The 79-year-old suggested that if he had been in a part of the world with “socialized medicine like Obama is trying to impose upon America,” the operation never would have happened. [...] “And so the message there is, you know I say this to all of your American listeners, let’s hold onto what we’ve got here. You are talking to someone right now who probably wouldn’t be here if we had socialized medicine in America.”

Q: Is it that insurance that will cover all of your hospitalization and surgery? A: It won't cover it all. I'm not sure what it will cover. Q: So you don't get any Medicare money then? A: (Inhofe turned to his chief of staff, Ryan Jackson, and said, “You'll have to help me with this.” Jackson explained that Inhofe has Medicare Part A — hospitalization — coverage but that the senator's private insurer would be the first payer for the recent surgery and care.)

Three weeks ago, Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma said that if America had socialized medicine he would probably be dead instead of recovering from heart surgery:And now, this weekend, we learned that Medicare—which Inhofe's personal hero Ronald Reagan once described as "socialized medicine"—provides insurance coverage for Inhofe's medical bills:So not only is Inhofe still very much alive despite the existence of "socialized medicine," and not only does he personally benefit from that very same "socialized medicine," it turns out that "socialized medicine" is so unobtrusive that Inhofe wasn't even aware that he had it. Unfortunately, his experience doesn't seem to have changed his mind: Inhofe remains as committed as ever to repealing Obamacare, and making sure that more Americans are denied access to the same medical system that saved his life.