I really hope this does NOT become a conservative-versus-liberal free-for-all discussion about Obamacare. I’m just writing this story – about a celebrity who supports Obamacare – because it’s about a celebrity, not because of the Obamacare part. That being said, if you’d like to know my politics upfront, I do support Obamacare, although I would have supported a single-payer system even more than Obamacare, which I sometimes worry is unnecessarily bureaucratic (even though I totally support it). I should also add a conspiracy theory layer onto this story – Pres. Obama has met with celebrities for months to get Hollywood on board with doing Obamacare promotion as the bulk of the implementation goes into effect in the coming months. Celebrities like Jennifer Hudson, Oprah, Amy Poehler, Kal Penn (who used to work for Obama), Alicia Keys, etc. And now maybe Gwyneth Paltrow too?
When Gwyneth was on the red carpet for Thanks for Sharing, Fox News asked her if she supports Obamacare. She does. Because she loves the UK’s National Health Service (which is a single-payer system).
These days Gwyneth Paltrow is just as famous for her toned body and wellness website Goop as she is for starring on the silver screen. And although the L.A-born actress now calls the United Kingdom home, she still supports ObamaCare.
“I’ve been living in London for 11 years where healthcare is the right of everyone,” Paltrow told FOX411 at Monday’s premiere of the comedy/drama “Thanks for Sharing.” “And I feel like the taxes that we pay, people should have the right to health care here.”
She also said there are things we can all do to be a little healthier.
“Not eating processed foods. Nothing you buy off the shelf and have to open, like Oreos,” Paltrow advised. “Things that have a lot of ingredients in them and are processed, they are hard on the body. The body doesn’t know what to do with that stuff. Just eat fresh food. I eat French Fries and cheese, but it’s just good quality.”
The Oscar-winning actress’s character Phoebe takes obsession with healthy eating and exercise to extremes in the forthcoming “Thanks for Sharing,” which tackles the often taboo 12-step program for sex addiction and the challenges sobriety brings.
“I learned a lot about addiction. Essentially it is a way to band-aid pain. People are looking for something to mask their pain for a minute and feel a bit better and it can take many forms,” Paltrow said. “I learned the way out of it is to really face your pain, to sit with it and really face your emotions. Those are the first steps.”
She also expressed some concerns about the over-sexualized direction society seems to have taken.
“There’s a lot of sex, especially as a mother and having children with access to the Internet,” she said. “It’s quite scary how accessible sex is and how it’s everywhere. It is definitely not a very innocent time.”
If you go to that Fox News link ^^ you can also read some comments about our hyper-sexualized culture from Pink and Tim Robbins. As for what Goop says about health care… I mean, she was on a red carpet for a film about sex addiction. Did you expect her to bring out her charts and recite a 12-point plan for why Obamacare is a good thing? And sometimes it is just as simple as “Health care is a right for everyone.” Of course, Goop shot herself in the foot with her little sidenote about eating healthy: “I eat French Fries and cheese, but it’s just good quality.” Classic Goop. Bacon is totally fresh and natural, but you should not eat bacon every day. Even though it’s delicious. And you want bacon right now.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Like she actually used the UK’s healthcare system-eye roll.
Exactly. As if, if one of her kids got sick she would use government health care! Easy to say everyone deserves health care when you have the money to access the best of it & not have to use crappy govn health care.
Umm everyone DOES deserve healthcare. Easy to say it bc I’m human
“Easy to say everyone deserves health care when you have the money to access the best of it”
your post doesn’t make any sense. Paltrow is saying that, EVEN IF YOU DON’T HAVE HER WEALTH, you should have access to it because it’s a basic human right, not a basic RICH PERSON’S human right.
if she were to say that everyone should try her manatee-placenta facial wipes, or some other such rich person’s luxury, THAT would warrant a comment like yours.
My first thought too. The UK system is fine – for peasants. I would bet a fair amount of money that Gwyneth and her family would never go to a NHS provider and pay for their own, more upscale care.
Does she even realize that Obamacare is NOT single payer? It is not even close. It’s the worst possible combination of what we had and uhhh, crap. This is not Europe’s system, Gwyneth. It’s a BJ to insurance companies who caused these problems to begin with.
Agreed. Really not feeling like I want to debate here. But I find it interesting that goop has an option on other things that don’t involve body, eating disorders and elitist products.
lol
A single payer health system works so much better than having millions uninsured, sick, and dying, but the best thing about Obamacare is the proviso of banning health insurance denial for pre existing conditions.
Goop is right that we all have a responsibility to fuel our bodies properly, that is if we can afford it or even get fresh real food in an inner-city environment.
I know they will not be able to deny you coverage for pre existing conditions but that doesnt mean they wont charge you out the a** for having that condition.
The rates Im hearing being quoted are more than my monthly mortgage, its insane. I know a few ppl who will be paying the tax b/c they can’t afford even the basic premium.
It’s my understanding, Macy that the law actually prohibits insurers charging any more for that applicants’ health insurance than they would any healthy applicant. – http://patients.about.com/od/AffordableCareAct/a/Pre-Existing-Conditions-And-The-Affordable-Care-Act.htm
I hope your right. thats what I thought too but then a cpl of my co-workers were getting different rates b/c of the existing conditions (none of them anything major). Maybe that will change when it goes into full effect but this was just within the past month or so.
