One More Thing...

In my last blog, A Patient’s View of HR3200 I argued against the government sending someone to discuss your medical and end of life options if you are seriously ill or injured. Since then I have had people tell me that it is one thing to discuss end of life options with a 51 year old but a totally different matter when the patient is 91. They reminded me of the burden these elderly people were to the system and that there comes a point when you should say enough tests, operations, medical treatments and to simply let nature take it course. End of Life options are appropriate not only for the sake of the elderly person but also because of the extreme expenses to both the family and the government to keep them alive.

I agree, up to a point. In fact I was a bit angered to learn that a friend’s 87 year old mother-in-law had just had a hip replacement operation. This elderly woman suffered from dementia, diabetes, extreme arthritis and a multitude of other ailments plus her family ignored her the one time she spoke out against the operation since they thought they knew best for her. Or at least most did since some family members argued to stop everything and simply let her die but these voices were drowned out by those wanting her to have the operation. Plus I am sure that the nursing home also encouraged the operation for the practical reason of wanting her to be mobile and able to go to the bathroom on her own and not to require diaper changes. Yet all of the family infighting about treatment could have been avoided if she just had a Living Will. But at this point it was too late as she wasn’t capable of making decisions.

So yes, I agree that this woman probably should not get more medical treatment and should simply be made comfortable as she dies. But this puts you on a very slippery slope. For what is the cut off point? If my 51 is too young but there is a need for end of life options for this 87 year old patient then perhaps at 80 people should be denied treatment. Except I look at my own 81 year old mother. If she were to fall I would be one of the ones arguing for a hip replacement operation. Am I being hypocritical? No. For unlike the first elderly woman, my mother is a sharp, active, intelligent older woman who neither looks nor acts her age. My mother at 81 is as active as many a 65 year old. So you can’t use age as the criteria. What might have worked for my friend’s parent certainly would be wrong for my mother.

In fact, my father was only 65 when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. After only one chemo treatment we realized he was dying and we then wanted to make what little time was left to be as easy as possible for him. In this case we turned to Hospice to help him. If a family member is dying then Hospice is wonderful. So why does the government need to create a whole new panel and one more bureaucratic department? Wouldn’t it make more sense for them to provide government grants to this organization which is already in place and functioning quite well?

The final argument was the costs associated with health care for the elderly. Wow. How cold is that? Liberals actually worry that keeping mom and dad alive and paying for their health care will bankrupt the government. The same problem of lack of funding concerns treating uninsured people. Who is more important – the people or the government? For if the former, we can find the money. Hell, let the banks pay back their bailouts, take the majority of the stimulus money not spent and gee here’s a thought, fire the 30+ highly paid Czars (the Energy and Environment Czar is getting $172,000 for example) and let the Cabinet do its job instead. Money is not an issue. If Obama could find all these trillions for people to buy a car then he can find the money to take care of our parents. Besides, using existing groups such as Hospice would save billions in the projected salaries for new government employees.

Conservatives have made their point about the major problems with HR3200. Now is the time to start offering alternative ideas. Here are a few suggestions; some are already being discussed while others are my own ideas:

• Let the insurance companies create a co-op through which uninsured people can get health insurance. Restrict this to only US Citizens. Illegal immigrants are a tough situation and this country needs to review and revise their entire illegal immigrant policy as soon as possible. Meanwhile the expenses for treating illegal immigrants or citizens who don’t sign up for insurance should be shared by the entire country and not just the border states and those with high illegal immigrant populations.


• Provide grants to encourage and pay for anyone who wants to be a nurse, doctor, technician, nursing home aide or in any other medical professions. We will need all of these once we insure everyone but other than talking about rationing no one has thought of this.


• Use Hospice as the primary end of life care givers. Provide them with grants to expand their current business rather than the government creating a new parallel department. Offer the same grants to any other private company to insure competition.
  
• Make health insurance mandatory when you get or renew your driver’s license. When you renew your driver’s license there should be a Living Will form with the paperwork sent to you. They already ask about organ donations so why not also include Living Wills? Use Hospice or SS to handle all questions about Living Wills.


• Require all Americans including government employees and union members to be a part of whatever new plan is approved.

So come on conservatives. Instead of simply trashing HR3200 you need to start to come up with alternative suggestions. Forget calling people Nazi’s and instead present your Congressman with some great ideas that they can take back to the Senate and House. For we need a Health Care Plan that is truly by the people and not this monstrosity which is a plan by the government for the people.

