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Chickens for Doctors

My late mother spent several weeks in the hospital before she died. The bill for her stay would have topped $80,000 if she hadn't had insurance. I wonder how many chickens that would have come to.

Lowden is insane. It's not the first time I've heard someone from the right say that our great-great-grandparents didn't need medicare or subsidized healthcare. Of course there were no MRI or CAT scan machines that cost millions of dollars to pay for back then.

And our ancestors were more likely to have chickens on their property that they could use as barter. How many people today have chickens? Most people would have to go to the store to buy the chicken. Why not just give the doctor the cash?

Steve S
 
I think in these trying times, we should look to other means for support. Healthcare may be an extreme, but if she is right, and doctors really are crazy for chickens, then why not?

Bartered items aren't taxed, for the most part, and if it is something you need anyway, then why not? I myself, would like to be paid in Trident Layers

 
steve s said:
Lowden is insane. It's not the first time I've heard someone from the right say that our great-great-grandparents didn't need medicare or subsidized healthcare. Of course there were no MRI or CAT scan machines that cost millions of dollars to pay for back then.
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And most of them were dead before they would have been eligible for medicare.
 
I had to find videos of this woman to see for myself. I especially love her "bartering brings prices down" argument. Because if it's not money that your spending, it's like getting stuff for free!
 
NPR's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" had good fun with this one....

Earlier in the week, NPR ran one of the local shows on "bartering" in tough economic times. One caller claimed that they had indeed bargained for basic medical care, exchanging work on the doctor's car (her husband is a mechanic) for basic services.

However, as noted, even a relatively simple hospital procedure would amount to a lot of chickens... My recent stay for some gastrointestinal bleeding ran well over 50,000.
 
thaiboxerken said:
When Sue Lowden said that people should barter with their doctors for health care, many gave her the benefit of the doubt that she meant "bargain." However, she clarified the statement.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/m.s.-bellows/the-cost-of-healthcare_b_546542.html

This lady is crazy.
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Look's like she's been misquoted. She did not say the following:

"I'm telling you that this works. As an employer, having your employees barter a chicken beats paying for health care. I'm serious about this. Doctors like chickens."
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But that article claims she did. If you follow the link to the politico story, you can see that someone named "Lewiston" said it.

What she did say is similar however:
I’m telling you that this works. You know, before we all started having health care, in the olden days our grandparents, they would bring a chicken to the doctor, they would say I’ll paint your house. I mean, that’s the old days of what people would do to get health care with your doctors. Doctors are very sympathetic people. I’m not backing down from that system.
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Believe it or not, it's actually legal to have chickens in Chicago and a surprising number of people do.

Now, should I use my back yard to raise chickens as an emergency medical fund? Hmmm...
 
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