I think the ins. cos are trying to make some quick bucks on inflated policies before everything goes into effect. they’re the real crooks when it comes to these policies. You should see the size of some of the big wigs annual bonuses. All those denied claims and such go right into their pockets.
I hope I’m right too, and I hope Obamacare is not a cynically slick collaboration with our corporate masters.
Sloane–As someone which chronic health problems, I have been following this closely. Yes, they cannot charge you more than others. And there are limits to the rate differences between 20 y/o and 80 y/o people. But that doesn’t mean they cannot raise the overall rate and that is probably what is going to happen. States are stepping in and providing subsidies for low-income and high income can afford their own private plans. But people who fall in that 100-200K household income are going to get hit hard. They make too much for assistance but not enough to afford the premiums which I expect to be around $700 per month for a family of 4. Maybe more.
I honestly don’t think the debate is whether people deserve access to healthcare. I think the debate is over what that should look like. How much is basic care every one deserves and how much is excessive that you should pay for? My mom is disabled but thinks it is her right to stay in her house rather than go to assisted living even though assisted living is much more cost-effective and safer. But currently she can push Medicare (and is doing so) to pay for as much home health care as possible even though she never earned much money, doesn’t even pay her own Medicare premiums and was regularly fired from jobs because she was a pain in the ass. Is this her right? Or is this excessive. From her point of view, it’s her right. From mine, I think it’s a bit excessive (largely because of safety issues).
Thanks, Lucinda.
Right now we already pay $700 per month for a family of two out of our paycheck for health insurance. Healthcare is expensive, criminally so here in the United States. We are lucky to have access to it because I can’t currently get insured at all for my pre existing condition anywhere else.
You’re probably aware of medical tourism where you can get a prosthetic implant for a few thousand dollars, whereas here it costs 78k for the same device.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/health/for-medical-tourists-simple-math.html?_r=1&
She’s concerned about kids being able to view over-sexualized images in the media? This from a woman who wore a gown last year that showed her ass? Some who is constantly talking publicly about her pubic area?
Whatever.
Exactly
I would question whether she’s ever actually used the NHS. One of my close friends is British, and he once explained to me that the UK does have private healthcare that many of the wealthiest citizens use. NHS provides a baseline of care, but private options are available for those who wish to pay for a “better” experience. Google says that around 10% of the British population utilize private healthcare options. I find I hard to believe that Goopy isn’t among them. After all, is she really going to expose herself to that other 90%?
When they say “better”, it’s mostly about the hotel aspects of hospital stays – food, single rooms, etc. It used to be about waiting lists for non-urgent operations but that’s less so now.
The NHS has various postcode (ie where you live) scandals, as some areas prescribe some drugs and others don’t. But these are generally the experimental ones that insurers don’t pay out for anyway. It also has some failing hospitals, but no greater proportion than private hospitals. In fact, most private hospitals don’t have the facilities to cope with the most serious patients (high dependency units etc) so they have to “buy” beds for some of their customers in NHS hospitals.
The NHS has plenty of problems but, in the vast majority of instances, sub-standard care isn’t one of them.
Exactly. Yes, there is private healthcare in the UK, but all treatments (save the odd experimental one) are available on the NHS. Without exception all doctors who work for private hospitals also work for NHS hospitals, so there’s no question about the better doctors being the ones you pay for, and many of the more complex procedures (particularly those for children) are only available at NHS hospitals. You pay for a quicker service on non-essential treatments and a room to yourself. Being British, it’s still a shock to me that free universal healthcare could even be subject to debate in a country as rich as the US.
Back on the story, I don’t think the fact that Goop probably doesn’t use the NHS makes her opinion invalid. That said, she and her family proabably do use it every once in a while because you generally need to be referred to a private hospital by an NHS General Practitioner in any case. It would be strange for her kids to have no NHS GP at all no matter how rich and elite she (likes to this she) is.
Oh, she’s probably got a Harley Street GP in private practice. So she can refuse cat-poo coffee and demand a wheatgrass shake in reception, or somesuch.
But if she ever got anything seriously wrong with her, then she’d be sent to an NHS hospital, whether she was paying or not, and if anyone in her family had an accident, she’d be in an NHS emergency room – because there aren’t any private emergency rooms in the UK.
“Back on the story, I don’t think the fact that Goop probably doesn’t use the NHS makes her opinion invalid.”
Agreed. I think her point is that everyone should have access to decent care, which the UK’s NHS provides, and which Obamacare will.
Hi Amelia. I agree there are failing hospitals in the UK. But where people get mixed up is in believing that ONLY NHS hospitals are failing. It doesn’t take much digging about to find some horrific stories of private facilities.
The point I was trying to make is that sub-standard care, when it occurs in the UK, is NOT a function of state supply. It occurs (rarely, thank heavens) across the board.
What Sixer and Mazza said. I’m Aussie, not British, but our system is similar (single payer with the option of additional private insurance). In this kind of set-up, private health care is about having more luxurious rooms/food, the choice of doctor, and possibly shorter waiting times for elective surgery.
In an emergency (heart attack, broken bones etc), you’re going to be using the public system. If GOOP hasn’t dealt with the NHS, it’d be pure luck.
It’s a little bit like paying for a first class plane ticket rather than cattle-class. It gives you certain luxuries within the existing service, it’s not a completely separate service.
