Ron Paul supporters mourn death of gay campaign chair With no health insurance, Snyder leaves $400K in hospital bills
Posted July 17th, 2008 by stu2002
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Ron Paul supporters mourn death of gay campaign chair
By LOU CHIBBARO JR, Washington Blade | Jul 16, 10:22 AM
Activists belonging to the libertarian wing of the Republican Party continue to mourn the loss of Kent Snyder, a 49-year-old gay political operative credited with propelling the presidential campaign of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) into a national, grassroots movement that raised more than $35 million.
Snyder, who served as Paul’s campaign chair, died of pneumonia on June 26 after being hospitalized for about two months and after running up medical bills exceeding $400,000, according to friends and family members, who said he did not have health insurance.
Gay staffers from the Paul campaign, some speaking on condition that they not be identified, said they learned about Snyder’s unpaid medical bills from a web site created by his friends that calls on Paul supporters to contribute to a special fund to help Snyder’s family pay the bills, which come mostly from a two-month hospitalization. So far, the site (kentsnyder.com) has raised about $32,000.
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Ron Paul on Homosexuality
http://www.youtube.com/wa...
So what? He was gay. What difference does that make?
Such a big deal made over him not having HIV. So what if he did? His life was his own to live. I'm not going to knock anyone who's gay and sick.
Maybe those shocked by him not having health insurance should look at how much the man was being paid. I buy my own heath insurance, why couldn't he?
If he had a pre-existing condition, no coverage the campaign offered would have helped.
Just a reason to bash libertarians while getting their socialistic message out. Are the Socialists donating to the medical bill fund?
___________
Lisa C.
“Elections are short term efforts; revolutions are long term projects.”
--Ron Paul
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Exactly. The leftist media
Exactly. The leftist media always does this. They note his homosexuality, which is utterly irrelevant, yet if someone were to mention that a leftist was gay, that person would be lambasted.
Likewise, when a Republican is involved in a scandal, their party affiliation is mentioned prominently. Yet when it's a Democrat, the party is either not mentioned, or only in passing, near the end.
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"The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy...You have to understand most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it". - Morpheus
Bit more of the truth (partial anyway) comes out.
Kent's relatives (aka Mom, since he was single and childless) are really NOT "on the hook" for the hospital bills... it is his ESTATE that will have to pay.
And the sale of the ASSETS of that estate (to pay the medical bills) will mean that they do not stand to inherit much, and in fact stand to lose the "free ride" they were getting by living on Kent's support.
So the chip-in is really an attempt to help the relatives can inherit the property (properties?) that he owned.
No mention is made of whether his relatives had any source of income outside of Mr. Snyder. (Pensions? Social Security? etc. Any of which ought to be sufficient to provide a small apartment for his mother... though perhaps not in the "Beltway.")
And the "pre-existing" condition which purportedly prevented him from purchasing health insurance was some "blood disorder."
Still a lot of vague euphemisms here... but the picture is becoming clearer.
Oh, and we see that Kent's devoted friends and campaign coworkers all managed to chip-in a couple of bucks each (which must have been a great sacrifice on their part... of course no "sacrifice" is mentioned... simply that they gave "what they could").
Hmmm...
Wow.... I don't see the big
Wow.... I don't see the big deal.
When I heard about Kent Snyder's death and his medical bills/lack of insurance, all I thought was, "Wow, that's really unfortunate." I didn't freak out because he didn't have health insurance... I can't imagine why so many people care whether or not someone has insurance or not.
Whats a
campaign chair?
If he had a man in that position he might have done better!
Now.......don't be typical.
at least this article shows
at least this article shows that Ron Is true to his word! he accepts all not by what color , creed , religion or personal sexual prefrences but by what the person can do! everyone is equal under the Constitution.. no one has special rights above anyone else!
as for me and my home, we shall worship the LORD
Actually, I as a
Actually, I as a heterosexual DO have special rights above homosexuals. They're only asking for equal rights, which social conservatives refuse to grant them.
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Kent not having insurance
Kent not having insurance surprised me, but if he had pre-existing conditions he may have been denied coverage. The whole thing is a damn shame.
Honestly?
I had no idea he was gay...
Now that I know, what difference did it make? Di anyone count how many times the term 'gay' was used in the article, though. Nothing like transparent
MSM coverage to drive the 'hidden' message home...
I may not know the truth, but I know when I'm being lied to...
That's the thing. It's not
That's the thing. It's not good enough to ignore the issue, just as it's not good enough to be "color-blind" with non-Caucasian races. We are expected to drink egalitarian Kool-Aid, because our culture and media are incapable of thinking in an anti-socialist, non-collectivist manner.
