Yeah. I realize this is one long post. But since I didn’t write most of it, I promise it really is worth the read. ;D
Even in Kindergarten I wasn’t all that great at coloring in between the lines.
I mean what if that poor tree wanted to expand it’s reach? Who was I to confine it within someone else’s mimeographed lines?
And while I don’t do much coloring these days, my aversion for living within somebody else’s lines is still strong.
Which is one of the reasons that when somebody tells me that they want to totally overhaul health care I tend to be cautious. Cause we are talking some pretty bold lines drawn for me to keep my toes behind.
Don’t get me wrong. I think there are lots of ways that health care could be improved. But I’ve yet to hear any of those ideas pop up in regards to Obama’s brand of health care reform.
And because I choose to question these new ideas on health care reform, I’ve been labeled a (gasp!) Fear Monger.
Which makes me laugh, because when I voice my concerns to those doing the labeling, the only reply they have to give is along the lines of, “Well, that would just never happen.”
Oh. Good comeback.
TWO cases in point. One from our local Daily Herald: You really can’t make this up
“A government-run health care system would never treat people callously, would it?
It’s inconvenient for Democrats right now that British doctors are raising the alarm about nationalized health care there. Under the innocuous-sounding “Liverpool Care Pathway,” doctors can choose to withdraw assistance from the very ill and sedate them continuously until they die. Up to 16 percent of all deaths in the U.K. come after such “terminal sedation.” That’s 20,000 people a year.
Sadly, some British physicians have said, many of those people could recover if they were allowed to. But the system won’t allow them to. That’s because, in a government-run system, sick, old people become statistics that run up the costs. A drugged death is cheaper.
How callous and furtive is this system? An audit found that in 28 percent of the cases, relatives weren’t even informed that their loved ones had been placed on this pathway to death.
Of course, government never announces at beginning all the consequences of a program. That would be too obvious and awkward.
Instead what happens is that year after year the bureaucracies spew out regulations. Year after year bureaucrats accumulate power. There’s no big announcement. Just thousands of pages of regulation, and government officials following orders. A casual comment here, some whispers there and maybe a few nods and meaningful glances. With all that, a program’s goals slowly and subtly evolve.
Sometimes there is only waste and incompetence. Sometimes, sadly, there’s something more ominous, and even deadly.
We wish we were making all this up. But we are not.
Oh? That’s just ONE point of view?
Okay. I get that. How about this article. (Hat tip to my sweet friends Michelle and Elliot.)
Goverment-Run Health Care World Ration Care for Disabled Children, Parents and Lawmakers Warn.
Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday shared a personal story that shows why he is passionate about protecting the most vulnerable in society — and why a government-run health care program would not only fail to offer that protection, but could end up rationing care for some people, including children with disabilities.
At a Capitol Hill press conference, Franks said the parents who brought their special needs children to Washington, D.C., had the most compelling stories to share.
“But I would cite just one (story) that has a personal connection to me,†Franks said. The story involved an “old man†and his firstborn son, who was born with deformities of the mouth – a “missing pallet†and other issues, Franks said.
“And the doctors at that time in the small hospital said, ‘Well you can’t breast feed this child, you can’t feed him. So the best thing to do is to do away with him in a merciful manner.’
“Well, the man said ‘No, this is my first child, we’re going to take him home and do the best we can. We’ll make a machine to feed him.’
“The machine turned out to be an eyedropper and a pill cup,†Franks said. “And the child grew up to be big and strong. And of course I’m thankful to that old man, because he was my dad.â€
Franks said he had 11 surgeries before he was 9 years old.
Franks was flanked by more than a dozen parents, some with their disabled children in tow and others carrying photographs of their children, including children who died from complications related to their disability.
“I don’t want to draw attention to myself,†Franks said. “I want to draw attention to all these people and remind each of us, no matter who we are – I’ll quote a Democrat. He said that a society is measured by how it treats those in the dawn of life, those in the shadows of life and those in the twilight of life,†Franks said, referring to Hubert Humphrey.
