Posted on 10/12/2008 11:31:23 AM PDT by wagglebee
Beth Chowen beat a brain tumor last year.
Doctors found it in June, and by the end of summer, the 64-year-old Everett preschool owner was back on her feet, ready to begin her retirement years.
In November, the tumor was back again. It worked like a thief, quietly and quickly, and within months it had robbed Beth Chowen of her ability to move, to live in her own home, even to speak.
At first, Medicare paid for everything, her husband, Terrence Chowen, said. Doctors said there was nothing more they could do. Medicare pulled out, he said.
"Medicare would only cover it if you were recuperating or while there's hope that you might recuperate," Chowen said.
The family barely qualified for Medicaid, which covered Beth Chowen's time in a nursing home, Chowen said. If it hadn't, Chowen said he probably would have had to sell their home.
"Of course a lot of folks are worse off than I am and they would have to decide," Chowen said. "Spend the money or let the person die."
(Excerpt) Read more at heraldnet.com ...
And this is certain to happen as Baby Boomers get older.
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At this point it almost seems inevitable with Democrats in office.
A pro-life belief is not the exclusive domain of the unborn. We must, likewise, act morally with regard to our elders.
Obviously, that’s easy to say; it’s hard to apply.
I’m afraid Obama got a lot of votes with his comment that health care is a “right,” even though he throws around terms like “rights” as one might sling a Frisbee.
I hesitate to call it a right. Laws already mandate ER care for the uninsured. But, thats bad, too.
ER for a simple malady? Yeah, if that’s their only option.
That’s waste considering folks who show up in ER with serious conditions.
One partial solution is to deport illegal aliens.
To do so would uncover the fact that many people seeking "death with dignity" suffer from treatable depression. After being treated and possibly gaining support from family, they very likely could change their minds, seriously queering the deal for the death enthusiasts.
For them and the rest, hospice care is a dignified and compassionate alternative which already offers "death with dignity."
I vowed then and there I was never going to be a burden on my children. They wouldn't treat me with much consideration anyway not that they are horrible kids, just don't know what it means to sacrifice, plus I'm not comfortable with their life choices and living in the thick that especially at a vulnerable time of life when I wouldn't feel well and might not be able to stick up for myself IOW trapped.
Still there are no guarantees anything you plan for are going to work. But then I knew that. There are no certainiies in life except you are going to die at some point.
Um, I don't think that is always the case and think they overdose some patients deliberately toward the end. Hard to argue whether is is more humane or not.
Considering many Boomers now look to extended working lives because the Democrats have made their retirement accounts disappear. The Democrats will surely look to this as a solution.
What someone NEEDS to bring up (like McCain at the next debate) is that Ponzi schemes like Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid would be in much better shape if we hadn't murdered 50 MILLION AMERICANS in the past 35 years and that the bulk of them would now be contributing to the economy.
Amen, Wagglebee!
That!!!
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