To me, Kent Snyder is a man I did not know, who apparently had a lot of friends in the movement. He was not a gay man to me, because I could not possibly care less what his sexuality was--just as I, also, could not possibly care less about the health care and insurance issues.
SUPPORT OUR FOUNDERS' AMERICA
Support the Constitution of the United States
Consider the source
of the article... "Washington Blade" (as in Gay Blade?") a gay oriented paper.
Every article they have is gay this, gay that. Just pandering to their audience.
Oh I see. I assumed it was
Oh I see.
I assumed it was MSM.
SUPPORT OUR FOUNDERS' AMERICA
Support the Constitution of the United States
Rest in Peace Kent.
.
I got news for you
Kent Snyder set up an office in heaven and still leads this campaign joined by Aaron Russo George Carlin and many others...
http://www.flickr.com/pho...
George Carlin?
Have you seen his comments on gods and religions? But you picture him in heaven, because you liked his politics? Do I have that about right?
George would be amused, guess I will just have to be amused for him.
I know George was a militant Atheist
but he spoke the truth and I love all of his videos on youtube.All of them.
http://www.flickr.com/pho...
I was going to say, whether
I was going to say, whether or not you believe in heaven, Carlin's unlikely to be there.
SUPPORT OUR FOUNDERS' AMERICA
Support the Constitution of the United States
he woke up so many people
and for that reason he should be there.........
http://www.flickr.com/pho...
Well the good news is that
Well the good news is that there is no heaven for him to be denied entry to. It's a silly fairy tale. The material that once comprised George Carlin is now being turned into something else, the same as everybody else who ever lived. Adults should not need fairy tales to comfort them.
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abso fucking lutely
right on.
if i believed in such a place as heaven - you're right spot on.
I smell a hit piece
Classic divide & conquer propaganda technique.
Of course nobody can know Kent's true medical situation except for himself and his doctors, every other opinion is irrelevant.
Who. That tactless thought
Who. That tactless thought isnt offensive to this man's struggle or his family's burdens.
The Gay Angle Is The Hook
That's how media works.The point is that the article had enough substance to accomplish 2 positive things: Publicity grabbing attention that acquainted a reluctant audience to certain salient features of the Ron Paul campaign; Hopefully spurred a few more contributions to help the cause of a dedicated Ron Paul supporter. The insurance issue was blah, blah, blah filler.
It seems that this whole
It seems that this whole health insurance thing is being beaten over the head, again and again. He had a pre-existing condition, thus no insurance company would insure him. End of story.
I have kidney disease, and received a transplant in April. Currently, I am on my father's insurance, but in 2 years, I'll be off it. I will have problems finding another insurance company to cover me.
His lifestyle was his...
business as well as it seems that it's the campaign's business if they choose to provide insurance or not. Besides that, it sounds like Snyder was sick even before the campaign and he wouldn't necessarily be insurable.
Bleeding Disorder Info
As a parent of a child who does have a bleeding disorder (who knows; may be the same one KS had), I'd just like to mention that depending on the type and level of bleeding disorder, those who have it aren't necessarily "sick" (meaning, of course, "ill"), and live virtually regular lifestyles.
If you're severely allergic to bee stings, then you're not "sick" but have an adverse reaction to certain events -- same with many forms of various bleeding disorders.
And yeah...even though my child has a very mild form of the disorder, insurance is not available, or, rather, not possible; the few companies that do over such coverage do so with a price tag that is beyond laughable.
Meanwhile, one bottle (26 doses) of my child's necessary medicine is over $700. Wheeeee!...(now do you see why I have 20- and 10- year old cars and have no worries about losing any "portfolio" in the bank collapses?)
You have my sympathy!
Actually one of my relatives suffers from cystic fibrosis. I may get some beating here, but we are very happy the basic costs of his treatment and medicine are covered by the public health system. Of course it would have been impossible for him to get a private health insurance (we have a two tiere system in Germany). He is now a smart twenty year old youth about to leave home. Though his parents have a good income and ,being medical doctors, can provide for some treatment too, I wonder if they (having another child) could have afforded all the care and treatment without this "socialist" help. Having said this, our health system is on the brink of breakdown too. (Actually, the "funny" thing is, the private insurance companies want to get rid of their risk and to get it nationalized). And of course you may argue, if my relatives had to pay less taxes they could have afforded the treatment.
I am really sitting on the fence here.
Dr. Paul cured my apathy
Let me help you off the fence
No argument that it feels great when someone else picks up your large medical tab. But that great feeling gets crushed by years of someone else picking your pocket to surreptitiously pay for that tab, and hundreds of thousands of other tabs, and millions of other-issue tabs that you may or may not wish to support with YOUR dollars (er, Marks?).
It's like putting fifty cents into one of those candy/prize dispensers at the supermarket for your kid, and in return, you get a little clear plastic container with a cheap sticker inside. You do get a prize, but you end up paying far more than it was worth.
