Posted on 04/15/2010 9:00:23 PM PDT by LouAvul
President Obama on Thursday signed a memorandum requiring hospitals to allow gays and lesbians to have non-family visitors and to grant their partners medical power of attorney.
The president ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to prohibit discrimination in hospital visitation. The memo is scheduled to be made public Friday morning, according to an administration official and another source familiar with the White House decision.
An official said the new rule will affect any hospital that receives Medicare or Medicaid funding.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
This is the biggest farce I have seen during the O’s term of office. This has been law for so many years, at least 10 if not more. The gays and lesbos already know it, and if they don’t, then they have been hiding in some closet somewhere.
Why O would think that he has to announce it and trouce it is beyond me. Perhaps he knows that the GLB crowd is unhappy that him, that he isn’t liberal enough and he is trying to appease them.
Anybody over the age of 14 that isn’t ill, can visit anybody in the hospital setting. Anybody can give anyone of legal age, Medical Power of Attorney. The paperwork is available in every hospital and online. It needs to be signed and witnessed by 2 people to make it valid.
I have been asked to make medical decision by two different individuals that were not blood relatives. All you have to do is present the signed, witnessed copy and you are the decision maker. That is, unless someone shows up with a more current version. It is just like a will, the most current copy is the valid one.
But ONLY gays get non-family? Straights and asexuals don’t?
This is nuts.
You are right! ICU and the visitor situation has been a hot item in the medical community. Some have rules more rigid than others. But today we have family centered care and ICU’s have had to adapt to the theme and flex the rules. The environment in the ICU as well as the ER is more restrictive because patients are in high level of medical intervention. But believe me if you are a homosexual partner or significant other you will be treated as family member. Not everyone has family support and we know this in the hospital field. We make accommodations and we prefer patients to have the support of those close to him/her or her/him-sometimes it is hard to tell the difference in places I have worked!
I’ve never seen a gay partner turned away in any situation other than the patient’s biological family refuses to allow the hospital to give access to the partner. I think this is another situation where a minority chooses to accuse the public of discrimination when a short legal form and the effort put forth to fill it out properly takes care of all these problems. If you are gay and you have a life partner that you trust, simply fill out a POA, living will, advanced directive or whatever it happens to be called in your state. It is not as if the hospital seeks out conflict or tries to separate couples. If you are gay and you didn’t get to see your loved one or be with your loved one, that is your partner’s fault because they did not fill out the paperwork necessary to have you designated. It really is that simple.
Oy! The horse can’t fit it the car, and it can’t drive - so this shouldn’t be a problem!
I don't want Obama making any decisions for me.
Let's say you are just out of surgery and doped to the gills. Under the old rules only family members, by blood or marriage, or other person with prior arranged permission would be allowed access to your drugged and helpless person. Under the new rules well, as long as they claim to be your lover, they must be allowed access. It could be anybody. Whether you know them or want to see them or not.
Like I said the other day, he needs to come out of both closets.
You know, we could probably really piss him off if we sent him empty cardboard boxes, bubble wrapper and styrofoam peanuts as gifts to help assist him with his upcoming move.
But the horse could be ridden to the horsepital.
Ya know...the more I think about this hokus-pokus I am convinced that Ofakery is trying to give his health care a reverent humanitarian spin because gays, blacks, hispanic, etc etc are minorities that have not received enough warm fuzzies. I must clarify this is not a racist statement coming from me!
I am a professional nurse who works in many capacities without discrimination. I must add this because a few days ago I had 2 replies zapped away by a moderater. Really took me a day or so to let go of ‘why did that happen to me?’ thoughts.
Without a Power of Attorney, how is the Hospital supposed to know who is who?
They cannot release Patient information without knowing the person's relationship to the Patient without violating HIPAA.
The Lawyers will have a field day suing the Hospitals.
Okay, you got me. My mental image included a dress rather than a saddle and so I was a little confused.
Nam Vet
You don't disagree with a President who actually thinks he has the authority to order hospitals to do anything with simply a signature on a piece of paper? Wow, you must really be longing for communism to take over.
“but allowing someone outside the family to make life and death decisions for someone is just wrong on so many levels.”
I’m glad you come from a very strong family with apparently strong ties. Not everyone (homosexual, asexual or heterosexual) has strong family bonds or families that have the person’s best interest in mind. The great thing about our healthcare system is that a patient can name anyone as their significant other/decision maker etc. and the hospitals honor the patient’s wishes. However, it because a sticky wicket when the patient is unable to name a person upon admission and does not have any paperwork on file with his physician or with the hospital designating such said person.
As a previous poster noted, I’ve seen patients whose friends, partners etc who truly cared about the person and were not blood relatives. Let us all be lucky enough to have someone who cares enough for us to do us right when we need it
This is a State issue and is a legal issue as set out individually in State legislatures. Lest we forget Terri Schiavo and how her 'Husband' in name only decreed her death sentence...
The leftists seem to violate law when it suits them -they on one hand rally to ignore law to advance the homosexual agenda under the guise of 'fairness' while on the other hand sit silent or protest a violation of law when it came to Mr. & Mrs. Schivo, a father and mother trying to save thier daughters life from the decree of death her supposed husband handed down for her...
YES -it will create a can of worms IF the States wimp out and follow the boy kings orders from mount omoron....
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