Yes healthcare is a right of everyone, but when the government forces everyone to take part, that my dear is a different story.
The Supreme Court disagreed.
Just because the SCOTUS said it was constitutional doesn’t mean it is. We have a very liberal SCOTUS and even they can get things wrong. And they did!
Not exactly. The scotus decision was basically finding that the penalty for not carrying insurance was in reality a tax, since the bill delegated authority to the IRS for collections. You are free to not carry insurance, even now – that has not changed. You must simply pay a sur-tax.
“liberal” SCOTUS?
pardon me while I die laughing.
Yes and I would like to see the SCOTUS sign up for this Obamacare… It is just another hit to America.. hello socialism!
The Supreme Court also disagreed with gay marriage and disagrees with abortion. Obamacare is nothing but socialism period.
Obamacare isnt socialism, it is regulation of the medical insurance industry. It protects consumers, and we will all be consumers of health care at some point.
If we had single payer, I could see people crying socialism. In regards to the actual law though, “socialism!” is complete hyperbole.
To Tiffany…
MOST people who throw that “socialism!” accusation out there really have NO idea what a socialist society is. they are just parroting what they hear Palin/Hannity/etc say.
just like people calling Dubya Bush a “fascist”. I’m no fan of his but he is NOT a fascist.
I looked it up to see if webster dictionary would expound on the definition. I believe the definition does not properly identify its true intent: activist government. This lack of detail is much more pervasive that controlling the factors of production of goods and services. It seeks to alter human social behavior as well. This definition as stated does not articulate properly its meaning as government in actual terms. It also ties it to form libertariansism that does not seek to seek alter human behaviour by force of government.
So what? The government “forces” you to wear a seat belt while driving. The government “forces” you to subsidize the uninsured who go to emergency rooms.
If ObamaCare is the law of the land for me, it should be the law of the land for EVERYONE. No reason in HELL the president, congress and now Unions are pressing for it, should get an exemption. If this is such a great law, why is everybody (including those who pushed it thru) running from it?
You make an excellent point, bravocueen.
The single payer program that our president, senate, and congress enjoy was viciously opposed by the status quo dollarocracy for us regular people. There is no substantial difference between Obama’s plan and Romney’s Massachusetts plan, and the origins of this act are rooted in the right-wing Heritage Foundation. – http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/02/05/obamacare-a-deception/
bravocueen, there are so many lies out there about Obamacare, and one of them is that congress is exempt.
http://www.factcheck.org/2013/05/congress-and-an-exemption-from-obamacare/
@Tiffany:):
It appears that congress WILL in essence be exempt from Obamacare.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/358550/congresss-exemption-obamacare-john-fund
http://www.forbes.com/sites/carrielukas/2013/09/18/as-congress-and-its-staffers-try-to-weasel-out-of-obamacare-americans-smell-a-rat/
http://news.msn.com/rumors/rumor-congress-is-exempt-from-obamacare
Sloane,
http://www.factcheck.org/2013/08/no-special-subsidy-for-congress/
Aug. 30, 2013
Congress isn’t “exempt” from the law. It wasn’t exempt back in 2010, when we first debunked such a claim; nor were lawmakers exempt in May when the bogus bit surfaced again. Three months later, they’re still not exempt. In fact, as we’ve said before, lawmakers and their staffs face additional requirements that other Americans don’t. And the “special subsidy” to which Pittenger refers is simply a premium contribution that his employer, the federal government, has long made to the health insurance policies of its workers.
Tiffany, there was a big hue and cry from congress when Obamacare originally leveled the playing field by doing away with subsidies and by requiring them to pay their exchange insurance rates like everyone one else under this law. Then, by passing a loophole law that allows them to keep their employer-provided subsidies, (which will cover 75 percent of their premiums), Congress and their staff are largely shielded from the impact of higher premiums created by ObamaCare. So, in fact, congress IS exempt from paying for their insurance in the health exchanges, unlike the rest of us.
I, like a lot of voters, think it is unfair that the Congress should be exempt from paying for their insurance in the health exchanges like everyone else. I think the majority of us want everyone treated equally and don’t want the ruling class to cut themselves special deals.
Sloane, many employers contribute funds to cover some or all of their employees health care premiums.
From the fact check from Aug. 30th:
“the “special subsidy” to which Pittenger refers is simply a premium contribution that his employer, the federal government, has long made to the health insurance policies of its workers.”
For a minute, it looked like our elected officials were actually going to have to pay their own health insurance premiums. I’m not going to vote for ‘business as usual’ where there’s one set of standards for our rulers and another for everyone else. I call not having to pay 75% of your health insurance under Obamacare an exemption, Tiffany.
The government is not a private employer, (who by the way are in a race to the bottom of who can cut health benefits the fastest).
“I call not having to pay 75% of your health insurance under Obamacare an exemption, Tiffany. ”
Employers can pay percentages of their employees health insurance under Obamacare, as they could before Obamacare. For example, my company pays 80% and that isn’t changing.
…
Oh SH** girlfriend does NOT know a thing about it. IT’s not that easy. Oh Lord here comes the downpour!!!! Dumb as a stump this woman.
so she’s saying her cheese is better than my cheese, I’m sorry has she found the golden cow?
Yes. We keep it in Wookey Hole.
I love how she is telling everyone to eat fresh foods rather than processed foods.
