GOP embraces Frank Luntz "doctor-patient" talking point- they will try to own it

[underpants]

This is nothing new. I have heard politicians of all stripes talk about "doctor-patient relationship” in any and all discussions of healthcare. I think they are going to try to make it sound like it was their idea and that they own it.
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Luntz says to avoid projecting a policy plan and instead focus on language that “captures not just what Americans want to see but exactly what they want to hear.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/07/gop-health-frankluntz/

According to CQ, Republicans are enthusiastically embracing Luntz and his health care memo. At a private workshop organized by the House leadership, Luntz was welcomed with applause and cries of “Welcome home!” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) gushed, “We look to him for how do we express the things that we believe in ways that are effective.”

Luntz’s health care memo urges Republicans to denounce progressive reforms as ideas based upon a “committee of Washington bureaucrats.” The memo then calls for Republicans to strongly emphasize the “protection of the personalized doctor-patient relationship” because this approach allows Americans to believe that the GOP is doing something to “protect and improve something good“:



ThinkProgress compiled a video featuring Rep. Phil Gingrich (R-GA), Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX), Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) all embracing the vapid “patient-doctor” talking point in the past 48 hours. Watch it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvb-nUHR0BU

[ClassWarrior]

1. This is exactly why we shouldn't be talking about "health care reform."

We should be talking about "Health INSURANCE Reform."

NGU.

[izquierdista]

2. Relationship?

How is that possible when the average doctor visit takes 5 minutes, 10 tops? I'm thinking that the number of people whose doctor actually knows them by name is getting smaller and smaller every day.

[dorkulon]

13. Like the image of family farmers they trotted out for the 'death tax' debate, it's based on old TV

and not real life. These images come from '50s TV shows like Ozzie & Harriet, which embody the "real America" myth conservatives embrace.

[JDPriestly]

3. The problem for them is that single-payer makes the doctor-patient

relationship the most direct. You don't have an insurance company telling your doctor what he or she can or cannot do. This argument may sound good to the Republicans at first, but it won't fly. It actually plays right into the hands of the single-payer advocates.

[sandnsea]

4. These is no doctor-patient relationship

That has been the luxury of the rich for at least ten years. Let them talk about it as if it still exists for the masses. It'll just continue to show how out of touch they are.

[azul]

10. The wealthy get to buy "patient doctor relationships", the rest of the people get

bumped around to multiple doctors by the insurances, if they are so lucky.

It's a class act.

[underpants]

12. Well *I* have a relationship and I am by no means wealthy

:shrug:

My doctor knows me by name and we talk for a while when I see him.

[blondeatlast]

19. Me, too and I sure as hell wasn't wealthy when I first saw her and am comfortable but not wealthy

now. She has had lots of time to spend with me during my current emotional strain (marriage breakup).

[Lex]

5. Most people WISH they had a "personalized doctor-patient relationship."

This will remind them that they don't.

[yellowcanine]

6. Democrats should counter, "There is no doctor-patient relationship if you can't afford the doctor.

You are in the ER and you take the doctor who happens to be on duty if you don't have health insurance and you get sick.

[Canuckistanian]

7. I've only had 3 doctors in my lifetime

My childhood doctor, then his successor (who worked out of the same office) and my present doctor where I live now.

And in all that time, no "government bureaucrat" was involved. I walk in, I walk out. No paperwork, no bill.

We've had single payer since 1963.

[zeos3]

8. It's not just that part

it's also this BS "a commitee of Washington bureaucrats will establish the standard of care...and decides who gets what treatment based on how much it costs..."

The "one size does not fit all" line is complete bullshit and makes NO sense if you think about it for a nanosecond but it's a catchy slogan to repeat over and over...(like teabags)

This is their standard playbook. Accuse the Dems and/or their plans of doing something they (the repubs/corporatists) are ALREADY doing to us. There already IS a private/corporate commitee establishing a standard of care based on how much it costs! They really do a good job of twisting the situation around and confusing people or at least planting a seed of doubt so that people don't believe there own eyes about what's in front of them.

I think they may have gone to the well too many times now, at least that's my hope. Their jingoism should crumble when people are confronted by the reality of premium payments skyrocketing and care being denied. The cost of insurance may be hidden for those who are insured through work but with so many layoffs, a lot of people are getting a dose of reality when they see how much the COBRA costs.

It's sad but it may be our saving grace from the gaslighters. They can repeat their empty slogans all they like but when the premium notice comes every month (or the letter denying care or denying payment), it's a splash of cold water in the face of the gaslighter's victims.

[Warren DeMontague]

9. Right. That sacrosanct dr-patient relationship that is never encroached on by the

FOR PROFIT INSURANCE INDUSTRY.

This is just Harry & Louise Redux. People aren't gonna buy it this time around, I hope.

[annabanana]

11. How do you VOTE OUT the CEO of your HMO?

Can we replace the board of YOUR insurance company when they screw up?. . .No?

If a public plan screws up, we have more control.

[Hepburn]

14. I have used this point in discussions with RW assholes over health care:

So, you don't want the government between you and your MD? At the moment, you have a fucking profit oriented insurance company between you and your MD...and you think the government has YOUR best interests as a lessor priority than those for profit companies? Sure, right...and I have a bridge I wanna sell you!

[pdxmom]

15. I am so sick of this argument from the Right. My sister was diagnosed

with a Stage 1 ovarian cancer. It's very rare that they are able to find an ovarian cancer at that early stage, and she was extremely lucky that it was discovered so early. Insurance covered the surgery for removal, but the doctor recommended a follow-up of chemo, to increase her chances of it not returning. The insurance company declared the chemo to be an "elective procedure", and only covered a very small portion. Her out of pocket costs for the chemo ended up being almost $40,000.

Don't tell me that the doctor-patient relationship is protected now. The doctor says it's necessary, but the insurance company decided that it really wasn't.

When you have to see it up close and personal, it just burns your ass to hear their asinine arguments.

[CTyankee]

18. two weeks ago I attended a private fundraiser for a woman in exactly the circumstances you describe.

She had colon cancer. Her insurance paid for the surgery but not the follow up chemo therapy. We bought tickets to attend, food was all donated by local restaurants, raffle prizes were donated by other local businesses.

I don't know how long the proceeds from the event will keep her going...

[ck4829]

16. "Luntz says to avoid projecting a policy plan"

So Republicans have no plain of their own, they just want to destroy what Democrats and Obama have to offer?

[ck4829]

17. It should be about "doctor-patient", but right now our system is "doctor-patient-insurance company"

And health care shouldn't be like that.

[KharmaTrain]

20. Gotta Give Racoon Head Luntz His Props...

He's selling the same shit to the same people and probably getting a nice chunk of change for it. Seems like his zest for politics and the GOOP isn't what it once was. But he smells a paycheck and knows his fish party well...tell them what they want to believe...not what works.