A Patient's View of HR3200

I recently learned that I need to have more surgery. This will be my second operation this year and my sixth in the past five years. I can’t help but wonder what my life would have been like if we had Obama’s health care plan. Although at 51 I am not quite a senior, I would, however, fall into the chronically ill category. Under Speaker Pelosi’s health plan they would definitely want to send somebody to speak to me and my family about the cost of these expensive surgeries and how I am using up medical resources. Considering how much I have already been through, during their “counseling” I would probably be one of the people who would be urged to just be given pain meds and basically put out to pasture with no further costly care given. No surprise that I am selfishly glad my medical problems are occurring now, before any supposedly new and improved plan is implemented!

Yet it has occurred to me that in all the debates about end of life counseling I have yet to hear anyone mention how your perspective and reasoning changes when you are ill or injured. For example, I am a political junkie who loves to keep up on what is happening in Washington and then to write about it in my blog. And yet since I learned that I have blood clots in my lower aorta which has already nearly destroyed my right leg I no longer care very much about what is happening elsewhere and I have opted out of the politics and discussions whirling around about the health care bill. In fact, I was very surprised to realize just how long it has been since my last blog. That really shows how caught up I am in my own personal drama and ignoring the rest of the world.

I think I am typical in that the world narrows when you are ill. All your focus and energy are inward and you simply are unaware of anything else. So I wonder, how would I react if a stranger, a government official, were to council me about end of life decisions right now? How many people who are ill and weak and tired will simply agree to give up when that is presented as a viable choice in the end of life discussions? I know that I was in so much agony this spring before my last surgery that I am not sure what I would have agreed to in order to stop the pain. While we are in the throws of pain or caught up in an illness or simply physically run down we do think and act differently.

Now try to factor in having someone from the government step into the lives of people who are in pain or ill. They say it will be voluntary but when you are that ill you are in no condition to request this so I don’t doubt that others, including the hospital social worker, might call them in for you or even the panel might stop by as a matter of routine to walk through the hospital. Sure you could tell them to go but you simply don’t care and frequently aren’t totally aware of the surroundings around you.

In April I recall being rushed to the hospital and sitting in the waiting room but after that I have no memory for the next six days other than occasional glimpses of what was going on. I was told I talked and interacted with others but I have no memory of this. So just imagine if an official should happen to stop by or even be called by a family member, who knows what I might have said or which choice I might have agreed to but whatever it was I wouldn’t have had any memory of it later on. And by the time someone tells me what I did, it might be too late.

Even if you are alert, it is still a time when confusion reigns as you grapple with what is wrong with you, what the doctor will do, what is the outcome, how you will cope when you get back home, if you will still have a job, who’s taking care of your family, etc. To add to the confusion is the government expert who would present you with five different choices, including end of life services. This last choice would not only take away your pain but would also allow you to avoid all this hassle and confusion you’re encountering right now and yet end of life is probably not something a person would choose if they were in their right mind.

I thought I read that this end of life counseling was going to be discarded from the health plan. But I just heard Obama’s Saturday radio address. He started off by saying he wanted to debunk the health care myths which are spread by those who would benefit the most. Then a minute or so into his speech he says that death panels are not true and not in the plan. Obama is correct in that the phrase “death panel” is not in the plan but there is a section outlining end of life counseling. So once again he is being a lawyer and specifically calibrating his words to confuse the public.

Obama is also correct when he says that those who have the most to gain are fighting the health plan. For it is every day people like you and me who are protesting this outrageous government take-over of our health care because we know we have the most to lose if it is implemented. And if you think hearing about this is tough, just try to listen to this garbage when you are sick, ill, injured or hurt and require help from the health care system. You want your health care system to make you better, to allow you to get the tests you need, to see doctors who can help you and undergo the operations to make you better. The last thing you need is to have some government stranger butt into your life to tell you that one of your choices is to give up and die.