IS she right? Yes. But she fails to accout for the fact that not everyone can afford fresh food.
Egocentric twat.
I guess it’s different in America but fresh food is so easy to find and super affordable in many countries, England included.
Yeah, in Colombia, fresh food is the norm not the exception and I used to think that was the case globally but I guess I was wrong.
I was in London a couple years back and I was astounded by how cheap the produce was. However, it drove me nuts how they saran-wrapped and put a foam backing on every piece of fruit/vegg though. So wasteful.
But yeah, different story in the US. I spend a ton on groceries just so I can eat healthy, and most of my money goes to produce. Not everyone can afford to do that. Also, produce has a really short shelf-life. It’s kind of disheartening to see the $4.00 head of butter lettuce you bought turn rotten in just a couple days.
I recommend frozen vegg (not organic, organic stuff is $$) as a more economical and still-healthy alternative.
@Lexi, I’m surprised to hear you say that. I lived in Southern England and my food budget was sky high, particularly for fresh food. The options were also highly limited for me. I had to cut out a lot of fruit and vegetables I normally eat – I stuck with cheap corn, potatoes and similar cheap produce.
ITA!
Fresh food in the USA is so hard to find and when you do it’s fu&@ing expensive!!
I’m from Brazil and fresh food is so common and cheap. That was one of my biggest cultural shock
I couldn’t fathom living in a city, and really feel for those who can’t have a garden. I’ve been growing food (for my family and the birds apparently) for 30+ years, and I can’t imagine not being able to. I do it for health/economics mostly, but also for a sense of satisfaction and it’s where I find serenity.
wtf does she have against Oreos? Has she ever had one? They are delicious!!!
Oh, you are so right! And the Halloween ones are out now! I had to run out of the store! I could eat the whole bag with no prob.
I live in Canada and I agree – health care is a human right!
I’m sick of hearing about the puritans. It’s not what people are saying that bothers me, it’s that people say the same thing over and over in the same way. it just gets annoying from either side of the debate.
This is what happens when one side chooses to spend all their time and effort to ”defeat” a piece of legislation, rather than to use effort and resources to improve and perfect it. Like it or not, Obama won the 2008 election based on the promise that he would overhaul healthcare. Like it or not, improving healthcare is in fact the wishes of the American people, not a foolhardy Quixotic quest to best the sitting president (resources that would have been much better served putting forth better candidates for the 2012 election, because when there are 2 strong candidates everyone wins regardless of party). Our healthcare system is broken. The cost of American healthcare is bloated beyond belief, inflated by the astronomical costs set forth from pur friends the insurance companies. At this point, I will take any fix.
I completely agree with this – it’s sort of the problem of all politics, isn’t it? Rather than try to improve something, it’s an us vs. them mentality to see who “wins”. No one wins, especially not the average citizen the politicians are supposed to be representing.
I also wish they’d take a common sense approach, one thing at a time, instead of rolling everything into one huge bundle full of unrelated stuff.
I agree with this…except that Obamacare itself is a disaster. It’s filled with things that may have sounded good on paper but that have disastrous real-world results. Some examples I’ve run into recently:
-Almost every doctor in my area has already or is dropping Medicaid patients. My personal GP isn’t dropping anyone but is no longer accepting new Medicare or Medicaid patients for the foreseeable future.
-The company I work for is ending its health coverage completely. It’s that or reduce hours and workforce. This isn’t a greedy company. The COO has taken a salary of 2$/year for the past three years running. Bigger companies might have ways to reduce costs to comply with the new rules for coverage, but small and medium-sized companies that are already barely getting by just do not. (And as a side note: I was recently diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, and insurance companies may not be able to deny me coverage anymore, but they can sure as hell charge me so much that I can’t afford to pay for it.)
-My father, who has cancer and has had fantastic coverage, will be paying more than twice as much for coverage that will only cover 20% of his cancer treatments. Which means he won’t be able to afford treatment as soon as they switch over.
I actually do support universal healthcare, but not this bill. And it sticks in my craw that celebrities like Paltrow, who will likely never have to deal with the healthcare issues that regular citizens do, come out and support something they don’t understand. Has she read the bill? Somehow I doubt it.
Agree 100%
Agree with you too.
In my opinion, the only people to benefit from this is the poor. The middle class is going to be screwed. The rich could always afford it.
Already the premiums for my husband’s plan has went up, our copays have doubled…and I imagine it is going to get worse.
Excellent post. If Obamacare is such a great deal, how come Congress has EXEMPTED themselves from it. How come the unions have gotten exemptions. It’s bad law and needs to be revised.
Skyler1, I disagree that the middle class is screwed. The middle class was being screwed by insurance companies for a very long time, which is why 60% of bankruptcies were caused by medical bills. If you were a middle class person with a pre-existing condition, the old system was very risky.
The protections for group insurance vs. individual insurance were VAST, and those have now been equalized and improved.
Vee, congress is not exempt from Obamacare. That is a very popular myth. Please see the link I posted below, or do a search “fact check congress exempt obamacare”. There are many organizations that have reviewed this talking point and found it 100% false.
I completely agree Bridget.
