Another Health Care Horror Story Exposed
I have been making the case that bringing out these health care horror stories is a bad strategy for the left. I believe this to be true for a couple of reasons.
- By bringing these stories out, you are telling me that you doubt that I know of anyone who has been through such an experience, meaning they are rare. And this is true. Since over 70% of the American people are satisfied with their health care as it currently exists, there is a good chance I don't personally know anyone who has a personal horror story.
- As I have documented, there is a good chance that there are extenuating circumstances behind these stories which make them illegitimate. Hence, it gives the impression that any case I might personally know about could be easily explained as well.
Meet Bing Perrine, the latest in a series of left wing props to show us how bad our system really is. Bing collapsed with heart problems and didn't have health insurance. Now he can't get it because he has a pre-existing condition. Bing and his family now have to face $100,000 in medical bills. Here he is telling his story in a moveon.org ad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHeamq-qk20
It is almost enough to make you cry. That is, unless you google "Bing Perrine". You see, there is more to this story. Does Bing have to go without surgery because of his dilemma? Not exactly. He explains in the video that friends and families held bake sales to raise money for him. Yet he leaves out the part about the Montana Brewing Company holding a fundraiser to pay for his surgery. Furthermore, he fails to mention St. Judes providing him with a defibrillator.
If the story ended there, it would be enough to show a community and charitable organizations coming together to help the needs of a member of the community. It would show that there really isn't a need for the Government to step in, because we are a nation of caring and giving people who came together to help this ungrateful liberal. But it doesn't end there. As it turns out, a funny thing happened on the way to pick up his free defibrillator.
The defibrillator came from St. Jude's, and, when the Perrines heard of the Dream Home raffle, they knew this was their chance to give back - at a cost of $100 a ticket.
And so the Perrines prayed. Bing Perrine believed the family should buy three tickets.
His wife "was under more frugal guidance by the Lord," he said. "She said, if we were meant to have the house, we should only buy one ticket."
The family compromised and bought two under the names Mr. and Mrs. Bing Perrine.
And, on Monday nights, Perrine took his young son out to the home.
"We went out there every Monday and prayed over it," he said. "And we bought a third ticket."
The third ticket was purchased by Perrine's wife under the name Lane Perrine.
And that was the name that was announced during KTVQ's live telecast on Sunday night.
At the time, the Perrine family was watching the television together in their home across the street from the downtown Gainan's. When it came time to announce the winners of the home, Perrine held up his son and said, half-joking, "Watch! We're going to win a house."
"Then we did," Perrine said. "And I just about dropped him."
Greg McCall of McCall Development, which oversaw construction of the home, was amazed by the Perrines' story. As volunteers worked on the house, they wrote blessings on the floor: blessings for the children in St. Jude's hospitals, but for the family who would own the house.
"I just can't believe that God answers prayers like that," McCall said.
The supplies and labor for the house were donated, so all the proceeds from raffle of the energy-efficient home went directly to St. Jude's.
"Everything we did as a community coming together to build this house so we were able to completely gift this home to St. Jude's," McCall said. "It's very special because of that."
The home, the first of its kind in Billings, is a "net-zero" house, a house that would be "completely sustainable in and of itself," McCall said.
After hosting open houses and leaving the lights on for hours at a time, McCall said, "We still have a credit with NorthWestern Energy. The house is currently producing more energy than it needs."
For the Perrines, that would mean no energy bill. That would help the family tremendously, as Perrine's pre-existing heart condition makes obtaining insurance difficult, if not impossible. The Perrines are working on paying medical bills for Perrine's defibrillator and pacemaker, as well as trying to earn enough money for another heart surgery that would, hopefully, repair the holes in Perrine's valves.
To that end, the family was the beneficiary of a fundraiser hosted by the Montana Brewing Co. on Saturday. More than $12,000 was raised.
"It was a really, really great weekend all around," Perrine said.
There is one potential roadblock on the Perrines' path to their new home, and that is the income taxes on the $400,000 home. For now, the Perrines don't know how they will face that challenge.
"If God wants us to have it, He'll give us a way," Perrine said. "We don't have a plan just yet, though."
McCall hopes the community will rally around this "beautiful family."
"I couldn't have imagined a better winner," he said. "This house really is a dream home for them. We, as a community, need to find a way so that the tax consequences of this house don't stop their dream from coming true."
Do the math, folks. A $400,000 house minus a $100,000 medical bill equals $300,000 in the good. That's right, his health problems have not bankrupted him. They have indeed enriched him to the tune of a quarter of a million plus. But is he grateful? No. He says gimme gimme gimme. Not only does he want Obama Care on your dime, he is complaining that he will have to pay the taxes on his profits.
This is surreal, folks. This is indeed a story of the greatness of America. Yet it is pitched as a story of the injustices of our society. Only in a depraved liberal mind could such a story brew. The people of Billings don't need to dish out more to this ungrateful jerk, they need to make him sell the house and repay the donations and go try out Obama Care for awhile. Then come back in a few months and tell us how that is working out for you, Bing. As the Feds have to approve $5.4 Billion to keep the health care they are already in charge of at the Post Office afloat, you might want to take your $300,000 windfall profit (yes, I said it) and run.
