RUSH: Windsor, Ontario, Ed — this is in Canada — great to have you on the program, sir. Thank you for waiting.
CALLER: Yes. Thank you for taking my call.
RUSH: Yes, sir.
CALLER: I have a concrete example of the effect of the Ontario, Canada, health care system on one family unfortunately. Today’s Windsor Star newspaper, page five, this gentleman, he’s 30 years old, husband, father, has been in the system treated for cancer, but it’s come back. He has stage four melanoma. He has inoperable tumors on his heart and his colon. There’s one treatment available to him now, it’s Interleukin 2. It’s essentially unavailable in Canada. He and his wife, after hassling with the bureaucrats of the Ontario, Canada, health care system, which is so praised, two months of hassling, they got approved to go to the United States and have the treatment done and paid for. There are two world-class treatment centers in Detroit, about a half hour from his house. I’m looking at GM building in Detroit right now across the river.
RUSH: Right.
CLARK: Okay. He did not get approved for Harbor Hospital or Karmanos Cancer Center in Detroit. He got approved by the Ontario system for the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York. Instead of a half hour trip there and a half hour trip back — I’ve had cancer treatment and I’m —
RUSH: Wait a second. There’s one word in what you’re saying —
CALLER: Yeah.
CALLER: One treatment.
RUSH: One treatment available. And he has only been approved to go to one hospital that happens to be in Buffalo, approved. That’s where we’re headed — ‘approved.’ You mean to tell me this guy cannot get in his car and cross the border because if he goes someplace unapproved Canada won’t pay for it?
CALLER: Oh, no, he’d be hooked for it, and no follow-up care because he didn’t do an approved procedure.
RUSH: Approved procedure at an approved location, Canada single payer health care.
CALLER: Yes, sir. When you’ve had cancer treatment, and I’ve had it, a half hour ride home is plenty. But four hours I can’t imagine, that’s going to affect his — well, his shot. You know, your immune system is weakened by everything —
RUSH: Yeah. Yeah.
CALLER: — just the survival. That is not the only story. It happens to be right here on the page. The guy was not a person who abused his own health. He used to run the Detroit marathon. He is a kinesiologist, he works in the health system.
RUSH: Who cares if he abused his own health?
CALLER: Well, he didn’t.
RUSH: I know he didn’t but —
CALLER: Right.
RUSH: — in my version of freedom, who cares if he did? Health care ought to be available. There’s nobody that doesn’t abuse their health. Some might say that doing all that jogging is an abusive treatment to joints and this sort of thing, who the hell knows? This is all absurd. This is just 1984ish absurd.
CALLER: The worst absurdity, Rush, is — and I’ve listened to you for a long time — people do not understand, we have freedoms in Canada more than almost anyone in the world, but we have a lot of them just through cultural exchange with you people. They’re here because they’re here. You have these freedoms in law. You have the Constitution. You have all these things written down. No one in the world has these, and you’re letting them get taken away. It drives us completely crazy.
RUSH: Thank you, sir. And you know why it’s happening? Because people think that letting go of their liberty is giving them security.
CALLER: Well, we know the phrase about that, that you’ll have neither.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: I wish I had a better story to tell you.
RUSH: It’s a great story, it’s a great story in the sense of it’s instructive. Details are not happy for this guy, but, for crying out loud, one treatment is available, it isn’t available in Canada, he has to be approved. In other words, to take a step, save his life, requires the government approving it. That is going to happen whenever there’s a government-run health care system. I’ll tell you where this is headed, I can make this story worse. At some point, somebody’s going to say, ‘Look, stage four, tumor heart, tumor wherever, only a couple places will do it, we’re not going to approve any treatment, it’s a waste of money, we don’t have the money for it. I mean, this guy’s near the end of life anyway, give him a patch and that’s it.’ That’s where we’re headed with this because everything’s going to be based on money and how we can’t afford this, can’t afford that, and a lot of people are going to get a death sentence that today don’t. Thanks Ed. Appreciate the call. A lot of gold-mine calls on the EIB Network today.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Here’s Joan in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania. Hi.
CALLER: Hi, Mr. Rush.
RUSH: Hi.
CALLER: Thanks for taking the call and please keep up the good work.
RUSH: Thank you, madam.
RUSH: Ha! Pfffft! Their plan… Imagine, their plan is this.
CALLER: If it is, I’ll sign up. (laughing)
RUSH: You can’t get this plan!
CALLER: I figured that.
RUSH: This plan is essentially whatever you need whenever you need it, at no cost.
CALLER: Mmm-hmm.
RUSH: And I don’t remember Obama promising that. I know every politician says, ‘You ought to have the health care that we have in the US Senate or the US House of Representatives.’ They always say that because people love hearing members of Congress rip government.
CALLER: Mmm-hmm.
RUSH: But there’s no way to provide it. I mean, you have 435 House members. You have a hundred senators. That’s 535 people and you got 200 million people paying for it!
CALLER: Well —
RUSH: If you can find 200 million people to pay for your health care, I guaran-damn-tee you it won’t cost you a penny.
CALLER: It sounds pretty good. Now, I’m a senior citizen. When my husband was alive, I had insurance.
RUSH: You don’t sound old enough to be a senior citizen.
CALLER: Well, thank you very much. I’m a former Missourian. I’m a transplant. (garbled)
RUSH: What part of Missouri?
CALLER: St. Louis, Missouri.
RUSH: St. Louis!
CALLER: That was years ago, yes.
RUSH: Okay.
CALLER: But I pay $363 a month to carry my insurance because I need it.
RUSH: Right. You do, as a seasoned citizen. You’re at the point in life where you do need it.
CALLER: Right. Now, if he taxes that, I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be able to afford that.
RUSH: Now, wait. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Are you employed?
CALLER: No.
RUSH: Well, then —
CALLER: Retired.
RUSH: No, no. You’re paying for it out of your pocket?
CALLER: That’s right.
RUSH: You won’t pay any see-able taxes on it. This is employee-provided benefits that they’re going to tax as income but you’re just paying for this out-of-pocket as though you’re going to the grocery store every month, right?
CALLER: Right.
RUSH: No, you won’t pay any taxes on it.
CALLER: Eventually you probably will.
RUSH: Well…
CALLER: I can’t see —
RUSH: Depends on how you define a tax. I mean, depending on what Obama gets done here, your $363 a month might become $500.
CALLER: Mmm-hmm.
RUSH: And you could view that as a tax increase. Or your option to buy it might go away.
CALLER: Well, that’s probably what will happen.
RUSH: That’s probably it. Your option to buy it is going to go away because whatever plan you’re in, they might opt out of it to go into the government option, which is what a loooot of insurance companies want to do, what a loooot of businesses want to do. Trust me on this, my friends. Do not doubt me. (sigh) I’m happy to be able to help her straighten that out, though.