I agree with you Bridget, before Obama was elected everyone was screaming about our healthcare system, but once he got in and the Republicans got their hands on his proposal it got completely overhauled to a point that most of it sucks for Americans, of course he’s getting all of the blame for it. To be honest I’m sick of both sides fighting with each other, I wish they would get together and work on something for ALL Americans and not just for their side. I wish we could get to a system like Britain where it’s a tax and not a work places responsibility, everyone pays a tax and gets healthcare. And before someone cries what if I don’t want healthcare, there are several things my taxes go to that I one don’t support or use, but I love living in this country, if that’s a price I have to pay then fine. Now let’s discuss gun control and Starbucks:)
+1000000000
Spot on.
IF ObamaCare bill is so great…
why… did Obama delay the implementation – oh right the 2014 elections? Because the all the taxes it levies will hit the voters…then he will lose the Senate.
Contrary, to law – why has this administration allowed Congress to be exempt? They very people who wrote the bill – want no part of it!!
Contrary, to law – exempted big corporations? So small businesses will suffer
Warren Buffet has come forth and said that ObamaCare will do more harm than good as written. In fact detrimental to the long term to health of US economy.
Because does not address the heart of the matter costs. Just to increase coverage.
the Unions _ ALO is no longer on board.
For Obamacare alone – $760 billion dollar tax increase per year over the next 10 years . It is not sustainable.
One of the reasons US recovery has been slow and economic growth minimal is because of this deeply flawed bill.
Turn off Fox News…lol…
Facts are facts. I can’t change them because you don’t like them…
miss cherokee, with all due respect (or not)…
not all of what you posted is “fact”; some is misleading interpretation and some is opinion.
the Buffet info that’s recently come up is from a 3.5 year old interview, before the bill was even signed, and he never said that he’s scrap it and start over.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/sep/17/blog-posting/bloggers-say-warren-buffett-recently-turned-agains/
Yeah don’t blame MissCherokee, she’s just parroting the talking heads at Faux News.
“why… did Obama delay the implementation – oh right the 2014 elections? Because the all the taxes it levies will hit the voters…then he will lose the Senate.”
Oh, this Chicken Little stuff is hilarious.
If it’s a bad thing for the people, why are House Republicans freaking out about it being implented next month? If it’s truly a bad idea, why not wait to actually see the bad idea turn into bad practice? Or is the fear that it isn’t so bad after all and that seeing it in practice makes it one more thing that Obama has accomplished?
“Warren Buffet has come forth and said that ObamaCare will do more harm than good as written. In fact detrimental to the long term to health of US economy.”
Research is fundamental. Certain outlets are trotting out a statement made three years ago, and they’re conveniently leaving out the context just so it reads that Buffet, in 2013 as recent as months ago, is saying to scrap Obamacare. At the time of Buffet’s interviews, the bill hadn’t even been passed; they were still working on it.
Because I’m a giving person, here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmDflUJ6OzE
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/33693.html
And those two links came after a couple minutes of Googling.
“Facts” are in the eye of beholder more often than not
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/sep/17/blog-posting/bloggers-say-warren-buffett-recently-turned-agains/
Key excerpt (though I suggest you read the whole thing): “Buffett’s office told PolitiFact that the blog reports do not reflect his views. Buffett “has never said or thought that Obamacare should be scrapped,” said Debbie Bosanek, Buffett’s assistant. She said she showed him our research and that he said our analysis “covered it very well.”
This!!!
Enough with the outright lies!
CONGRESS IS NOT EXEMPT FROM OBAMACARE.
http://www.factcheck.org/2013/05/congress-and-an-exemption-from-obamacare/
Q: Is it true that there are bills in Congress that would exempt members and their staffs and families from buying into “Obamacare”?
A: No. Congress members and staffers will be required to buy insurance through the exchanges on Jan. 1.
But, but, but….Pres. Obama insisted national healthcare would not result in any additional taxes. Was he wrong?! Lol.
The reporter should have asked her why both she and Chris Martin were driving Vespas WITH their kids on the back without benefit of California drivers licenses.
Oh, and Goop, not all fresh food is affordable for those on minimum wage or social assistance. Sometimes dinner has to be a box of KD and a can of beans because after they pay rent, etc. there’s nothing left in the old bank account. Think about that the next time you brag about your high quality, organic fries and $60 hunk of cheese. In fact put your money where your mouth is and set up a charity to help the poor peasants eat fresh food. Twat.
Maybe they have international licences?
Whatever they had was not valid in CA. Goop was at the DMV the next day after the bus/Vespa incident. Chris Martin was photographed at the CA DMV just a day or two ago.
Happy to see she gets her throne and talk to us peons about how to live our lives. The nerve of these people. Like she used government healthcare.
The rich will do what they always do.Donate a bunch of money to a hospital and get a Backdoor enterance to themselves while the rest of us fight over rationed care whether it be through a public or private system.
Terrific
Man. Now I want bacon. Dammit.
Me too! Time for lunch….
Bacon and Oreos.
Let’s get on it, ladies.
Lol! Washed down with Sprite or Vodka and Grapefruit juice.
Irony tastes sweet…I was eating a bag of mini chocolate covered dognuts as I was reading this post.
I work in the national health care system in Canada, and while it certainly has it’s strengths and weaknesses, I can’t help but feel like the US has been brainwashed against it. What are you so afraid if? Equal and universal access to healthcare is a pretty basic right. ( and I realize “equal” doesn’t always happen, but it sure does most of the time.)
