Conservatives are used to hearing liberals gloat about how the island paradise that is Cuba provides free health care to its fortunate denizens. Apparently there's now yet another country that we have to look up to: Rwanda.
On her MSNBC show this afternoon, Dr. Nancy Snyderman proclaimed herself "jealous" of Rwanda, which reportedly provides health insurance coverage to 90% of its citizens.
Snyderman's guest was Mary Robinson. The former President of Ireland is now in charge of "the Ethical Globalization Initiative" at the hoity-toity Aspen Institute. Snyderman seemed intent on drawing her guest into making invidious comparisons between the US and the rest of the world.
DR. NANCY SNYDERMAN: I'm going to put you on the spot for a second. As the former President of Ireland, I'd like you to give me a critical view of how well we're doing in the United States.
MARY ROBINSON: Not as well as many people think, actually.
. . .
SNYDERMAN: One other sort of tough question. Some experts this weekend have said we are looking at class warfare in the United States and you have to say those words if we're going to move forward. Would you agree with that?
ROBINSON: As somebody who works in this country but as a guest, if you like, I'll leave it others to put it in sharper terms. What I would like to suggest from a global health perspective is look at what some of the very poorest countries have done. Rwanda, a post-genocide country, has 90% health insurance cover. I was there last September and I was there in March --
SNYDERMAN: You're making me jealous.
ROBINSON: Doesn't it?
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.





















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that's it?
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 15:24 ET by larry on LIno details,just 90% coverage! what a joke both of these twits are.
Here are some details. Each
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 16:17 ET by celatorHere are some details. Each person in Rwanda is allowed three bandaids annually, and one aspirin every five years. All FREE!
They have other innovative medical procedures. For example, if you have trouble sleeping, the doc just clubs you in the head and knocks you out. Voila. And that's FREE, too!
Sinus problem? Red hot poker up your nose. Bad knees? They take them out and replace them with coconuts. All FREE!
Whatta great system.
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
how wonderful
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 23:15 ET by LindamaeBut, Nancy, we have running water.
Also, did you never learn about quality vs quantity?
How many European, Asians, Hispanics - etc - run to Rowanda for health care? We have Canadians to come to the US because health care is NOT a right in Canada but a priviledge so rationing is legal. They come to America. How many new medicines are created in Rowanda?
You have my permission to leave the US for health care. I prefer to stay here and enjoy what I have. Redistribution of wealth is what Obama has promised us. Redistribution of health care is not what I want.
Nancy's lack of logic is astounding. I thought she was educated.
The best part about Rwandan coverage is...
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 17:55 ET by superconif you get your arm hacked off by a machete, you're covered.
" if Republicans are able to stop Barack Obama on health care, 'it will be his Waterloo, it will break him...." -Sen. Jim DeMint
The US is Already at 90%
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 15:29 ET by JustAlIf you take the left's exaggerated figure of 47M and subtract the illegals and those who qualify for existing government plans but don't bother to sign up then 90% of US citizens already have health insurance.
The "Uninsured"
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 16:45 ET by easygoerRamirez cartoon on the 47 million uninsured:
http://images.theweek.com/dir_27/the_week_13868_27.jpg
Re Ramirez
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 19:48 ET by slickwillie2001Ha! I was thinking of posting that one. Excellent.
Nice!
Tue, 07/28/2009 - 00:44 ET by stratmanThanks
Yes, but you can't see just
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 15:33 ET by JerryYes, but you can't see just any witch doctor, only the government appointed witch doctor, and only on the third full moon after the fall harvest.
When asked if he went to war with Iraq to derail the impeachment vote: “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).
Watch out ladies....
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 15:39 ET by AZTech2020Sounds to me like serious ammo for misogynists. Where do they find the moonbats?
Even without the genocide,
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 15:53 ET by danboEven without the genocide, what's Rwanda's life expectancy?
I Looked it up. According to the CIA World Factbook, 2009. At birth, it's a long life of 50 years. The median age is 18.7 years. (definition of median is half the population is higher, half lower.) Life expectancy in the US according the CIA for 09 is >78years. Median age is 38. Infant mortality in the US is 6.26/1000. In Rwanda it's 81.61/1000.
Maybe these folks should go to Rwanda.
