Presidential hopeful Jeb Bush hasn’t officially announced that he’s running for office, but he’s already hitting the campaign trail and he’s brining his Apple Watch with him.
In Tempe Arizona today, Jeb held a town hall meeting at the Chamber of Commerce and stopped to rave about his Apple Watch. It’s so amazing, he says he even thinks it should replace Obamacare.
“I think we should repeal Obamacare,” Bush said, before pointing to his Apple Watch. “On this device in five years will be applications that will allow me to manage my healthcare in ways that, five years ago, were not even possible.
How Jeb plans to use Apple Watch to completely replace affordable heatlth insurance isn’t clear. Will every US citizen get a free subsidized Apple Watch? How will that make my medical bills cheaper? Can a watch provide doctor-quality medical care from my wrist?
Jeb’s not worried about those details yet as long as he can win over a few voters by saying he’ll kill Obamacare with a cool tech gadget.
Bush also didn’t say whether he’s already cancelled his insurance coverage now that his watch can track how many steps he takes per day. Considering Apple Watch costs more than 20 office-visit copays though, we recommend holding off on pulling the plug on insurance until Jony adds tissue-repair technology to the Apple Watch 7.
Via: Steve Kraft
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
33 responses to “Jeb Bush thinks Apple Watch can replace Obamacare”
He also thinks his brother invading Iraq was a swell idea and would do it himself.
Actually no… Not what I read…
“How Jeb plans to use Apple Watch to completely replace affordable heatlth insurance isn’t clear, but Jeb’s not worried about those details yet as long as he can kill Obamacare with a cool tech gadget. Jeb didn’t say whether he’s already cancelled his insurance coverage now that he has a watch that can tell him how many steps he takes in a day.”
That was some good ass writing. I will probably come back to read that several more times today. Jeb Bush is the worst. Not the worst Republican or even the worst Bush. Just the most uninteresting. I can’t imagine him being president.
This article is great!
Jeb wants a smartwatch to replace health coverage yet when Obama suggested we all keep our tires inflated to help save gas — which is absolutely true — he was aggressively mocked.
Having said that I’ve always believed that Apple Watch will prove to be more useful than how we imagine it today. When the iPad launched I don’t think anyone was thinking about how it would help people with autism.
I still think this could put LifeAlert (makers of the “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” device) out of business. The easiest thing is to use the “Hey Siri” then call a friend or family member but I envision using the Apple Watch with a double or triple two-finger tap to initiate a call to the paramedics which also provides them with your current heart-rate and blood oxygen level. The Health app could also provide information like current medications, recent surgeries as well as data from any medical testing someone may’ve opted into.
Cliché as it may sound the medical implications are rather endless.
I think LifeAlert could create an app so users can contact their call center just like they currently do with the little button.
Imagine the possibilities. The watch could detect that your heartbeat is irregular, recognize that you were having a heart attack, use the Internet to determine that you are uninsured, and send a text message to a mortician to come and pick up your body. That’s Jeb’s alternative to affordable insurance for all Americans.
Thank you for that
I want more of this quality writing on CoM
I think I will replace Jeb Bush with a smart watch.
Dubya II, SEEMS TO BE JUST AS STUPID AS DUBYA I….. SAME GENES…SAME AIR IN BRAIN CAVITY.
Dropped head-first on the same floors…
Assuming everyone in the U.S. (Say 300 Million) needs an iPhone ($450 5c) and an Apple Watch ($399 larger sport model) we are looking at $254.7 Billion. But I’m sure we could get a volume discount.
And I’m sure half of them will wind up on eBay from android users who can’t use an apple watch with their phone.
Jeb is an idiot lol.
Half?
We’ve been waiting more than five years for any Republican to explain how they would replace the Affordable Care Act. And this is what we got? “Ooh, this is new and shiny — let’s replace Obamacare with this.”
Had this been happening in the 1970s, Jeb would have been recommending Mood Rings to replace Obamacare.
Now that I think about it, it was right-wing conservatives who thought that “purity rings” could replace sex education and birth control for teens.
The LAST thing this country needs is another Bush or for that matter, another Clinton…but seriously, you actually said “affordable health insurance”? Have you actually looked at what the prices are??? The word “affordable” is the furthest thing from reality that could describe it!! Amusing article though…Jeb is a complete DOUCHEBAG…along with most of the rest of the contenders…on BOTH sides!!!!
I am in my mid 50s and retired early last year. Although I no longer have employment income, the plans seem affordable to me – and are significantly less expensive than the COBRA insurance I was eligible for upon retirement.
As long as the U.S. maintains the for-profit private insurance model, instead of following the single-payer model used all over globe in first-world countries, we are going to have higher insurance rates. And lest anyone pound their chests about us having ‘the best medical care in the world,’ its demonstrably false. It’s not reflected in lifespans, preventable diseases, cancer and heart attack survival rates, or any other statistics.
I have had many friends and some family that have seen their rates skyrocket. Part of the problem is that all of the ACA are still “for profit private insurance companies” and they have taken it and ran. It has given them carte blanche to charge and do whatever they want. I’m sure there are some “affordable” plans available, but what do they cover…I’m guessing it’s pretty slim…
Insurance rates have been skyrocketing for decades — now it just gets blamed on the ACA. I was in independent contractor, buying my own insurance, many years ago and I’d see rates shoot up on a renewal — for no discernible reason. Or sometimes just because I was going into the next age bracket.
