Mitt Romney on Jay Leno's show last night:
“People with pre-existing conditions, as long as they have been insured before, they are going to be able to continue to have insurance,” Mr. Romney said. “If they are 45 years old, and they show up and say, ‘I want insurance because I have heart disease,’ it’s like, ‘Hey guys, we can’t play the game like that.’ You’ve got to get insurance when you are well, and then if you get ill, you are going to be covered.”You sir, are an idiot.
The only reason people wouldn't have insurance is if they're cheapskates? Really?
What if you lose your job and thus lose your workplace insurance? You only get COBRA for 18 months, and that's only if you can afford to pay the full premium. What do you do after the 18 months if you're still unemployed? Or what if you're in grad school full time? Only half of schools in America offer insurance. And in any case, it's lousy insurance AND they can and do exclude you for pre-existing conditions. And when you leave school, what happens - you once again are without insurance (unless you can skate by on your parents' plan, and that's only because of "Obamacare," which Romney wants to repeal).
Or here's another scenario. What if you move back home, across state lines, to take care of your sick and dying parents? Unless you're working for a company that offers insurance, you lose your health care and have to start all over again. And presto! They can turn you down for pre-existing conditions. Or what if you decide to change jobs and work for yourself - you can't, because you'll lose your insurance and be subject to pre-existing conditions. Same thing happens if you try to move to another state for any reason at all. You lose your coverage.
It's stunning the degree to which Mitt Romney flubbed such a basic question. It's an answer a rich guy would give, a guy who has zero idea how 99% of Americans actually live. This was shockingly naive.
