Via right-leaning Politico.com:
A conservative Maryland physician elected to Congress on an anti-[health-care reform] platform surprised fellow freshmen at a Monday orientation session by demanding to know why his government-subsidized health care plan takes a month to kick in.
Republican Andy Harris, an anesthesiologist [from] Maryland’s Eastern Shore, reacted incredulously when informed that federal law mandated that his government-subsidized health care policy would take effect on Feb. 1 — 28 days after his Jan. 3rd swearing-in.
“He stood up and asked the two ladies who were answering questions why it had to take so long, what he would do without 28 days of health care,” said a congressional staffer who saw the exchange. The benefits session, held behind closed doors, drew about 250 freshman members, staffers and family members to the Capitol Visitors Center auditorium late Monday morning.”
“Harris then asked if he could purchase insurance from the government to cover the gap,” added the aide, who was struck by the similarity to Harris’s request and the public option he denounced as a gateway to socialized medicine.
The gap in coverage was apparently a heavy dose of reality for Harris, a right-wing extremist physician who works for Johns Hopkins medical center in Baltimore. According to Politico, during the campaign this fall, he “hammered” his opponent on health-care reform, despite the fact that his opponent was a conserva-dem who voted against the reform bill in the House — twice.
According to Harris’ spokeswoman Anna Nix, Harris told the group “This is the only employer I’ve ever worked for where you don’t get coverage the first day you are employed.”
Welcome to the real world, Doc.
Nix denied her boss was being a hypocrite, but rather was a concerned father of five, who was just pointing out the inefficiency of government-run health care.
In reality, Harris was being a hypocrite — he has government health-care for his family, screw the 50 million Americans who don’t — but, even worse, he revealed himself as clueless. The clinics and hospital who have hired him may have given him coverage right away, but he is apparently unaware that most private companies make new hires wait 90 days before they are covered.
If going without coverage for 28 days is a sign of “government inefficiency,” then what the hell would he call private companies forcing new employees to go without coverage for three months?
for the sake of his patients, lets hope he’s been more competent as a md than (so far) as an elected rep.