Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Logan's (Obama's) Run


How do you save healthcare dollars? Dont take care of patients. A group from the AMA just met with Zeke Emanual who is Obama's right hand man for healthcare. Zeke started off the conversation that he wants physicians and the AMA to go along with his plan or face a 21% cut in Medicare. Although the "healthcare plan" is still on the drawing board, the Obama administration has focused on cutting healthcare costs by decreasing the end of life costs. In general, about $55,000 dollars are spend on healthcare costs in the last years of life. This is critical care, chemo, surgery etc. that are used to prolong life from cancer and other chronic or severe conditions. They want physicians to "sway" patients and their family away these treatments to save money. They further want to appoint a panel to determine what cases and care that they feel are futile. In a sense, they want what they have in europe where no one gets dialysis after age 65, the elderly with pneumonia are allowed to die and a broken hip is a death sentance.

I am not supprised that the Obama administration wants to be the ones who decide who should live and die after all they are proponents of elective abortion and Obama is on record for saying that a baby that was born during a botched abortion should be allowed to die because of its cost to society.

When I heard all these things that Zeke wants to do, I thought at first he was only saying that Medicare would not pay for these treatments. Unfortuantely, Obama plans this for all healthcare costs as he makes the care priciples universal to all payors. Even when you are spending your own money. I guess he also wants to save Social Security as well by allowing all those old enough to get it to die of treatable things before they have a chance to collect.

I was really glad to hear that a physician told Emanuel that we as physicians work for a patients and not for the government, unfortuanely it seems that he wants to change that as well.

4 comments:

SeaSpray said...

65??! Isn't 70 supposed to be the new 50 these days because of the increased longevity in the population? There is a lot more life to be lived past 65!

Are we becoming a culture of death for convenience? Does human life not have any value if a person becomes less than the desired standard of health?

Who makes these decisions? How could any American physician go along with this?

I know from reading the medblogs, that med professionals do think we spend to much money in using extraordinary care of keeping the elderly population alive when their quality of life has past, on vents, etc., or when someone is brain dead...that kind of thing and I understand that concern. People should be allowed to die with dignity of natural causes when when they can no longer enjoy the quality of life they want. But... if they want to live...and there is the means available to help them...then isn't it inhumane to deny care?

None of us knows when the end will be and why/how.

I would like to think that if there are treatments, medicines and skilled physicians available to help...that it/they would be accessible.

Screw the numbers on paper...what about people?

I read in Panda Bear last year (btw-his blog is reopened)where a commentator from Greece (I think) said that they do not give the extraordinary care to the elderly population because there is no money to do so and I think that would apply to anyone requiring life support etc.
**********************************
Are we still in America Throckmorton?

I am beside myself with the politics of this past week!

I keep saying I am going to stay away from political news because it is so distressing to me. And I feel that way because at this point in time...I feel powerless to effect any change. As a matter of fact...being a mostly red hearted Jersey girl in a blue state, Voting seems an exercise in futility

I just wonder if it is good to let this kind of stress build up every day. ? I am passionate about national defense,promoting life and am proud of the values our country has been founded on. Sure... we're not a perfect nation... but we have done so much good around the world.

But in one week... Obama in Europe has apologized for us, minimized us and denies America being a Christian/Jewish or anything nation. (sorry not articulating it well)I guess is telling them we are a secular nation... but we were founded on Judeo-Christian values. In God we trust on our coins, congress opens with prayer,hand on the *Bible* when swearing in as president or in court,George Washington, Abraham Lincoln.. Thanksgiving..didn't they thank God?,etc.

I was looking up "Endowed by our Creator" and came across this:
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=74800 (btw-in reference to this...how could the same school allow the other religions and disallow our ntl heritage?)

And for Obama to state that Islam has shaped America...HOW? When? Where was I when this happened? Did I miss those history classes?

And did you see how *disingenuous* Barney Frank was with that Harvard law student? He accused the student of that and all he did was ask a question. Barney never owned up to anything! I heard another student holler out for him to answer the question. he never did and on top of all that... he gave an excuse it is good to label people. In 04 he accused Republicans of being racist for expressing concern about Freddie/Fannie. His face also got very red.

It would be really interesting to see this exchange in the "Lie to Me" show. I'd LOVE to hear how they evaluate this!

SnowLite said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
SeaSpray said...

I didn't know what Logan's Run was and so looked it up.

What a scary concept!!

Your post titles are statements in themselves. :)

swjslj said...

I think that socialist cultures are stagnant cultures. If medical care is to be denied to older people, or people that the govenment deems to be "unworthy" for some reason, where is the incentive to do medical research? Why would our government fund any reasearch into curing disease when they have determined that it's more cost effective to let patients die? As narrators are often heard to say in the first few minutes of science fiction and horror movies, "...and then an age of darkness fell upon the land"