I am a victim of patient suppression

Published August 30, 2013

by Jim Tynen, Civitas Review, August 29, 2013.

It's like voter suppression. Only it took place at medical offices.

Yesterday I had my blood tested, and today I had a CT scan.

In both places, I was required to show a driver's license – or, I assume, some equivalent form of identification.

Just as North Caroline voters will have to do in 2016.

On my recent vacation, I had to show ID to rent a car and board an airplane. I recently had to show ID to pick up a prescription at a pharmacy.

I’ve had to show ID to buy beer, when it is undeniable I am way, way over 21 years of age.

The Left has been howling about this requirement all summer, complaining it is voter suppression, etc. My experiences merely reminded me of a point we at Civitas have been making for some time: You have to have ID to be part of society today. You not only need to have one to board an airplane, you will also need one if you want to ride an Amtrak train.

To get Social Security card, you must provide ID.

Then to collect those benefits, a new law mandates that you receive your payments electronically.

But the Patriot Act requires you to … show identification to open a bank account.

NC authorities say that to apply for Medicaid:  “If possible, take the items listed below with you when you go to the DSS office to apply. If you do not have some or all of these items, please apply anyway because it is very important to protect your application date.”

Those documents include:

  • Certified birth certificates or other proof of citizenship/alien status for each individual applying for Medicaid/NCHC

  • Identity documents for each individual applying for Medicaid/NCHC
  • Social security cards, social security numbers, or proof that you have made an application for a number from the Social Security Office, for each individual applying for Medicaid or NCHC
  • A copy of all pay stubs for last month
  • Copies of all medical or life insurance policies
  • A list of all cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, etc. you or anyone in your household own, including the year, make, model, and vehicle identification number (VIN) for each item
  • Most recent bank statements
  • A list of all real property you own
  • Current financial statements/award letters from other sources of income, such as social security, retirement benefits, pensions, veteran benefits, and child support.

A quick Web search will turn up plenty of other activities that require ID. Skeptics might keep track of how often they must show ID over the course of a month.

In short, everyone needs ID to take part in society. People without identification can’t get medical care or social service benefits. Someone who can’t produce basic ID is therefore far outside the mainstream of society. If there are such people, they really need help – but they can’t get it without ID.

If our friends on the Left really cared about the truly needy, they would welcome the chance to provide these essential documents to those who need them. And they have about three years to do so.

But the Left doesn’t talk about helping the needy get ID. That offers two possibilities: (1) There are no such people, or (2) the Left doesn’t really care about helping the needy, but only about using them to play political games.

August 30, 2013 at 6:16 am
Vicki Boyer says:

I have never been asked for a driver's license or ID at a doctor's office or hospital--all they want is proof of insurance.

None of the activities listed above are a Constitutionally guaranteed right. And in a country where everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty, voter ID requirements make all of us guilty until we can prove ourselves innocent. It is a stepping stone to making every citizen a suspect.

According to CNNMoney, there are millions of Americans without bank accounts, including 9.3% of North Carolinians.

My aunt was born in Sampson County. She never needed a birth certificate until she was in her sixties. She ordered a copy. When it arrived it listed her name as Baby Girl Johnson. Representative Verla Insko tells me her own birth certificate misspells her name and has the wrong month of birth. These voter ID laws present no solution to how bureaucracies are to deal with issues like this.

We used to be a country who believed it was better that 10 guilty men went free than to have one innocent man imprisoned. Now we just want to put everyone in jail.

August 30, 2013 at 7:22 am
jack dawsey says:

Mr. Jim Tynen,

August 30, 2013 at 4:04 pm
Richard Bunce says:

It is a persons right to do a lot of things, the Constitution prohibits government from infringing on those rights... it does not grant those rights. So having to be 18, or a citizen, or not in prison, or not some list of felons, or no residency/domicile in the district (you know the non resident property owners who are taxed by County commissioners and Municipal councils for which they cannot vote for lack of residency)... these people all have their vote suppressed. I look forward to the progressive legislation all around the Country that allows anyone to vote anywhere, anytime, as often as they like, from anywhere, no matter what.

August 30, 2013 at 10:11 am
Richard Bunce says:

Voter suppression includes age 18 requirement, residency/domicile requirement, voting in person on election day requirement, citizenship requirement, non felon requirement, not in prison requirement, living requirement, not registered somewhere else requirement. The US Constitution and NC Constitution are voter suppression. Anything short of anyone voting anywhere they like, anytime they like, as often as they like, from anywhere they like IS voter suppression.

August 30, 2013 at 8:09 pm
dj anderson says:

Orange County legislator Ellie Kinnaird just resigned to get ID's for voters and to register more voters. I agree that too much is being made of the photo ID, which I support for reason.

August 31, 2013 at 12:36 am
Norm Kelly says:

Bob's post ends with an "either" "or" situation.

The 2nd choice is obvious. Liberals are much more content to use the needy than to help them. The 1st choice may not be so obvious.

I suggest that both are true. No one knows how many people will be negatively impacted by the new ID law. So liberals (and their allies in the used-to-be-major media who are just liberals with a pen) make up numbers. Like the number of kids that go to bed hungry every night. No idea how many, so they just make up a number that they think will have the biggest impact on people who want to send them money. Same thing here. No idea how many people don't fly, rent cars, pick up prescriptions, visit the governors mansion, etc. that don't participate in society and therefore don't have an id, so they just make up a number.

If they wanted to help, they would be out trying to find the helpless, hapless, can't do for themselves people and actually help them.

And no one yet has pointed out how proving who you are is attempting to revoke anyone's RIGHT to vote. Prove who you are, exercise your right. Can't prove who you are? Then you MAY not have the RIGHT. Cuz the constitution applies only to CITIZENS of the US. Without proper ID, how does anyone know you are a citizen? It's better if 10 people vote for a Democrat when they are ineligible than for 1 eligible voter to cast a vote for a Republican.

September 1, 2013 at 1:16 pm
TP Wohlford says:

Dear outraged Dems:

Other states have far stricter requirements, and (by definition) those have been deemed "Legal". Michigan, for instance, has a photo ID requirement (there is an affidavit option), and one can only vote on one day. Yeah, that's right... old school, vote on voting day! BTW, in case you're wondering, Michigan's minority voting has been increasing.

So before you imagine all sorts of problems with the current law, please make sure that reality doesn't provide you with ample evidence to the contrary.

September 2, 2013 at 10:47 am
Norm Kelly says:

First you address your comment, specifically, to Dems. You then end with suggesting they don't let reality interfere with their plans. While you are being completely logical, your comment fails to recognize one simple truth.

Dems don't recognize reality. They hope & pray (to whom does a non-believer pray?) that a majority of their supporters, and the courts, also choose to ignore reality. Without reality, they can get the courts to accept any of their arguments. The majority of liberal plans are not implemented through legislation, but through the courts. Ignoring reality the entire time.

(tongue in cheek) Norm