April 22, 2010 11:38 AM

Sue Lowden Stands by Chicken Health Care Barter Plan

By
Brian Montopoli
Topics
Campaign 2010

Sue Lowden, a Republican Senate hopeful in Nevada, has been widely mocked for earlier this week stating that, "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," she said. "Doctors are very sympathetic people. I'm not backing down from that system."

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee subsequently set up a "Chickens for Checkups" website offering a fake form letter in which people could offer items in exchange for health care - 10 chickens for rickets treatment, five sets of overalls for "the vapors," etc.

The letter sarcastically concludes: "Thanks for coming up with such a simple solution to a complicated problem!" Jay Leno also mocked Lowden's suggestion.

Many expected Lowden, who is hoping to take on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the general election, to back off the comments. Instead, she is standing by them.

Lowden spokesperson Chrystal Feldman told The Plum Line's Greg Sargent that "Americans are struggling to pay for their health care, and in order to afford coverage we must explore all options available to drive costs down."

"Bartering with your doctor is not a new concept," said Feldman. "There have been numerous reports as to how negotiating with your doctor is an option and doctors have gone on the record verifying this."

The Lowden campaign also pointed Sargent to a letter to a Nevada newspaper from a rural doctor who said "I can state from personal experience that bartering works."

"I have bartered with patients -- for alfalfa hay, a bath tub, yard work and horse shoeing in exchange for my care," said Dr. Robin L. Titus, a former Republican candidate for Senate who ended her campaign three months ago.


Add a Comment See all 43 Comments
by Bob_Hastings_for_Tark April 27, 2010 11:14 AM EDT
Sue Lowden RINO Alert! (PART 1)

Sue Lowden is a RINO. She has flipped on many major issues over the last 15 years. Additionally she is "squishy" on her stance on bailouts. HEr business practices have been called into question and she recently was caught lying to the RGJ. She and her husband have made the following donation to democrats:

Sue/Paul Lowden Contributions to Democrats (Overview):

Harry Reid (D) - 13 times
Democratic National Committee - 1 time
James Bilibray (D) - 10 times
George Miller (D) - 1 time
Walter Mondale (D) - 1 time
Democratic Congressional Campaign Comm. - 1 time
Howard Cannon (D) - 1 time
Jimmy Carter (D) - 1 time

For the details and more please see:
www.muthsuntruths.wordpress.com
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by Nevadabanker April 27, 2010 12:59 AM EDT
Jack of course all health plans have problems. In Nevada your health insurance plans will range in coverage and prices. If your healthy then you will not have a problem getting a plan, my family got their plan at Nevadahealth.com, It took about 30 minutes to apply and pick a insurance health insurance plan.

Now if the somebody could copy this on a major scale not just for insurance rates and coverage but put together a plan comparison showing what things cost in real time then we would all save alot of money.
Reply to this comment
by Stevenapoli7 April 25, 2010 3:30 AM EDT
Before we proceed further down the road to government meddling in health care, let's see what happens to our taxes once we are done soaking the successful. My family is from Hungary...check out their Medicare and Social Security taxes compared to ours.

U.S.: 7.45%/ 7.45% employee/ employer (1.45 + 6.2 = 7.45)

Hungary: 17%/ 28.5%

This European style government subsidized health care that Obama, Pelosi, Krugman and his ilk support leads to long wait times, poor conditions, and you end up going to the doctor's private practice after work and pay cash anyway. Classic lose-lose situation which the U.S. will learn about first hand coming soon.
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by 1sunfish April 24, 2010 11:41 AM EDT
My experience with doctors is they DO NOT like the patient to "barter" with them; but you 'stick to your guns' Ms. Lowden, and old Harry will be back this Fall.
Reply to this comment
by liberalismmentaldisorder April 24, 2010 3:55 AM EDT
Wow, it's nice they show a :43 second clip, and you libtards jump all over it. Why don't you watch the whole interview, and realize she never suggested, nor is it in her plan, to "barter chickens". Oh, and by the way, doctors do barter in this state.
Reply to this comment
by radley5 April 23, 2010 9:36 PM EDT
I think Sue Lowden should accept Chickens for campaign contributions.
Reply to this comment
by NorrisHall April 23, 2010 10:59 AM EDT
I'm not sure how bartering would work with doctors.
Perhaps Sue Lowden could explain how she uses bartering for her family's health care needs.
Oh. She has a taxpayer funded heath care plan?
So SHE doesn't need to barter because taxpayers cover 70 percent of her heathcare premiums?
Never mind.
Reply to this comment
by davemartin12345 April 23, 2010 12:41 AM EDT
Awesome plan by another "compassionate" conservative, now poor unwed mothers can trade sex for prenatal care.
Reply to this comment
by mollydtt April 22, 2010 10:48 PM EDT
Bartering has a place occasionally, but I was reading today about women, who had been healthy their whole lives, and within a week of being diagnosed with breast cancer, their insurance companies informed them that their policies were cancelled.
If bartering for a mastectomy or for post-op hospital care was so simple, these women wouldn't have been in such dire circumstances.
Insurance, believe it or not, is a safety net for major illnesses and accidents, ---which we cannot predict ahead of time.
People who know for a fact that they will never need a hospital can cling to the soothing knowledge that they only need a chicken, or a pie to keep staying alive.
People who absolutely know that they will never need health insurance are fooling themselves.
Reply to this comment
by radley5 April 24, 2010 12:45 AM EDT
you are exactly right. They are gambling on the notion that it will not happen to them.
by mutE3tum April 22, 2010 9:12 PM EDT
So this woman is leading the polls over Senator Reid, where are the comments from her supporters?

You know it's funny when people like this say something moronic on national tv, but it's frightening that the nation even considers voting for people like this.

Vote for Bush because he's the type you can have a beer with, vote for Palin because she's the type you can have pie with and now vote for the person who's the type you can eat chicken with. It's time for me to retire and move to France.
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