Yep, if less taxes had to be paid, that would certainly help people pay for their own insurance. But there's also the Big Phama relationship with government, not to mention the meddling FDA, that also has to be eradicated before we'd ever see prices and availability of medicines and services to come to a reasonable price point.
All of which only supports the libertarian approach to the issue.
Great Post! Thank you, fanofwalt
And I am willing to accept this statement coming from you as a home-educating (kudos!) mother with a chronically ill child. In Germany people are really afraid of a free-market healthsystem. And even conservative people who praise the USA add: "But it's a shame they have so many people who are not health-insured." Even for me it's not easy to get out of this frame of mind.
But you are right: the whole social-security system (though perhabs build up with good intentions) in the end serves to the people and companies who provide for the "Candy dispenser" (or "Candy Mountain"?-LOL). If people wouldn't be that overtaxed they might be able not only to provide only for their own well-being, but even to give money and support for those people who are not able to provide for it themselves. Another ugly aspect of the welfare system is for sure, we have to give so much money to the system, that generous support for our fellow human beings has become a privilege of the very rich.
BTW The Deutschmark is gone. Now it's the Euro here.
Dr. Paul cured my apathy
Worth more now that they're gone?
Ooh, so does that mean that the few Marks I kept as souvenirs of my travels in Deutschland are now worth something as collector's items? Or are they (still) simply nice souvenirs of my travels?
(And, dang, now I have Candy Mountain in my brain again. "A bridddddge!!)
You can still change
them at the Bundesbank branch to Euro. I did it recently when I had to administer an estate. It was somehow a sentimental experience since the old man who had died had a lot of the pre-1989 Deutschmark notes I grew up with as a child http://de.wikipedia.org/w....
Alas, all Fiat money, though the old 5 DM printed until 1975 still had an amount of silver in it.
It's estimated there are still hundred of millions of cash Deutschmarks out there. Since there are still a lot collector issues around I doubt if your coins and notes are of more than sentimental value. For coins you have to look on the little letter under the digit showing the place they had been coined. These are rare:
50-Pfennig von 1950 (G) aus Karlsruhe showing "Bank deutscher Länder"
2-Pfennig-Münze von 1968 (J) aus Hamburg
10-Pfennig-Münze von 1967 (G) aus Karlsruhe
1-DM-Münze von 1956 (G) aus Karlsruhe
5-DM-Münze von 1958 (J) aus Hamburg
BTW: There really seems to be something weird about "Candy Mountain"
Dr. Paul cured my apathy
Nice Subthread
There hasn't been enough of these substantive policy issue discussions which would allow us to drill for our advocacy beyond libertarian circles.
This illustrates how we need to excercise our explanations as to how reliance on private pay free market medical services, for example,,supported by an enforcable high deductible major medical safety net private policy would function better for all concerned.
Rhetoric doesn't carry the day when close to home anecdotes are the focus of many people's impressions.
Thanks again, for your candid, cogent discussion based on personal experience.
employer insurance?
This idea that the employer has to offer insurance is exactly why we are in this mess. Ron Paul knows this, and he's a smart guy for it.
The reasonable way to do it is for employees to simply demand adequate salaries to cover their expenses (and if the employer refuses, just go find somewhere else to work).
Cheap, high-deductible insurance is amply available and if Snyder had been willing to shell out just $100-200 a month for it, his medical bills would be $3,000 instead of $400,000.
Aaron Krowne
Aaron, Mr. Snyder had a blood disorder and
would have been refused insurance due to a pre-existing condition.
That makes...
a lot of sense. Glad you brought that up.
Gay Wired site endorsed Ron Paul for Prez
http://www.gaywired.com/a...
yes...read endorsement + comments!
~
...."as a Libertarian whose legacy will show he fought to stay out of American’s personal lives, he won’t be digging around for ways to limit our civil liberties...."
Ron's Philosophy
"Rights belong to individuals, not groups."
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Gays-4-Ron Paul?
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Gays and Lesbians for Ron Paul
Faith based hospitals that are non profit
are what we need to go back to. The corporate "hospitals" have very little interest in treating you if or when you no longer have insurance. They exist to keep you alive as long as they can get a penny from you dreaming up new tests, drugs etc. As it has been said time and again "there is no money in the cure". If they can manage this or that disease don't you think they could eradicate the diseases? It is all about money plain and simple. Other countries have better health care systems than America, and we are supposed to be the light in the darkness for the rest of the world to come to?
I don't care about how Kent lived, that is between him and his maker. The point is if you want his bills paid then step up! Don't insist that Dr. Paul somehow should pay for the bill just because Kent worked for Dr.Paul. Those of us who are United States of America Patriots and are doing our part to keep the flickering flame of freedom alive are all working for / with Dr. Paul to restore the republic that we know as America.