Short Retort

The title of a column piqued my interest and it not only lived up to its title but made me realize that I wanted to share the article with everyone. It wasn’t until I was two-thirds through that I stopped to see exactly who it was who wrote it. Oh my. OK enough teasing - the column was titled Dirty Secret No. 1 in Obamacare and the author was Chuck Norris. Good thing I decided to link to it instead of plagiarizing from Mr. Norris! In what I assume to be the first of many columns, this article discusses a part of the health care bill which outlines how the US government plans to visit homes of pregnant and new parents to teach them about taking care of children. Wow. I had no clue, did you? But to find out about this particular part of the health care plan that the politicians seem to have skipped over then read this and spread the word ASAP as it is just one more way of government intruding into your home. Here is the link: http://townhall.com/columnists/ChuckNorris/2009/08/11/dirty_secret_no_1_in_obamacare?page=1

Obama's Organizing America

I received an email this week from Obama that caught my attention. In it President Obama stated that “All this week, OFA (Organizing for America) members like you will be stopping by local congressional offices to show our support for insurance reform.” It goes on to say “As you've probably seen in the news, special interest attack groups are stirring up partisan mobs with lies about health reform, and it's getting ugly. Across the country, members of Congress who support reform are being shouted down, physically assaulted, hung in effigy, and receiving death threats. We can't let extremists hijack this debate, or confuse Congress about where the people stand.” And ends with “Earlier this week, the President wrote that "this is the moment our movement was built for" and asked us all to commit to join at least one event this month. This is the way to answer that call, and rise to the challenge of this moment together.”

This alarming language feeding the fear and anger of the far left is totally unbecoming of a President. Sure Obama should encourage his followers to stand up for what they believe in but he is only inflaming the situation by referring to the right as partisan mobs. And I don’t recall hearing that any congressman or woman was physically assaulted, have you?

I also find it ironic that the left accuses the conservative protesters as being part of an organized group and yet here is Obama referring to his group, Organizing for America, and stating that this situation is the reason for this group’s existence. Again, this shouldn’t be something a President does. He should be above the fray, not an integral part of it egging on his supporters and calling his detractors names. It is also a bit scary to think that Obama felt it necessary to start this group just to use when people protest against him. And they are organizing, no doubt about that. In fact some time check out Organizing for America on Facebook

Forty years ago, conservatives were known as "The Silent Majority" for a reason. So based on the historical silence from the right, today’s politicians are surprised to see these previously voiceless conservatives standing up and yelling back. I loved the line from Barbara Boxer (D-CA) who said the protesters had to be fake because they were “too well dressed”! A part of me is oh so tempted to go to one of the Obama Organizing for America events dressed in a formal gown. Better yet, how funny would it be if a whole group of men and women showed up in formal attire? Unfortunately, time has shown that the far left has absolutely no sense of humor when it comes to things like this.

The difference between the two groups of protesters is growing and not just in forms of attire. The right is there because they are truly concerned about the health care plan and what it would do to America and to them. To be fair, some liberals are passionate about universal health care. But many are now showing up because they are angry at the right for protesting against Obama. There have been numerous quotes from the left that a protest against the health care bill is really a protest against the President. Not true. Protesters are simply scared about this health care bill and how it might adversely affect their own personal health care and the ability to be treated properly and quickly when they need medical help.

Again, to be fair, I am sure that some conservatives are misinformed about some aspects of the health care bill, which by the way is actually a number of differing versions that have yet to be finalized. But for the most part the protesters are concerned about the extreme costs of universal health care, potentially intrusive and complete government takeover and how these changes will affect them. On the other hand, I doubt if one in ten from the left could intelligently discuss the 1000+ page bill (including the lawmakers, themselves) and explain why they are protesting in favor of it. In fact, reread that opening paragraph. Does the President give his supporters reasons and arguments to counter the protesters? No. He simply says they must stop them. So much for wanting a "debate" on the issue.

Additionally, the next time the media is showing the two opposing groups protesting on TV, turn off the sound and simply look at the two groups. First, they really aren’t dressed very differently, no matter what some might say. But more importantly, look at their signage. For the most part, those protesting against the health care bill are holding hand made signs. You can tell that most are signs the individual protester made as few are lettered via a graphics shop and they come in various sizes and shapes and with differing verbiage on each one. Then look at the signs of the left, particularly all those uniformed blue ones. The majority are professionally made with many of them having the exact same phrases. No there is nothing wrong with this but it goes back to the argument – which one of the two groups is spontaneous and which is organized?