Limited Disclosure: I used to belong to the Sierra Club untill they went crazier. Worse of all, I was bribed by Exxon with free New Orleans Saints glasses with fill ups in the 70's.
We can only hope
Fri, 12/11/2009 - 09:31 ET by allanf.. that this bimbo does not actively practice medicine. Yet she is licensed in Pennsylvania.
I guess Rwandans need good coverage to handle the aftercare of all those hacked off limbs.
you're missing the point...
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 18:34 ET by puredmashiemore ethnic cleansing = less rationing. as a matter of fact...no. i just can't go there.
swing hard in case you hit it.
Are Rwanda's gorillas included in this fabulous health plan?
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 15:54 ET by SickofLibsIf not, they should be, because gorilla paws are Rwanda's main export.
Plus, I feel it's very important for "post-genocide" countries to have excellent healthcare, especially since most of the population, especially the Tutsis, is missing at least one body part.
I knew Snyderwoman would rise to the occasion and become one of NBC's premiere moonbats, and she ain't disappointing.
Dr. Nancy is one of
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 15:56 ET by KevindFDr. Nancy is one of Hillary's gal pals and is married to a guy half her age, so she has issues.
Yeah, I've seen Mr. Hunk,
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 16:03 ET by SickofLibsYeah, I've seen Mr. Hunk, but I didn't know about the Hillary connection... that explains a lot.
Wonder if she's a "friend" of Slick's, too?
So, Dr. Nanny
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 17:50 ET by Red JeepHow many U.S. citizens are fleeing to Rwanda for advanced medical treatment?
What advances in medicine have Rwandan Doctors discovered/achieved?
"Rwanda, a post-genocide country..." Was that that 1994 genocide when 500,000 to a million people were murdered in 100 days? Civilized now are they?
THEN MOVE THERE...
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 16:00 ET by Fuzzlenutter...but leave all of your wealth behind.
Fn... I'm with ya...and
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 16:07 ET by bigtimerFn...
I'm with ya...and she can take the network she is a mouthpiece for with her.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
I'm jealous, too!!
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 16:08 ET by Roger the ShrubberThe average life expectancy for a Rwandan is under FORTY YEARS of age. 11% of adults have AIDS. Less than 50% of the population can read. 70% live under the poverty line. Only 16 countires have a higher infant mortality rate than Rwanda. the US ranks 180th.
What's Congress waiting for? Draft that Rwandan-modeled health care plan STAT!
Regarding Rwanda's World-Famous Excellence in Medicine....
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 16:09 ET by Pilgrim1949Perhaps these two twits were a bit confused and thought that an award-winning movie of recent years was called, "Hotel America." Yeah, that must be it!
It's an easy and quite understandable mistake ---- when your head is busy giving yourself an in-depth colonoscopy....
When some folks speak, they immediately subtract from the sum total of human knowledge.
"Ye canne change the laws of physics....." but some politicians believe that with the right legislation you can pretend they don't really apply to your own pet projects...
Nancy Snyderman should
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 16:25 ET by NL207Nancy Snyderman should confine her opinions to Gorillas.
She like most of these thoughtless Liberals confuses the basic issue: Healthcare coverage is not the same thing as healthcare.
How many of these 90% of "covered" Rwandans actually receive anything resembling adequate healthcare? I bet that number is a lot less than 90%.
Here in the US, EVERYBODY, whether they have healthcare insurance or not, receives healthcare if they are in need of it. Public Law requires that any persons who present themselves at any Emergency Room for treatment be treated. Period. The only way sick people are not treated is if they fail to ask for treatment.
Then Move there Dr Nanc
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 16:34 ET by MOONSTRUCKbuh-bye.
Don't let our Stars and Stripes smack you in the arse on the way out.
Dr. Nancy
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 16:47 ET by blazermaniacAnd here I thought all along that Dr. Nancy was jealous, because she isn't working at Fox News!
Did Obama bring in the Irish
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 16:58 ET by snaggletoothieDid Obama bring in the Irish 'expert' because he's finally realized that Americans are ceasing to believe BS or much else from the mouths of his Democrat hacks?
I have a friend who knows
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 17:51 ET by msh1973I have a friend who knows Nancy Snyderman, she told me she wouldn't send her enemy to be treated by her. She has gone so far to the left she is about to fall down.
msh... LOL...too bad we
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 17:58 ET by bigtimermsh...
