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Uninsured Americans: 'Problem Solved'

Published August 28, 2008 1:43 PM by Stephen Cornell
From the Dallas Morning News, an easy, painless and cheap way to make the problem of Americans without health insurance vanish.

When I first saw references to this quote, I thought it was a hoax. Apparently not.

But the numbers are misleading, said John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a right-leaning Dallas-based think tank. Mr. Goodman, who helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy, said anyone with access to an emergency room effectively has insurance, albeit the government acts as the payer of last resort. (Hospital emergency rooms by law cannot turn away a patient in need of immediate care.)

"So I have a solution. And it will cost not one thin dime," Mr. 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 – even illegal aliens – as uninsured. Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to the likely source of payment should they need care.

"So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved."

Problem solved? Seriously?

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