If its so great how come all of Cancucks come down here and use ours especially when it comes to cancer treatment? Both my parents have had cancer and gone them chemo. Every session I took them too we meant a different Canadian it seemed here to get chemo. They all said the same thing. Get a cold, go to Canada. Get cancer, go to America. Ditto my neighbor who moved here 20 years ago who came here for cancer treatment and decided to stay since her opinion this country saved her life and felt indebted.
The random sample of Canadians that you’ve met is no way indicative of the rest of the country. Most of us don’t have the means to pay the exorbitant amounts of money for treatment in America.
There are several reasons why Canadians get medical treatment in the US: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_Canada#Canadians_visiting_the_US_to_receive_health_care
The number of Canadians actually voting-with-their-feet, against their single-payer system is miniscule.
0.5% of Canadians receive treatment in the US.
Of those, the vast majority (3/4) are already in the US for other reasons (i.e., they’re immigrants or tourists). Obviously the US is where they should be getting treatment.
Of the remaining 1/4 of 0.5% (0.125%), many were there under agreements whereby they get treated in the US, and Canada pays the costs. This makes economic sense for both sides. It’d be wasteful for Canada to build a state-of-the-art hospital if it’s only going to get 100 patients. And on the US side, more paying patients = better efficiency. In no way is this indicative of Canadians voting against their single-payer system … it is part of the system.
Others sought treatment in the US for reasons of confidentiality. Things they wished to keep secret: abortion, treatment for addiction or other mental illness, etc., etc. These treatments are available in Canada, but if you can pretend you’re off on a holiday, then it’s easier to keep things a secret.
Did you ask the Canadians you met in chemo WHY they were there (rather than in Canada)? And did you ask who was paying for their treatment?
Lucrezia, awesome reply.
I am no expert, but I have a story. 10 years ago, my mom had cancer in the USA, at the same time, her cousin in Croatia had stomach cancer and her friend had cancer in Canada. Her treatment was immediate, personal,and altogether a good experience. Her cousin had to reschedule a certain treatment five times because there was no staff to perform it, or the necessary machines were broken. Her Canadian friend had to wait eleven months to see an oncologist, and when he did,was told that he needed immediate care, so “come back in 3 months.” Well, they all survived, but guess where I would choose to be treated?
+1
yes i´m with you. Maybe it´s because i´m European i don´t understand what the fuss is about. Healthcare for everyone is a good thing!
I feel the same re: the brainwashing.
Healthcare is SO important. It should be a right of every human.
My parents are Canadian as are most of my relatives. For basic care, they stay in Canada, for specialist care, they come to the U.S. Wait times are months shorter and wait times for operations are quicker.
They are “afraid” of the sky high costs for individuals and the strain on the budget. The Congressional Budget Office has repeatedly warned us about our extreme debt problems, and they have clearly liked the new bill to higher costs.
You can support new programs if you like, but its extremely irresponsible to turn a blind eye to the costs associated with them we are not not even funding what we currently have. I would like to hear a Canadian’s input about exactly how to manage this debt?
http://news.yahoo.com/cbo-obamacare-price-tag-shifts-940-billion-1-163500655.html
It has to do with our concept of rights. We don’t see ourselves having a right to receive things from the government, such as healthcare, food, a job w/a certain minimum income, etc.. Our rights specified in the Constitution are freedoms from government control and intrusion into our lives – the right to free speech, self defense, from illegal searches,from self-incrimination, etc..
Getting back to Paltrow, I always enjoy hearing her thoughts on America and Americans from her posh life in the UK. She doesn’t want to live here herself but she’s perfectly happy to tell us how we should live and what policies we should live under.
Most people would prefer to eat the foods she eats, but some of them are not affordable, and for some there just isn’t time depending on one’s schedule (both parents working, single-parent home, etc.). She’s pitching the ideal, which she has. Many can only dream of having the time and the means to live this way.
This.
100% this.
You can’t talk about the issues with health care in the U.S. without talking about the fundamental ideas of how governement should act in citizens lives.
Many Americans have very different ideas of the role of government from Europeans.
I think when Goop begins to talk about real issues, her lack of real life experiences and education are apparent. I don’t think she got a lot out of Spence School besides a diploma, and since then her world has been a bubble of English garden parties and fashion shows. She can be really funny, almost cute really, in some of her interviews, but when the topic requires some kind of insight to answer thoughtfullly she just can’t do it. This is getting off point, but the New Yorker had a great spread on Claire Danes a few issues back. I loved reading it. Her weirdness and intelligence dripped through the pages, and she really seems to be a very self aware, creative, interesting person who has a great balance in her life. I have never felt that way about Goop after reading one of her interviews.
I agree, I think she means well and is genuine in her beliefs, but just hasn’t had to face a lot of things that normal people deal with.
In all her learning about addiction, I wonder if she recognized any of that in herself, in regards to her apparent obsession with food, cleanses, over-exercising, etc. Probably not.
nail on the head!
Personally, I do not care one bit what celebrities think of Obamacare. Their opinion means nothing to me, just like Goop’s opinions on the foods I eat.
At least my husband and I drive our family with valid drivers licenses! Once caught, she quickly had to run to the DMV. Lol!!
It’s hard for me not to rant about ObamaCare, since the real-world repercussions of this bill for me and my family will be disastrous.