I just hope that this call to the Organizing for America group to start protesting the protesters doesn’t scare off the citizens who are truly concerned about the health care bill. Or worse, escalate it into genuine physical assaults between the two groups. Remember, this is all lead by politicians versed in Chicago style politics. So I can’t help but worry as to just how far Obama will encourage the Organizing for America supporters to go if this is indeed “the moment it was built for”.

The Sound of America

Did you hear that sound? It is something I haven’t heard in at least ten months. It is the sound of the people finally finding their voices. Americans have had enough and are finally standing up against Obama and the rest of Congress. And these aren’t just Republican tea baggers but Blue Dog Democrats and Independents who are finally questioning the Democratically controlled government and are angry with where Washington is going.

Voters wanted to trust in this newly elected President and Congress and allowed them to push through the stimulus bill, and cap and trade with little to no resistance within the first 100 days. But that is how the American people act – we believe in giving everyone a chance. Even if you didn’t vote for the man, the country was hurting and most of us wanted him to help this country. We didn’t agree with how he wanted to help us but we were willing to give him a chance. We are now realizing that there was a fatal flaw in our generous and naïve trust in President Obama.

You see, it would have never occurred to most citizens that our leaders would enact legislation that would purposively hurt our country. Obama and Congress swore to serve and protect us, right? So we tried to understand the benefits of saddling this country with trillions in debt for economic stimulus bills which might not even implement these jobs for years in the future. We wanted to believe that the cap and trade would help the environment and couldn’t fathom the darker side that it was a way to redistribute wealth and punish successful companies.

But in the past month, Obama has acted in such a manner and Congress has drafted such astonishing legislature that we can’t ignore our misgivings any more. People began to finally wake up when Obama sided with the angry black man vs. law enforcement and when Congress tried to ram through a 1000 page Health Care Bill that would dismantle every existing health plan we have today. Perhaps the epitome of the stupidity found in Washington is the Cash for Clunker program which ran out of money in the first few days. And people are realizing that there can only be some hidden disreputable reason as to why Washington won’t let the banks pay back the bailout money.

I keep thinking of the classic movie Network and the much quoted line “I’m mad as hell and I won’t take it any more.” And it has always been to their own detriment when leaders or other countries dismiss angry citizens. We are basically a friendly and forgiving group of people but when we are angry, we become an entirely different animal altogether. Just ask Japan or Germany or Iraqi’s. We believe in fairness but we also believe in justice. And Washington has not acted fairly to us and we are now out for justice.

Chills now run up my spine as I listen to average citizens confronting their Congressmen. I cheered when the crowd booed Senator Specter when he said they needed to pass the health bill “fast”. I am thrilled when I hear protesters chanting “Just say no” at a Representative’s rally in Texas. I laughed when I read that Senator Diane Feinstein’s office threw out a group of senior citizens who refused to leave her CA office. And I am elated when citizens stop being passive and now are standing up to Washington.

All of this is reflected in the downward spiral of Obama’s popularity. And we must be succeeding because Obama is now going after those who speak out. It is truly scary that Obama wants people to snitch on those who are protesting against him. On Aug 4 a White House website posted the following statement:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

By the way, when did they start referring the Health Care plan as the health insurance reform plan? Did they think just by changing the name people would be lulled into approving this monstrosity? But that is secondary to the chilling intention of this statement; to report people, like me, to the White House for writing unfavorable things on the health care plan. Good grief! How can the older liberals who spent their youth protesting the government allow this to happen? What is happening to my America when the White House goes after anyone who disagrees with them? What is next? Will anyone opposing the government be sent to rehabilitation camps? Will children be rewarded for snitching on the parents as in Nazi Germany or the like the feared KGB in Russia? But this is America, where things like that don't happen, isn't it?

I can’t help but recall Michelle Obama’s telling statement that she had never been proud to be an American until now. This is the America she envisioned? Well, this is not my America. My America is the land of the people, the land of free speech, the land not of socialism but a republic, the land of the melting pot where immigrants flocked to night school to learn English - not the land of diversity and Habla Espanol, the land where if you work hard anyone can succeed – not the land of handouts and welfare, the land where the citizens respect policemen – not immediately label them racists, the land that my father and my nephew proudly served, the land of Patrick Henry, Teddy Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and most of all the land of the free and the brave. So be brave and don’t let anyone shut you down or scare you into silence. The people have found their voices and must continue to speak out against what they don’t like or else this won’t be America anymore.