All hospitals used to provide free care for the poor
This was within my lifetime, and I am not that old. Doctors, nurses, ancillary personnel, all used to volunteer at the County and State Hospitals pro bono. When the government stepped in with Medicare and Medicaid, the feeling that they owed their community went away. Many of them continue to finance their education courtesy of the taxpayers, but feel their taxes are now their recompense. Additionally, "charity" has been regulated out of the system, as no one can face the liability risks. The entire system is a complete cluster f**k, and I am AMAZED how many otherwise intelligent people think making the same pathetic excuse for healthcare "available" for everyone is the answer. I do not WANT that garbage, I want to be free to offer to treat you with the herbs I know, and tell you straight up: "I have no license, no malpractice insurance, I have no degree, no certification. I am just a middle aged woman who likes herbs and I take this for that problem, and it works. I have some extra, would you like it?" Who knows, if my herbs help you, maybe you will bring me some of your famous peaches. Or whatever. STOP letting the media frame the entire discussion. There is an entirely different way to conceive of "healthcare." It does nto involve sending hundreds of thousands of dollars per person to some neo-con controlled hospital, (or the pharmacy or insurance industry.)
Healthcare liberty
I will be called heartless, too, I suppose, but no one dragged Mr. Snyder into a hospital. He KNEW he had no insurance, he KNEW there would be outrageous bills incurred when he chose to seek healthcare from a hospital. This notion that we are somehow entitled to HEALTH is absurd. Saying we are entitled to healthCARE is even worse. I assure you, after 2 decades in healthcare, I will not be going to a hospital for anything other than severe trauma. Modern "healthcare" is a paper-churning machine that cares about matching ICD-9 codes to CPT codes, then selecting the insurance company-approved drug or surgery. They hardly notice there is a human in the equation at all.
And before you all get completely freaked out about suggesting he could have stayed home and tried, say, colloidal silver, consider this: $400,000 in debt and dead anyway. At least he would have died at home, and his mother would not be in the predicament she is in.
OK, fire at will. I need the practice dodging bullets anyway! ;)
Another article
digging up the same dirt. They did this last week and now that they have the word "gay" to add to it, they are doing it again. Just trash. And yes, insurance companies will not insure you with a pre-existing condition. They won't insure you if you had some thing 10 years ago but don't have it now. Insurance companies are worthless. And, even if you do get insurance, most of them have a cap and so many disclaimers of what they won't cover, it's a joke.
This paper is pure smut and doesn't even deserve a reading. The only benefit I see from the article is that Ron Paul is not against gays, obviously, he just doesn't have a collectivist mentality.
Healthnut4freedom
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5,6
And why is the Family Obligated to Pay?
$400k and they didn't manage to save his life from pneumonia? That should be the headline.
I wouldn't pay for medical insurance either when they have a track record like that. For charging 400k they're putting the burden of responsibility on the wrong person. If I was billed for 400k to fix my car and it STILL came back broken, why blame me for not having car insurance?
Ridiculous article, all around.
So true!
He had pneumonia for pete's sake. And he was like 40 years old.
I highly doubt that he should have died--especially after paying for very hi-quality healthcare that costed 400K!
Kent's mother lives in one of his properties
Kent's mom lives in a property he owns. That property belongs now to the Estate of Kent Snyder. The Estate of Kent Snyder is who will be sued by he health care providers to get paid for the $400,000 in bills. That means the house Kent's mom lives in will be sold to pay off the bills. That makes Kent's mom homeless, and according to the article, that would make Kent roll over in his grave.
I don't care if Kent was heterosexual, homsexual, bisexual, asexual, or whateversexual. He was an honorable man as far as everything I can tell, and the fact that he was one of Ron Paul's closest confidantes and friends is enough of an endorsement for me of the man's commitment to freedom and liberty.
I would hope that the insurance company can secure
their funds without causing Kent's mom to be homeless. I am sure if that did happen Ron Paul and friends would make sure she was taken care of. That is how the system should work.
what about this for Kent's mom?
I forget the term for it, but there's a type of contract where person A is allowed to live on a piece of land and the land is owned by person B. Person A is usually a human being; person B can be anybody/anything that's a legal entity. In this case, KS's mom could be allowed to live on the property until death, with the property being legally owned by whomever is supposed to be receiving the payment for KS's (evidently worthless) medical care. When she dies, they do whatever they want to with it.
Eh?
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Lifetime Estate.
We gave a lifetime estate on a property we purchased. We didn't need 2 houses and the people were trustworthy.
thanks, that's what I was thinking of
Looks from a quick web search like "life estate" is the most common term for this.
I hope someone will suggest this to KS's mom, or whomever is acting on her behalf.
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