I can’t help but wonder if Paltrow and other celebrities have bothered to read the actual act (doubtful), or if they’re just running with the talking points they’ve been given (likely).
good tool to use to calculate the impact Obamacare will have on your wallet. Of course, the exchanges are not open yet so rates are still a guess, but the Kaiser Foundation is giving it a good shot.
http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/
I agree that healthcare should be the right of everyone. So should gender equality, clean water, personal safety, healthy food, justice . . .
here’s hoping!
Why should we pay any heed to celebrities shilling ObamaCare? They’ll never need to use it, so they don’t really care. They’re just mouthpieces.
FWIW, everyone has a right to good health care, IMO. We need an overhaul of the health care system in this country, but ObamaCare is not an efficient or even effective way to go about it.
I know of 5 different people who are now part time employees instead of full time. They all need to find a second job just to get by. Health care is a right, but not like this. Back to the drawing board, put on your big boy pants, admit that it won’t work and construct something new. unless this is part of the agenda…then it’s probably perfect.
Health care is not a right. Nowhere in the US constitution are people guaranteed medical care, much less free medical care. Sure, I agree that everyone should have access to health care – that they should not be denied health care based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, etc… But people no more have the rit to health care than any other service without paying for it.
Congress is exempt from Obamacare. Isn’t that telling?
Don’t get me started on companies all over the country cutting back employee hours to 29 a week so they do not have to pay for their coverage.
Obamacare hurts more than it helps.
So true. Do you think if one of Obamsa daughters needed surgery he would be using government health care? Please! He is such a hypocrite when it comes to his Obamacare.
Congress is not exempt from Obamacare.
“Q: Is it true that there are bills in Congress that would exempt members and their staffs and families from buying into “Obamacare”?
A: No. Congress members and staffers will be required to buy insurance through the exchanges on Jan. 1.”
http://www.factcheck.org/2013/05/congress-and-an-exemption-from-obamacare/
BUT Congress is offered options that the he real public is not. They were given special exceptions and considerations. I have a link posted a few comments below.
Inconceivable, they aren’t being offered anything other than what all employers have the option to do: contribute to employee health insurance costs.
From Fact Check on Aug. 30, 2013:
“And the “special subsidy” to which Pittenger refers is simply a premium contribution that his employer, the federal government, has long made to the health insurance policies of its workers.”
http://www.factcheck.org/2013/08/no-special-subsidy-for-congress/
Additonally, Freedom Works is a highly partisan organization.
Tiffany – when it comes to this issue EVERY source has their own angle or political agenda.
You’re fighting the good fight Tiffany but people aren’t going to listen.
Suze – I get it just fine as do many other Americans that have read more than just the one website Tiffany keeps citing as the only true fact.
Just because a few of you give condescending responses and repeat yourselves over and over does not make you more correct.
What is wrong with so many of you and trying to promote healthy eating?
Should we all just let these big corps to continue to put toxins an poisons in our food?
People like GP are caring about the fact that so many of our health problems stem from poor diets.
It’s not her fault that she can afford the best quality and a lot of us can’t.
She’s just saying try to do what you can to cut that crap out of your diet.
which by the way….if people did start to cut down on buying crappy processed food then they would have to start to meet the demand.
poor people that can only afford KD an oreos are not going to be able to o this. I highly doubt any of you fall in this category. poor people live in poor neiborhoods…should we all move there and slam anyone who moves to the country for fresher air??”oh they must think they are a queen or something!”
It is for us the middle and upper class to fight for an promote!
GP is doing the 1st step: awareness
and in the next 10yrs what she’s saying will be the norm.
Breaking Bad could not have been written in the UK, because Walt’s cancer would not have left his family in poverty.
Weeeeeell…he’d get the cancer treatment, but ATOS would probably declare him fit for work and cut out any benefits (financial aid).
folks, congress is NOT exempt from Obamacare.
please stop perpetuating that myth.
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114284/congress-exempt-obamacare-latest-lie-wont-die
The sad thing is that the willfully ignorant will continue to ignore this.
This is where the language gets convoluted. Congress is not exempt from Obamacare, but they are offered options that the general public is not.
So, it’s not entirely untrue.
http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/lheal/Congress-ObamaCare-exemption-then-and-now
They aren’t offered anything other than what other employers have the opportunity to do, contribute to employee health insurance costs.
Tiffany – direct from the article, please refute the fact instead of the source:
“Now after months of whining, Senate Democrats have convinced the President to allow OPM to subsidize them, even though no other employer in the country can do that.”
I think part of the confusion is that some use the phrase “subsidize”, because the employer is the government. However, it is an employer contribution, similar to what many other employers offer.
The reason this issue is so twisted is that during the transition phase, large employers can’t provide insurance through the exchanges (it is for uninsured, small businesses or self employed during transition). Partisans looked at this in regards to congress and said, “This means congress, who has a large employer, won’t be using the exchanges! Outrage!”. So then congress changed the law so that it required congress and their staff to be a part of the exchanges. However, since large employers can’t contribute to the exchange, this meant that they would loose the previously existing employer contribution that they used to have. In order to balance that out, they made it so that congress and staff won’t get the tax credit as all other Americans do.
From fact check:
“OPM said the contribution wouldn’t be greater than what is offered under the FEHB Program, and lawmakers and their staffs wouldn’t be eligible for the tax credits that are available to other Americans buying coverage through the exchanges.
