It’s Obvious Day over at Philadelphia Magazine. Palin nailed Obamacare for what is is.
This has been ongoing for a few years now in hospitals.
The difference between observation and admission status is the acuity of the patient.
Acuity of a patient has to meet two criteria now- 1. How sick are they 2. What intensity of treatment is the hospital giving the patient.
There are programs- mainly by two companies- that have devised these criteria.
A fractured elbow would not meet inpatient, because that can be taken care of as an outpatient.
If a hospital bills a patient incorrectly- inpatient or observation- Medicare will penalize the hospital by not paying the hospital bill at all.
Also, Medicare is auditing the hospitals (retroactive)-this audit is called RAC- and fining hospitals millions of dollars.
Newt Gingrich stated in the last debate that Palin was essentially correct on death panels.
Thanks to governmental meddling in health care, we now have a health care system that is far too large for the society. I give you the analogy of the excessive number of McMansions.
We cannot afford to pay for all the health care we have developed for if we did, all the wealth available for future generations would be consumed to keep someone alive (but not living) for a period of months to a few years.
I went through this with my mother and with the wisdom of hindsight, it would have been far better for her and the family if we had less medical care. But you can't ask that of the children, even if they are also old.
Did anyone think it would be anything different? Really?
I have asked a lot of liberal aquaintences, “What does ‘Free Healthcare’ look like to you?”
Answer: “It’s exactly like care is now except it’s FREE.”
;O(
Of course she was! The G does not create health care; it can only ration health care, and somebody somewhere will be doing the rationing. Not too extremely complicated.
The real moral: Never leave a loved one alone in a hospital death panel or not.
Of course Sarah was right above death panels. We all knew it instinctively like she did.
Being biatchslapped by reality is the only way some folks will ever get it, over the din of endless media propaganda, I’m afraid...
Maybe?
She might be wrong on Kate Plus Eight and whether or not to run, but the woman is a seer on policy and politics.
Caveat - liberals will point out “this is Medicare, not UhbamaCare”.
Thus, they’ll say the new bill had nothing to do with Medicare rules, and will try to claim that thanks to Uhbama, such Medicare holes will be plugged by his new rules.
Yes, Palin was right and it’s not rocket science to know that Palin is/has exposed the corruption of the gov’t and that is why she was attacked. Do we see anyone else being the warrior that she is - nope. Palin is pro America and has put herself on the firing line because as a Patriot that she is - someone has to do it.
She’s been trying to wake up America to join in that fight. Those who have come against her are our enemies. Then we have the wusses of the world whose emotional issues surface when they see someone doing great things - they trash to bring her down - it’s a quicker way of feeling good instead of dealing with their own inner issues. Jealousy is like a cancer.
I knew Sarah was right before she even said it. All I had to hear was that there would be a govt panel that would make decisions on patient care, and I knew it meant deciding who was “worth” saving and who wasn’t.
A 68-year-old friend of mine is having shoulder surgery today. It’s a three-hour procedure, and it’s extensive enough (much tendon and ligament damage from a fall) that her right shoulder and arm will be immobilized for at least three weeks. However, she’s not being kept at the hospital for even one night to make sure there are no post-surgical complications. Her daughter will be taking her home a hour after the surgery.
Because American taxpayers are forced to pay for medical care for the uninsured, including illegal aliens, people who ARE insured (my friend is a military retiree and has decent supplemental isurance) get insufficient care.
In my judgment, the government should get completely out of health care.
But the media demagogued her, and they won.
So we'll never know what she'd be like in national office.
Bump
And they will continue to grow regardless of who is elected in 2012, or 2016, or 2020.
Because Medicare will be out of money by then.
Why??
Although I obviously don't have access to Helen Wagner's medical or financial records, I think we can safely assume that at age 91, with a pacemaker, and a history of strokes, she has received far, Far, FAR more in government funded health care than she and her employer ever paid in between 1965 and 1985 (her 65th birthday).
Multiply Helen by several score million and it's easy to see that in another twenty years, Medicare is likely to consist of outpatient clinics and hospices.
Obama can't change the inexorable demographics. Neither can Paul Ryan, Sarah Palin, Rick Perry, or Herman Cain. Get used to it.
Anyone with an IQ above 30 could see that coming. During the last republican debate,(turkey shoot) that very question was posed, trying to get the RINO's to say limit care for old people, since most of the health care expense comes in the last two years of life.
Newt to his credit blasted that moron.
Then in a totally unrelated move the UN decided that the right to die is a health care right. You can count on that right quickly morphing into an obligation.
Most people don't remember Governor Lamb saying, Old people have an obligation to die, and fertilize the soil.
Everyone should know after all, the cheapest health care is None.
Couple tips to the unaware. When your doctor refers you to a specialist, for imagining, lab work etc. Make damn sure they are a medical necessity by Medicare's standards. If not and turned down, Medicare will not pay a cent, neither will secondary ins, and you will be stuck with the full costs.
Also, be absolutely sure whatever health provider you go to is in the Medicare Assignment Participation program. If they are not, you can again get stuck with some horrific medical bills.
If not careful, the term Medicare assignment can come to have great negative meaning in many peoples’ lives.
Remember how Republicans were pilloried for even suggesting Medicare reforms and were branded as wanting to gut Medicare? Obamacare actually cut $800 billion out of Medicare and nothing gets said, but now as Rev. Wright preached ...the chickens have come home to roost.
She is no longer of use to the regime. No resources to be wasted on her.
When financial incentives are placed ahead of medical outcome, “death panels” are the natural result and no amount of political ridicule will change that reality.
Obamacare only heightened the focus on financial incentives, ensuring bureaucrats have more control than the Dr. in charge of the patient.