My first viewing of 19 and Countiing!

[Brainsample]

I forgot to post that I watched 19 and Counting for the first time in my hotel room while out of town last week -- two whole episodes, and I ended up seeing them twice because they replayed them in the middle of the night the second night.

 

My husband was riveted, watching intently to see how well "Kid Farm" compared to the show. He made frequent comments about how well the Duggars lived -- about how expensive the family RV must have been and about how they had money to go water ski and such. Families when we grew up rarely had money for that kind of thing unless they were wealthy, and large families never had resources like that. He found that all quite off-putting. The message seems to be that if you have a large family like the Duggars, you actually have more opportunities like this which is not the case IRL.

 

They showed Michelle who was wave boarding (which I want to call water boarding HA!), and I'm still creeped out by JB's comment. He said something about her being athletic and then completely grossed me out about how it helped her have so many children.

 

They also showed the episode where they helped to lay the foundation of the Bates' house.

 

I know it's been mentioned here before, but what does Gil Bates do for a living? I can't remember.

[Lillian]

Gil has a tree business, self employed of course. I think he preaches as well, though. Do people get paid for preaching?

[Visionoyahweh]

Do people get paid for preaching?

Gill probably gets love offerings. You know, a cash reward for spreading God's word.

[Brainsample]

If he's self-employed, how on earth do they afford any kind of healthcare for all those kids? Or do they only insure her in the event she needs a c-section or something?

You know, I just remembered the most annoying thing about that show. They kept replaying and replaying a clip of Michelle saying that one of the Bates kids was "In a courtship relationship" or something like that. I think they played it 3 or 4 times.

[slickcat79]

If he's self-employed, how on earth do they afford any kind of healthcare for all those kids? Or do they only insure her in the event she needs a c-section or something?

You know, I just remembered the most annoying thing about that show. They kept replaying and replaying a clip of Michelle saying that one of the Bates kids was "In a courtship relationship" or something like that. I think they played it 3 or 4 times.

The Bateses use a no/low fee "christian" clinic for Kelly's pregnancy care and childbirth. They recently did a 1-hour news special on the Bates family, and they showed Gil and Kelly taking pies to the clinic staff. I think they use some kind of sliding scale payment plan. Considering that the parents can't even buy food for the family without taking money from their teenage son, I have to imagine their medical payments don't amount to much. For other medical problems, they go to the ER, which they mention in this article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic ... -more.html

I imagine that Michelle loves the idea of seeing a courtship in another family. On one hand, she can point out to mainstream viewers that courtship isn't just a weird Duggar thing that they made Josh and Anna do; other families do it too! Plus it's more of an opportunity to demonstrate the superiority of the courtship model...even though Zach Bates (and even J&A) are not really far enough along in their relationships to demonstrate how much better it is.

[bananacat]

Jim Bob can afford health insurance because he's filthy stinking rich. TLC pays them a decent amount, but they also get tons of perks so they can save their money.

The Bateses will sometimes use emergency room care. At least some of their children are not covered by insurance. There was an article where Gil admitted to going to the ER because the hospital is legally required to treat them even though they can't pay. And then Gil gushed about how great our healthcare system is and how it's the best one in the world. Yeah, it's great for him because he gets free care but others have to pay for it. If a Hispanic person, even as a natural-born citizen, admitted to doing the exact same thing, I'm sure that Gil would not approve. And they still have the nerve to play holier-than-thou and brag that they don't accept government help. I can't tell if they're incredibly stupid or incredibly dishonest, probably a little of both.

[2xx1xy1JD]

While I usually say different strokes for different folks, not having health insurance for the kids is just irresponsible.

ER care is not comprehensive medical care. Primary care physicians look at preventative care, follows patients on a long-term basis and coordinate referrals to other doctors so that someone is noticing everything that is happening. The ER just treats urgent issues. It is also a huge drain on the system to use it where using a family doctor would be more appropriate.

Normally, I'm sympathetic to the fact that many Americans cannot afford health care, and say a little prayer of thanks that I live in a land of universal medicare. In this case, though, I suspect that Gil Bates is no fan of Obamacare, and would never have supported any candidate who advocated universal coverage with a public option. It's sad and ironic that the Christian clinic apparently only deals with pre-natal care - do they not care about babies after they are born?

[Trynn]

I wasn't the hugest fan of Obamacare either....by the time it got through congress, it really wasn't much of an improvement.

[2xx1xy1JD]

I agree that Obamacare is a far cry from my idea of universal medicare. My point was just that my sympathy for people too poor to afford health care goes down when they fail to get their political shit together to support candidates and proposals that would improve things - or worse, actively work to DEFEAT those bills by supporting candidates on the far right.

[gustava]

I agree that Obamacare is a far cry from my idea of universal medicare. My point was just that my sympathy for people too poor to afford health care goes down when they fail to get their political shit together to support candidates and proposals that would improve things - or worse, actively work to DEFEAT those bills by supporting candidates on the far right.

Yup...these folks blister my butt!

[Justme]

When you take $$$ from others, whether is is the gov't, ER, private organizations/people, you are taking CHARITY. When you expect a Doctor to accept a rate so low that s/he is taking a loss off you, it is CHARITY.

People who actually go to school and have an education are entitled to make a living.

Gil, no matter how you slice "it", you are taking CHARITY. You are NOT supporting your family. Both you and Kelly need to get a job. :evil: Stop expecting the world to build your house and provide services for free!