Many jokes have been made over Ms. Lowden's comment to bring a chicken to the doctor in lieu of payment.
She tried to justify this bullshit by appealing to some uninformed interpretation of the history of medicine, that "in the old days" patients would barter with their physicians.
My father was a physician, an old country doctor, and I've been a physician longer than Ms. Lowden's probably been alive and yet I can't recall any time that people bartered livestock in exchange for medical services.
My family has bills to pay. The grocery store, the gas station, the phone/internet company aren't going to accept poultry as payment. My malpractice is covered by our group, but many of my colleagues have to pay that themselves. And insurance companies? Insurance companies won't take chickens. Or cows. Or goats. Or produce.
On Ms. Lowden's webpage, there is no "donate Chickens" button. She only accepts American dollars. What gives?
Why do Republicans such as Ms. Lowden want Americans to give their money to insurance companies--when these very same insurance companies deny Americans coverage--and want doctors to be paid in chickens?
There's a huge shortage of primary care physicians as it is. If Republicans are all about the free market and incentives, how is the prospect of being paid in chickens going to motivate medical students -- already burdened with hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans -- to work in primary care?? Is Sue Lowden anti-doctor?
Such statements should be automatically disqualifying.
While its true that my family is financially well-off, I find Lowden's proposal inconsiderate: to physicians and the chickens. Several months ago, my family all converted to lacto-vegetarianism.
Some of you will recall candidate Obama was asked by a vegan about endorsing a more health and planet-friendly diet. Here's what he said
Lowden doesn't have the endorsement of the AMA (not that this archaic organization speaks for me or many of my colleagues--membership has been declining for decades!), or this physician. She can go fuck herself.
Also, notice that Lowden's ahead of Reid in the polls. Reid didn't support the public option as many of his constituents did. Had he, would he be in the situation he's in now?
This guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, "Doc, uh, my brother's crazy; he thinks he's a chicken."
And, uh, the doctor says, "Well, why don't you turn him in?"
The guy says, "I would, but I need the eggs."
Well, I guess that's pretty much now how I feel about relationships; y'know, they're totally irrational, and crazy, and absurd, and... but, uh, I guess we keep goin' through it because, uh, most of us... need the eggs.
- Woody Allen, Annie Hall