Kristan Hawkins, whose son Gunner was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at two months old, said her research on her son’s condition led her to discover that government health insurance in Canada and some European countries don’t cover the special medication he needs.
Hawkins started a Web site, healthcareforgunner.com, and coordinated a group of parents from around the country who share her concerns. She said she came to Washington to lobby against government-run health care.
“I want my family and my doctor to control my son’s health-care decisions, not a government-appointed committee,†Hawkins said.
Barb Farlow said her daughter, who had a devastating genetic condition, died 80 days after she was born and 24 hours after she was taken to a Canadian hospital for surgery.
“We later discovered that no diagnostic tests had been done and a ‘do not resuscitate order’ was written before we had provided consent,†Farlow said. “The discovery that our fundamental parental rights had been violated in such a manner without cause left us shocked and devastated.
“Sadly, we believe that to our (Canadian) medical system, Annie was not a child but a label with associated statistics and a price tag,†Farlow said. “We will never know Annie’s potential, and so we grieve her death and the life she might have had.â€
Mary Kellett said she was glad she could fight for treatment for her 4-year-old son, Peter, who was born with a chromosomal abnormality.
“We were told to wrap him in a blanket and let him die,†Kellett said. “We were told there were no survivors with Trisomy 18 beyond two weeks.
“We fought to give Peter the ordinary care our other children would be given, and we thank God every day this precious little boy is here blessing our family,†Kellett said.
Marty McCaffrey, a neonatologist and the father of a 9-year-old daughter with Down Syndrome, said he sees problems with Democrats’ vision of health care reform:
“We have been assured that government restructuring of health care will not require rationing, affect current services, create distribution panels, nor subsidize abortion,†McCaffrey said. “Even a neonatologist knows that if you increase demand for services, the cost will rise. If the health services budget is drastically cut while larger numbers of patients are added to the roles, rationing is unavoidable.â€
McCaffrey said 90 percent of women who are diagnosed as carrying a baby with Down syndrome terminate the pregnancy – a number he said could grow even larger under currently proposed health care reform.
“Many will never meet a child with Down Syndrome,†McCaffrey said as he held his daughter Shea’s hand.
Erica Kelley’s two-year-old son also has cystic fibrosis. She said he is doing well because of the outstanding care he receives through her husband’s employer-provided insurance.
“The people of the U.S. have access to the best medical care in the world,†Kelley said.
Eileen Benthal’s daughter, Johanna, has congenital brain malformations. Johanna has had 70 surgeries, mostly on her brain, in her 13 years of life. Her condition causes stroke-like symptoms, cognitive and motor delays and seizures.
Benthal said Medicare is her daughter’s secondary insurance and that treatments and medications are regularly denied. “I shudder to think of how we would fare with (Medicaid) as primary (insurance),†Benthal said. (Tammy adds: Oh, I know THIS all too well.)
Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-Wash.) also attended the conference and said she shares the parents’ concerns about a government-run health care program.
“We wanted to just give you a perspective of a community of people who are watching health care reform very closely and want to make sure that the reform that ultimately passes Congress doesn’t leave a very important population behind,†McMorris-Rodgers said. “These are people that are dealing with health care on a daily, if not an hourly basis — and I know this because of my own experience.
“I have a son who is two years old,†McMorris-Rodgers said. “He has Down Syndrome and it means we are in the doctor’s office a lot.â€
Franks said the community would be harmed by a government-run health care plan.
“I truly believe with all my heart that government-run health care will diminish all of those people, those in the dawn of life, the unborn,†Franks said. “This will be the largest expansion of abortion since Roe versus Wade.
“Regardless of the debate that has occurred, we’re taking the lives of 4,000 children every day, and if that’s the administration’s health care plan for the unborn, I don’t think that’s a good one,†Franks said.
The parents distributed a white paper at the press conference detailing the effects of health care rationing. They also sent a letter to President Barack Obama and leadership in the House and Senate expressing their opposition to a government-run health care plan.
There’s a lot more where this came from. Lots more unanswered questions. Questions that get asked, but never really answered.