In other words, OPM ruled that there would be a continuation of the status quo in terms of the employer premium contribution.”
It’s worth ignoring her support of Obamacare for two reasons: 1) she’s likely on NHS and 2) she more than likely goes to private doctors and pays in cash (which many wealthy people do because they get a HUGE discount for doing it). I will say this: I wish people would stop referring to Obamacare as “health care”. It’s not health care. It is health INSURANCE. Anyone can cruise into the ER and get “health care”. The question is: how will you be paying? Cash or insurance? Those who don’t can’t afford to pay cash or for insurance can generally qualify for Medicaid – but they don’t because it’s a lot of complicated, government paperwork. Now they don’t have an option – they have to sign for Obamacare, which is FAR more complicated and time-consuming than Medicaid. In other words, they won’t do that either. Then they’ll be fined, which they won’t pay either. Peope are required by law to carry car insurance. If they don’t, their licenses are suspended and they are subject to heavy fines if they are caught driving without a license – even, in some cases, jail. Yet that doesn’t stop people from driving without insurance or letting their policies cancel for non-payment.
I live in Spain where, until recently, everybody had the right to healthcare. When you are working, you paid a lot of taxes that go there, and I think those taxes are well invested money.
Both my parents worked for over 30 years. My mother died of ovaric cancer after fighting it for 10 years. We would have never been able to pay for her medical care. Then my dad had a stroke and needed surgery and many months of therapy. Again, we could have never afford those very expensive treatments.
Do we get the best healtcare in the world? No. We get a very basic care. Sometimes we also had to deal with doctors who had no interest whatsoever on my mom’s survival. But at least we had access to the drugs, the chemo and the surgery.
Now everything is changing because of the crisis and our health system is being crapped all over, but that’ a tale for another day.
Losing my mother was bad enough but I cannot imagine how bad it would have felt if we have had to watched her die because we did not had the money for the surgery or the drugs. Insurance, as far as I know, only covers so much and then lets you hanging out dry.
I really do not know the details of Obamacare but I do feel that being sick is bad enough without having to ask yourself “how am I going to pay for this?”.
I’m not trying to be cruel, but Spain is not exactly an exemplary model. The debt problem is so bad (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/13/us-spain-debt-idUSBRE98C09M20130913) that Spain will soon look like Greece. The public services that the population enjoys will be cut one by one. There is garbage uncollected in the streets, mass unemployment and yes, a failing health care system.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/greek-election-blog-2012/2012/jun/12/greek-crisis-funding-health-social-services
Debt is not something you can ignore long term. The United States has to address its funding problem before it can implement a new and expensive health care system.
We would have so much more money on the books if we didn’t throw it at military adventurism around the world. *ducks*
Our debt is mainly private, since the government had to give massive loans to the banks since 2008.
The health care system is actually pretty “cheap” compared to other nonsenses that the Spanish government has invested in, and some other countries had taken it as a model to develop theirs, a while back, though. I still remember doctos and public servants coming here to learn how to run hospitals and such.
The debt does not come from the health system, it comes from corruption and poor economic planning. I would love to try and explain it but my English is not that good and it is a rather long conversation. But trust me, the money every worker pays on taxes for medical care (it is a special tax) is more than enough to keep the system running if that money were put to good used. My brother is an ingeneer and he did the Math. The government still “owes” my dad a lot of money and it actually made money from my mom (which, hopefully, will go to another patient).
Also, I haven’t read a single article from a foreign newspaper that offers a true picture of what is going on here in Spain. The Guardian and Routers lost my respect and my trust a long time ago for that reason.
The system was so appealing, that for years people from other countries came to Spain for medical treatment (I think the word was “medical tourism”) and we, the Spanish, paid for those treatments. I live in an area where that happened so much, the hospital was working at double capacity.
But as I said, I am not an expert on Obamacare, therefore, I do not know how are they planning to do it there or how expensive is going to be. I just know being sick and not having the money to get treatment is tragic and devastating, maybe more than illness itself.
Not right to health care – enforced health insurance. In my opinion, the one’s profiting are the health insurance companies.
If more people paid their physicians directly, health care costs would not be inflated to accommodate negotiation/non-payment/red tape from insurance companies.
Interesting, Blondey. My husband always says that if health insurance were illegal we’d all be billed more reasonable health costs due to a truly competitive market. Not that I necessarily agree with him, but I do wonder if Obamacare is another cash grab by YCM (Your Corparate Masters). – http://yourcorporatemasters.com/
I quite agree with her comments regarding an oversexed society. Young boys see porn online and get very twisted and dangerous opinions about what happens between the sheets.
That’s the most clear enunciation I’ve heard of Goop’s eating policy: fatty/salty/sugary is OK, as long as it’s fresh/not packaged. I can get behind that.
While Obamacare is great for the underinsured and those with issues getting insurance, I just wish that my hours were not restricted to 29 or less per week simply so that my employer does not have to pay for insurance for me.
I wonder how many people are going to lose their hours at work for employers to avoid the additional costs and how many are going to be able to afford to pay this enforced insurance plan when they can no longer work enough hours to survive.
You have no idea how grateful I am that we already have insurance through my husband’s employer. I just wonder how restricted our budget is going to be if they have to raise his premiums.
I guarantee you that Gwynny had private healthcare while she was living in the UK. She would not use the same healthcare system other peasants use