurance when they dared to get sick

[passiveporcupine]

36. Yeah, like when I was born

With pneumonia. I should have bought insurance before I got sick.

Insurance companies helped cause the medical crisis in this country. Health care used to be more affordable.

[sakabatou]

14. Ah, it's the Original Sin maneuver

[awoke_in_2003]

17. Here is simple fact

the rich want most of us dead, so they can be richer. As long as their chef, maids, and gardener are ok then the rest of us should just fuck off. The rich are psychopaths, and need the French solution. Oh, sure, not all rich are bad. Just like cops, 90% give the rest a bad name.

[FiveGoodMen]

34. Yes. And, consequently, we should feel the same way about them.

(not sarcasm)

[groundloop]

18. This asshole just doesn't want us to have affordable healthcare in Geogia... here's more

This bastard has fought the Affordable Care Act and its insurance exchanges every step of the way. A recent dirty trick to attempt sabotaging Obamacare was to require insurance "navigators" to pass a test intended for insurance brokers. Naturally our crooked governor Nathan Deal is supporting these efforts, we NEED Jason Carter.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/28/1251361/-Georgia-Insurance-Commissioner-hopes-Obamacare-website-implodes

[Spitfire of ATJ]

19. It's like when Dubya appointed a logging lobbyist to protect our national forests.

[CFLDem]

20. What a dick. n/t

[penultimate]

21. He's right in a way though

Which is why our current way of handling health care is screwed up. We shouldn't have our health care handled by for profit companies, because they do not have any incentive to cover people with pre-existing conditions.

[RobinA]

25. While I Agree

that he is right in one way - insurance cannot sustain a situation in which people wait until they are diagnosed with something horrible to buy insurance. It could be determined in most cases when this is happening.

Again with these guys, they only see malfeasance. A situation in which a person HAS insurance, then loses it due to lay-off, whatever, and then has their history of severe headaches turn out to be a brain tumour never even ocurrs to these people. Oh course, because when do they ever face the problem of losing insurance. Even if they lose their jobs, they have parachutes.

[1Greensix]

26. What on earth is the matter with Republicans?

What on earth is the matter with Republicans? Are they ALL ignorant assholes?? Can that Possibly be? How can a party consisting entirely of greedy, racist, anti-women, pro-gun, Bible thumping, anti-science, morons possibly be attractive to the common voter? Unless there are a lot more of the same in the general population. Pretty scary isn't it? Makes you wonder why this country could ever be called great.

[FiveGoodMen]

35. Fox news, hate radio, and the Southern Baptist megachurches

...my best guess.

[Bradical79]

27. He's right...

The entire concept of the insurance industry is to make a profit off people who buy it but don't end up needing it. It's why you need the individual mandate if you want everyone to be insured and want to keep this inherently flawed for profit "health care" system in place. It wouldn't be much of a profit making business if companies were forced to take on so many customers who they know they will lose money on. It's a big reason Republicans are probably fighting a losing battle on the health care front. The only conservative plan that preserves profits while not making them look like complete monsters has been taken away from them by the Democratic president. It's why when they are made to go from attacking the flaws (real or imaginary) to actually offering solutions to those flaws they look like idiots.

[randome]

29. Insurance. Lotteries. Casinos. It's the same concept all across.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]"If you're bored then you're boring." -Harvey Danger[/center][/font][hr]

[jwirr]

28. In the OP you speak of cancer. If I am not mistaken if you have cancer even your children are

considered to have pre-existing conditions. In my daughter's case her condition is due to farm chemicals in the well water. Her fault? What about the farmer who was using the chemicals that were harmful or the manufacturer? This is just another idiot rethug who managed to get control of a state full of rethugs.

[FiveGoodMen]

32. Republicans are things that were too vile for Hell and were cast back upon the earth

They go out of their way to prove it every day.

A decent world would not allow them to live.

A decent Democrat would NEVER, NEVER, NEVER compromise with them.

[stevenleser]

33. W T ever loving F?

Wow. I mean its just... wow.

[ramapo]

37. What about the group market?

The individual market is nothing but a big group. Somehow insurance companies manage to cover people with pre-existing conditions in the group market, even small groups.