For example, what if Reed’s school district that provides our private insurance decides to dump the private insurance and go with the government run health care plan because it would be cheaper. Doesn’t that pretty much negate the promise that you will not lose your current health care plan?
this is a hard subject for me. To me the healthcare problem should be easy to fix. Let people have their private insurance, just make rules for the insurance and also hospitals to go by. Like charging 1200 dollars a month for a special formula that you know doesn’t cost that much to make. Make sure things won’t get denied. And NO child should be denied any kind of medical care. Period.
So I’ll see you on the 25th. I’m sure its just our two cases. Thats usually all he has time for. I’ll be waiting to see which one of us is the lucky one that has to be there at 6 in the morning. But I do think we might be second because he doesn’t know how long it will take. They may be putting chest tubes in at the same time to drain fluid in his lungs. Nice huh?
Oh, Tammy. I hear you. I’m so frightened for what is looming if Obama gets his way. If we give them an inch, they’ll take a mile. And then we’ll never get it back.
Ack. I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one. The only thing I do want to add is that when you talk about the health care systems of other countries, you have to factor in funding- how much money can and does the government allocate to it’s medical program. This is critical.
I see things from both sides of the street.
Chris,
Hey, we can agree to disagree. Cause you know how much I lubs ya.
But I do have to ask how other countries find the funding? In my research the term VAT taxes keep coming up.
If I’m wrong I’d LOVE to know. Cause this health care reform is really worrying me.
Tammy I am with you on this, health care reform scares me. I don’t want the government deciding on the care my child gets, they could literally be making decisions that could risk our children’s lives based on a dollar amount. Terrifying
I cannot tell you how scared I am of this new “healthcare” reform. Yes, I agree that healthcare needs to be reformed. But having an entire overhaul and having the government run my healthcare is NOT my idea of reform. We can all see how well they’ve run social security, Medicare & Medicaid.
We have a president who is not only pro-abortion but is not against partial birth abortions. How in the world can we trust this person to have our best interests at heart when he doesn’t even value the life of the most innocent lives in this country.
I have a disease that puts me at higher risk for colon cancer. I cannot wait 6 mos to get testing to find that out. And if I am forced to wait and then am at Stage 3 or 4, are they just going to leave me to die?? I think we all know the answer to that question.
So many people are at risk with this new healthcare. We’ve all seen how well socialized medicine works. There IS rationing, there IS reduced level of care. Is this really what we all want?? And the thing is, our own president lies about what is in the healthcare bill. How can we trust him and his govt to take care of us. I surely don’t want to.
Hey Tammy! I totally agree with you on the healthcare thing! I am very scared as to what our future will look like if he gets his way. I wonder how he is planning on paying for all of this, too.
I also wanted to ask you about one of your older posts… do you still use the Steamboy? Do you still like it? I am thinking about getting a steam cleaner and would love to know how you like it a few months later. Thanks! Lisa
Tammy says:
I do like my Steamboy. The only thing I would be careful of (after having used it for quite a while) is that the system it employs to transfer the water to the floor is just kind of a fancy straw and you need to be a bit careful with it when you are refilling the machine.
But ALL of the steamers I’ve looked at employ this same thing.
So, when you compare the price of the Steamboy to some other machine it’s an excellent value. AND it’s NEVER ONCE LEAKED. Which is really important.
Also, make sure your pad is nice and wet when you start to clean your floor. The dry pads make it hard for the machine to ‘glide’, which also is the same for all the other machines I’ve seen.
I’d get it!
If that makes you a fear monger, then so are Robert & me. This proposed plan scares the crap out of us.
Tammy,
Yes, I to have been opposed to the idea of a government run health care system. If you look back at the history of how they have managed and ran their programs then it shows the way our health system will fail. Look at the military run health system. It has so few doctors and nurses that they book you months out for life threatening needed tests. Our sweet friends who were having a baby in the military did not get to see their high risk OB until 1 month prior to birth. The many necessary tests and medications the mother and baby needed were not given until just a few weeks prior to birth and led to multiple problems and complications.