In many cases, those who have had rates go up significantly are ones who were under-covered before the ACA. Now they are getting, and paying for, coverage that they did not have before. In others, the customer just got older, or the companies changed their rate structures, causing some to go up and others to go down.
The “Silver” plans have very good coverage at affordable rates of under $500/month even for someone in their 50s.
I’ll take the Apple Watch over the piece of crap that is Obamacare any day of the week. I actually am in the healthcare industry and have been for 30 years. How much experience does the author have with healthcare? Obamacare plans are unaffordable unless subsidized by taxpayers and have insanely high deductibles and limited coverage. It is an example of how Socialism fails every time it is tried while the Apple Watch is an example of how Capitism works!
As a healthcare professional, you should know the costs will come down significantly as more people sign up (and as people like you stop trying to destroy the program before it even gets a foothold).
As for socialism, we have been a “socialist” country since the day the first tax was collected and spent on something that wasn’t directly for you.
Sorry, if you think that this is going to lower costs you are sorely mistaken! This is all about control and nothing else. The architect of the bill said so right after calling all of stupid and mocking us in true liberal elitist fashion. The government is bad at managing pretty much everything. You think it will be able to manage healthcare? Ha! Once the ultimate goal of single payer is achieved, only the wealthy will be able to use whatever black market emerges to pay out of pocket and avoid the inevitable rationing that will result to obtain decent care.
Your masterful usage of tea party talking points makes me suspect that your dislike of Obamacare comes from more than just experience in the healthcare industry (As does your usage of the word “Socialism”). The reason Obamacare is so fucked up is because the GOP wouldn’t work with Democrats at all on the bill and forced them to pick it apart. It was implemented how Obama would have liked to, but he saw it as big enough to him to go for it anyway. The GOP refused to work with him on it, then screamed bloody murder when they passed it without them. News flash: Thats how its always worked in this country…the party in control is considered to have a mandate to legislate. Traditionally, the minority and majority compromise on their desires for any given bill and thats how things are done. Not since the election of Obama and the hatred of him by conservatives. So, keep telling yourself what you want. Obama will be out of office soon enough; I wonder what the tea party will come up with then as to why they hate the next liberal that wins.
Yeah, ok, this is sad and so wrong in every way that it’s comical. No arguing with liberals so I’m out. Enjoy your miraculous, free healthcare!
I have healthcare, through my job. But I still believe in universal healthcare. I am a liberal; thats the difference between liberals and conservatives. Liberals believe society should help people in need. We don’t always get it right, especially on the first try….but at least we try. Conservatives think that the government doesn’t need to help people; they think that churches, shelters, and private charity should be left to deal with it. I’m not saying either side has it more or less right than the other…but thats the difference between our “sides” in a nutshell. And for all of our history – the party in power has gotten their chance to put their beliefs into law. Its the way it works. Until Obama. When Obama came along, conservatives were so butthurt by it that they decided before he even took office that they would fight him tooth and nail on every major legislative item on his agenda. And they’ve done so with zeal. Obama got so sick of it that he decided to try and use executive actions. I don’t blame him. Conservatives cried about that and said he won’t work with Congress. So make up your minds – do you want to grind government to a halt until Obama leaves or do you want to work with him? You didn’t see liberals stomp their feet and cry foul every time Bush farted (and trust me, most of us REALLY didn’t like him). Obama us by no means the best President we’ve ever had, but he is nowhere near as evil and malevolent as Fox and friends would have us all believe.
If you want to see “rationing,” just look at private insurers, who have a financial incentive to see you die quickly when you’re diagnosed with an expensive illness. WellPoint used a computer algorithm that
automatically targeted policyholders recently
diagnosed with breast cancer for an immediate fraud
investigation. They’d go back to the original applications and look for something, anything, even a failure to disclose a tonsillectomy as a child, as a pretext for canceling their policies.
Obamacare is about making healthcare affordable and has nothing to do with what data we have access to. How would an Apple Watch do anything to make healthcare affordable? It’s not like an Apple Watch provides medical care. By his argument, reading a thermometer in your house while your house is on fire is a suitable replacement for firefighters that come to put out the fire. Do republicans even think about what they say before they say it these days?
“Jeb Bush thinks Apple Watch can replace Obamacare”
I think Jeb Bush and his dumb-ass brother could replace department store mannequins. Come to think of it, mannequins are still more reliable, and certainly do and say fewer stupid things.
What a tool
Why doesn’t the GOP replace Jeb Bush with an Apple Watch? They might stand a better chance for winning the White House.
There are people willing to say Jeb Bush is smarter than his brother. Jeb wants you to know it ain’t so. He really thinks people without health insurance should buy smart watches. I wonder what doctors think of this approach to preventive medicine. Jeb’s watch isn’t really that smart, but it’s a lot smarter than he is.
The Sniffphone/NaNose uses similar technology to the breathalyzer. It’s pocket sized, can detect a myriad of cancers and yes: Runs off of an app.
Snark all you like, fact is: Apple/Google/etc are interested in helping save your life.
Don’t like that? Boycott Apple and surrender to Obamacare.