The irony is just too fucking delicious

[Scooter]

U.S. Congress's foremost proponent of Randian ideology is getting medical care at ground zero of "socialized medicine":

U.S. Senator Rand Paul to travel to Canada for hernia surgery after neighbour's attack

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — U.S. Sen. Rand Paul’s attorneys say in a court filing that he plans to undergo hernia surgery in Canada because of injuries he suffered when a neighbour attacked Paul while he was doing yard work at his Kentucky home.

The filing in Paul’s lawsuit against Rene Boucher says the senator will travel to Ontario, Canada, for outpatient surgery scheduled later this month.

The document says the surgery is related to the 2017 attack. Boucher pleaded guilty to assaulting a member of Congress and was sentenced to 30 days in prison. Federal prosecutors are appealing the sentence.

A Paul spokeswoman didn’t immediately explain why Paul is having the surgery in Canada, where medical care is publicly funded and universally provided. Paul touts private-market approaches for U.S. health care problems.

[BoSoxGal]

Why would he seek treatment from some socialized medicine ghetto doctor when he could see a doctor right here in we’re #1 ‘murica?!

[Econoline]

Oh well...there goes another one...

[ex-khobar Andy]

I hadn't seen this so I looked to our local rag (The Courier Journal) to see what it had to say. There is a little more information but nothing on why he found the need to go outside the US private health system, beyond the statement that they are, apparently, specialists in this operation.

He is scheduled to have the outpatient operation at the privately adminstered Shouldice Hernia Hospital in Thornhill, Ontario during the week of Jan. 21, according to documents from Paul's civil lawsuit against Boucher filed in Warren Circuit Court.

The procedure is estimated to cost anywhere from $5,000 to $8,000, according to court documents. MDsave.com lists a hernia repair costing between $4,000 and $8,000.

Shouldice Hernia Hospital markets itself as "the global leader in non-mesh hernia repair," according to the clinic's website.

While Shouldice Hernia Hospital is privately owned — like many Canadian hospitals — it receives a majority of its funding from the Ontario government and accepts the Ontario’s Hospital Insurance Plan.

The hospital's website outlines payments it accepts, including cash, check or credit card for those patients, like Paul, who are not covered by Ontario's insurance plan or a provincial health insurance plan.

Kelsey Cooper, a spokeswoman for Paul, said the hospital is privately owned and people come from around the globe for their services.

“This is more fake news on a story that has been terribly reported from day one — this is a private, world renowned hospital separate from any system and people come from around the world to pay cash for their services,” Cooper said in an email to the Courier Journal.

Kentucky is actually quite a nice place to live. I cannot understand how we have managed to elect two such fucking nutcases as Paul and Yertle as senators.

[Scooter]

"Private hospital" in this sense means that it existed before the advent of universal public health insurance and was grandfathered into the new system. For residents of the province, it can only bill through public health insurance. For non-residents it can bill whatever the market will bear, same as any other health care facility. Paul's spokesperson is trying to split hairs that don't exist. Shouldice operates just like any medical provider in the province.