My beautiful Aunt read the entire bill she cut it down to one page of basics. She is not in any means a conservative yet for the first time this issue has brought her up to voice her concerns. With this health care plan our son whom we loved and fought for would never have been given the chance. We were given two wonderful years with our son. Two years I can’t imagine not having yet our government would freely take them away. One thing many people don’t even speak of is that in this health care plan it opens the door for home visits in every home that is on this plan. So any parent has to open the door to the government to come in and inspect and voice their opinion on raising your children in your home. Yes, seriously you will not be able to turn them away they will have every right to go in and inspect and decide if you are a safe parent.
Scared to of where our country is going.
Terri
attached is what my aunt wrote up…
EXCERPTS FROM THE HOUSE VERSIONOF THE HEALTH CARE REFORM
BILL: THE “AFFORDABLE HEALTH CHOICES ACT OF 2009″ H.R. 3200
(Approved August 1, 2009 by the House Energy and Commerce Committee)
DIVISION A – AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE CHOICES
Title I – Protections and Standards for Qualified Health Care Plans
- prohibits preexisting conditions
- establishes a Health Benefit Advisory Committee to determine what treatments are covered and how much
providers will be paid
- sets limits on how much health benefit is provided each year (individual and family)
- provides care “without regard to personal characteristics” (includes non-U.S. citizens, illegal or otherwise)
Title II – Health Insurance Exchange and Related Provisions
- mandates that medical services must be “culturally and linguistically appropriate”
- participating physicians must accept Federally established payment rates
Title IV – Amendments to Internal Revenue Code of 1986
- adds Section 59B “tax on individuals without acceptable health care coverage”
- adds Section 59C – “surcharge on high income individuals”
DIVISION B – MEDICARE AND MEDICAID IMPROVEMENTS
Title I – Improving Health Care Value
- places a value (“value units”) on doctors’ time, professional judgment, technical skill, physical effort”,etc.
- Sec. 1151 penalizes hospitals for “excess readmissions”
- payment to doctors is based on “outcomes of care” and “quality performance data”
- Sec. 1181 eliminates Medicare Part D coverage gap
- drug prices are largely set by the Federal government
Title II – Medicare Beneficiary Improvements
- every 5 years, those 65 and over MUST have “Advance Care Planning Consultations” about end of life care
- if health deteriorates, Advance Planning Consultations will be mandated more often
- Government-”specified interventions” will be limited (e.g., hydration, nutrition, medication, comfort care)
- the Federal government will oversee “marriage and family services”
- the Federal government will oversee “mental health counseling services”
- the Federal government will investigate nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities (termed “transparency”)
- the Federal government will investigate hospice programs
- the Federal government will establish hospital residency requirements and give preference to compliant
hospitals
- Medicaid eligibility will increase to 133-1/3% of Federal poverty level
- fees will be levied on issuers of private health insurance policies as well as on self-insured health plans
- home visitation will be conducted in homes with young children or who are expecting children
DIVISION C – PUBLIC HEALTH AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Title I,II,III – Community Health Centers, Workforce, Prevention and Wellness
- the Federal government will establish new bureaucracies and institutions, including Community Health
Centers, Public Health Training Centers, School-Based Health Clinics, the National Health Service
Corps (regular and reserve), the Public Health Workforce Corps, the Nursing Workforce, and others
- the various workforces will receive scholarships and loans, and will be recruited from “community-based
organizations”, such as ACORN, not from the existing medical personnel in the United States
- the Federal government will be involved in training primary care physicians, nurses, and dentists
- health care professionals must have “cultural and linguistic competency training”
Title IV, V – Quality and Surveillance
- the Federal government will establish a Center for Quality Improvement, to “evaluate best clinical practices”
- a new position will be created for the Assistant Secretary for Health Information
- the government will limit funding to States “based on compliance…with all provisions”
REMEMBER!!! NOT ONE WORD IN THIS BILL APPLIES TO YOUR CONGRESSMEN!!! HOW FAIR IS THAT?
I think it is all so scary! Scary for our kids with special needs and for my elder parents and for all of us!
