For a moment last week my enthusiasm for the Arkansas governor’s race soared when I station-hopped on my car radio to KABF 88.3 and landed in the middle of a discussion about Sarah Sanders, jazz and musical talent. It was a side of Gov. Sanders I knew nothing about! But reality crushed the hope: They were talking about Pharaoh Sanders. I quickly checked my hearing aids and sank back into the sad world of Sarah and Brad, the basement-dwelling mooch depicted in a Sanders campaign ad as the poster boy for government dependency.
Here’s what I wish we Arkansans would discuss during this campaign, but to thrash this idea around, please picture Brad as the worst degenerate you can think of. A Republican? A Democrat? A drug dealer? An enthusiastic felon? The laziest man in Arkansas?
Here’s our challenge: Your degenerate man does not deserve to participate in a government health insurance plan, whether it’s Medicaid, Arkansas’ private option, or the health exchange under the Affordable Care Act. Sad Brad’s life decisions eliminated any possibility of him deserving to participate. But here’s my premise, best articulated by Clint Eastwood in the movie “Unforgiven”: “Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.” We Arkansans will do better when all of us have health insurance and healthcare we can afford, even if it means government/taxpayer subsidies for some of us, even if we don’t deserve it.
How should we view healthcare in 2026? Is it like Rebsamen golf course, where if you don’t pay, you don’t play? Or is it like a city street or state highway where the entire street gets paved, not just the parts in front of the homeowners with money. The answer is that the drive is smoother for all of us without intermittent dirt and ruts.
How does it help the hospitals that treat Brad (which they will) if he cannot pay anything?
How does it help doctors who treat Brad (which many will) if he cannot pay anything?
How does it help ambulance companies and paramedics who treat and transport Brad (which they will) if he has no insurance?
How does it help us, wherever we live in Arkansas, if our doctors, hospitals and everybody else providing care are under financial stress because we expect them to care for everyone, including those we have concluded don’t deserve insurance?
How does it help the business climate if the local hospital is financially at risk or doctors go elsewhere?
How does it help our health insurance rates if provider prices are higher because of uninsured Brads?
I could soften the description of Brad the Degenerate: maybe he’s chronically depressed, or chronically ill and doesn’t know it, or just not very smart. Maybe he is going to Pulaski Tech but can only afford to take one or two classes and knows nothing about financial aid. Maybe, maybe, maybe. But I won’t.
We have the best chance of having affordable and available healthcare if all of us have health insurance, even that loser Sad Brad. Brad may not deserve health insurance, but like good paved roads, we need health insurance and healthcare that works. We deserve it.
Source: arktimes.com
