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Thursday, December 08, 2011

Ron Paul Wasn't Joking About Letting Uninsured People Die -- His Uninsured Staffer Died of Pneumonia

This is an unbelievably sad story, and it proves that Ron Paul was serious when he said (to audience applause) at Monday's CNN-Tea Party debate that society should allow uninsured people to die.

Ron Paul’s Campaign Manager Died of Pneumonia, Penniless and Uninsured

....As it turns out, Paul was not speaking purely in hypotheticals. Back in 2008, Kent Snyder — Paul's former campaign chairman — died of complications from pneumonia. Like the man in Blitzer's example, the 49-year-old Snyder...was relatively young and seemingly healthy when the illness struck. He was also uninsured. [The Kansas City Star quoted his sister at the time as saying that a "a pre-existing condition made the premiums too expensive."] When he died on June 26, 2008, two weeks after Paul withdrew his first bid for the presidency, his hospital costs amounted to $400,000. The bill was handed to Snyder's surviving mother (pictured, left), who was incapable of paying. Friends launched a website to solicit donations.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wonder what the pre existing condition was....AID'S?

Anonymous said...

could have been as simple as a bad back

been there, got turned down for any coverage at all, even if that was excluded

banks, insurance companies, so many scum

Anonymous said...

Show Ron Paul's quote, otherwise you're not doing your due diligence as a journalist. He NEVER stated letting uninsured people die. Not once. Another baseless attack.

Cerealposter said...

What difference does it make what he died of ? I guess this story only outrages you unless he had AIDS and in that case he "deserved to die". The little minds of some people....

Anonymous said...

What kind of pathetic country allows people to die of curable illnesses because they don't have the money to pay for it? We are better than that.

Anonymous said...

It's called a free will.

Anonymous said...

3:03 is exactly right, this is a horrible misrepresentation of Paul's words. That being said, at some point everyone must realize that we cannot afford to sustain the life of every sick person. Call me callous if you will. It is man's goal to defy the will of nature, which is honorable, but our government cannot continue to subsidize the cost.

Anonymous said...

He DID get treatment. If not, what is the $400,000.00 bill from the hospital for? Apparently the hospital did NOT "let" him die.

So who is suppose to pay the bill?

A 49 year old man's mother would not be responsible for the bill, his estate would be.

Anonymous said...

3:03

You hit the nail on the head. In many cases living longer is worse than death if you believe in eternal life. Was there even a living will? Request of no life support?

Maybe said person was ready to die and move on to eternal bliss.

Anonymous said...

so? with the money he/she SHOULDVE been saving (instead of paying for insurance) shouldve been easy enough to cover a 14-day antibiotic

Anonymous said...

Anon 12:16
You obviously have health insurance. Congratulations.
Not all of us can afford it. No way shape or form.
Luckly, and I do mean luckily, some of us eat healthy and stay active so we're not sick all the time.
Luckily, we haven't had anything major happen to us healthwise.
In my case, if something serious does happen, it will bankrupt us.
Plain and simple, then YOU can pay the bill.
I would LOVE to have health insurance but at over $1,000 a month for me and my husband (before they find out about his pre-existing condition), with a %10,000 deductibe, we cannot afford it. Period.
There is no "what we've saved instead of buying insurance" in our case.
Hope you never find yourself without insurance so that you'll fully understand some situations!

Anonymous said...

@205pm
then i suggest saving money for such an occasion. i never bought insurance until 3 years ago. yet i never had a hefty shortage of money due to medical bills. i saved what i could, when i got sick i paid the best i could with the money i saved. i didnt buy cell phones, fancy cars (2 of the cars i had for 14 years cost me $500 for the first and $1000 for the second), cable, internet, etc...

pardon me for being self-sufficient, accountable, responsible with my money, and not relying on everyone else.