LOL...too bad we can't force all of the folks at msnbc be made to have her as their primary doc....let alone a heck of a lot of the other talking heads, and of course the congress-critters that want to vote Aye to force this down our throats soon.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
At least
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 17:57 ET by 10ksnookershe wasn't dumb enough to trot out the Cuba healthcare thing ... I mean how dumb would that be.
The Obvious
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 18:24 ET by jaywlJust about all the comments on this state the obvious: our poorest get better care than 99% of Rwandans. Are the idiots that say such things as she did really that stupid? Do they have some secret knowledge that has been hidden from the masses? What is that saying, "stupid is as stupid does"?
Bringing the former
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 18:33 ET by fitzfongBringing the former President of Ireland on to discuss health care policy is a bit like bringing Prince Charles on to discuss environmental policy. Both Mary Robinson and Ol' Jug Ears have occupied largely ceremonial positions with little, if any, actual authority...and, as professional dilettantes always prove, they're far more interested in subjects than they are informed on those subjects.
"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." -George Best
HMMMM
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 18:52 ET by rick007Why vote for "O" Dumbo care??????
Just look at how the VA treats our wonded Vets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No need to look at Rwanda
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 19:16 ET by jdhawkNo need to look at Rwanda and their "90% health care coverage. We can look at the case of 100% health care coverage right here in the United States. Yes, right here in the United States. Who knew? And, it is totally run by our government and of course, single payer, by definition!
Where is it? It is on the Indian Reservations all around the United States. How is our government doing as a single payer completely federal government run health care? LOUSY!
Here is an article about the wonders of single payer totally government run federal health care here in the United States: http://www.reznetnews.org/article/indian-health-cares-broken-promises-35....
I urge all of you to write, call, and/or e-mail your elected representatives and tell them to KILL obamacare - before it kills us.
Obamacare will make you sick . . . Oh, and, don't get sick after June if you are a United States Indian living on a reservation!
Give me a break
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 20:17 ET by ArcherBI'm sick and tired of people in America talking about how great things are in other countries. Seriously! Move there.
We may have less coverage than... say... France, but French health care sux! For that matter, compared to the US, just about everything in France sux. Why is that? Hmmm. I'm going out on a limb here, but maybe it's because we don't have outrageous tax rates to pay for things like crappy HEALTHCARE!!!!!
So, please, for the LOVE OF GOD, if you love the French or any other foreign system, MOVE THERE, and leave the system that everyone here loves alone. You get the system you want, and we get to keep the system we want. Everyone wins!!! Stop trying to change MY system to what YOU want when all you have to do is MOVE!
"To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary."
--Ernesto "Che" Guevara
AB... I sure as heck
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 20:26 ET by bigtimerAB...
I sure as heck Second that!
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
Wonder if they cover
Tue, 07/28/2009 - 02:14 ET by RR GOPWonder if they cover machete wounds and injuries due to rape? I would think that would bankrupt their system if they did.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 61% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory (yep...approval for Congress now at 39%...do you believe that!?).
Insanity
Tue, 07/28/2009 - 07:56 ET by nadadhimmiAmericans are beginning to see the extent of insanity to which this Obama worship is taking us. Rwanda and Cuba are now the standards for us to aspire too? People are uneasy because they are beginning to realize the people in charge are "not all there". Hey Nancy, will chicken blood and feathers be allowable charges in this Rwanda health care model?? Incredible
Crazy rich people
Tue, 07/28/2009 - 09:52 ET by JohnMcGrewOnly a very wealthy person who worked relatively little for what they have could argue such a silly thing.
How many Cubans have given up "universal health care" and risked everything. including their lives, to come to unjust America? How many Rwandans would? You really don't see anybody fleeing America for these theoretical paradises.
Somebody buy this woman a
Tue, 07/28/2009 - 10:36 ET by jessieHSomebody buy this woman a ticket to Rwanda, one way, please.
Dr. Nancy 'Jealous' Of Life
Fri, 12/04/2009 - 03:43 ET by bendjaminDr. Nancy 'Jealous' Of Life Insurance Coverage In . . . Rwanda
Rwanda has an infant mortality rate of about 83 per 1,000. In the U.S. it is 6.3 per 1,000.
The average life expectancy in Rwanda in 49, in the U.S. it is 78.
But, hey, they have 90% coverage, compared to our 85%, so I guess we need to switch to their plan. /sarc