I’ve been telling people for months now that this whole health care plan is so dangerous. My son Luke would not of been given a chance to live after his accident. I’m praying that is doesn’t go any farther, though I know that God is ultimately in control and I have to trust Him.
So glad that Parker has been healthy lately. The pictures of him look great, way to go Tammy you are doing an excellent job:}
Love in Christ,
Suzi
Thanks for the hat tip, sweetie! I think you know how I feel about this. BTW, I do PR work for a physician who has written op-ed after op-ed regarding why the proposed changes…well…are just plain horrible and will not fix the real problems. Yes, he’s a doc (a specialist – not the standard GP) and yes, he stands to lose an awful lot if things come to fruition, but I can forward his pieces if you’d like to take a look. Same doc ran for Senate a bit ago. Lost, but has one heck of a political background here in the state. His thought process is really quite innovative. Love you!
Well, not sure where to start or if this is the place. Interesting post and comments.
Under the bills being proposed by Congress currently, any government option would not put your health care in the hands of anyone other then your doctors. While the public option might be cheaper, your employer is not allowed to change over unless they have under a certain # of employees. And currently your insurer can drop you or your employer at any time for any reason.
Of course single payer would be the best answer. Most people who are in health care also feel that single payer would be the best answer for a number of reasons. Here is a great site for information http://www.pnhp.org/facts/singlepayer_faq.php
Too bad that’s not what we will be getting.
I guess I sit on the fence a bit. Healthcare is a mess we have seen that first hand. And I know it needs to be fixed….and to be honest i’m not as afraid as you of what the dems want to do.
Not that we are necessarily going to get canadian health care…if this passes…but I have quite a few friends up in canada…who have children whose prognosis is bleak….they will eventually die of what they have. There government pays for all of there medical care..period. They do not have to worry about the financial aspect. They get the treatment they need…sometimes they have to do a little more work to get approval for things…sometimes they get additional funding to pay for this or that…but is it really any different here?
My son is on oxygen BCBS is refusing to pay for his oxygen…we have secondary medicaid. Medicaid approved it in a heart beat. The thing currently with medicaid or medicare (for those disabeled) is it totally depends on what state you live in.
Medicaid is refusing to pay for things Parker needs…because the state of Utah sucks…and refuses to fully fund medicaid. It’s not the feds fault. I have lived now in two other states and gotten medicaid and we have not had any issues at all….nor have the other’s I know out here.
I see many different solutions that could work. I see plenty of regulations that need to happen or adjust. I also see that if the dems set something in play…and get a result they do not wish to keep…they can undo it as well. It would not be the first something they pass needs to be adjusted later.
To be honest…i’ve just about given up on the republicans and could leave the party over this. I would love for the republicans to really come up with answers…to really understand the problem. Instead mostly what I see is a bunch of loons with there heads in the sand refusing to see that something must be fixed. I don’t mind if they disagree with the fix…but when they spout out that nothing should be done, that nothing is wrong…agghhhh…what planet do they live on?
oh and as for medicare….my DH FIL was going to die…we knew it but the doctors spent over a million medicare dollars trying to keep him alive….till there was nothing left to be done. I just do not buy that they are going to start killing people off. They haven’t proven to do it yet.
Tammy says:
Sarah, you are absolutely right that Medicaid is a federal program that each state may run in a way they choose.
In many, if not most, states Parker would have qualified for Medicaid just on the diagnosis of Ds alone. Now he is fighting to stay on the Travis C. Waiver because he is only vented at night.
And our new Governor has already made it crystal clear that he won’t exempt Medicaid from the chopping block as he tries to make up this new deficit.
But I bet you that funding for new roads won’t be touched. And, please state officials, don’t give me…..but that funding is under a different heading.
For every dollar Utah cuts in Medicaid funding Utah loses 4 dollars of federal funding.
I have had Utah legislators look me straight in the eye and tell me how important this state’s children are to them. Then when I go and research their voting record I see that I’ve just been handed one giant crock.
One of my main concerns is that many doctors are no longer accepting Medicaid. And I have no doubt that Medicare is next.
Thanks for your comments! I love hearing another’s point of view!