Monday, January 18, 2010

Health Care Bills

























People ask me what I think of the new proposed health care bills. (What we really need, in my humble opinion, is insurance reform ASAP.) As a person who no longer contributes to society in the eyes of the government, I worry about the decrease of Medicare benefits and the huge additional out of pocket costs. If it passes as currently written, we may have to sell our house.

The Mayo Clinic in Arizona has just announced that they will no longer treat Medicare patients. Is this going to be the new trend as payments to the physicians and hospitals for treating Medicare patients are to be grossly cut to help pay for its cost? Will all large medical centers deny treatment for Medicare patients as well?

As a person with a fatal illness, I worry about not being treated aggressively if I were to develop a massive secondary illness like cancer or have a stroke.

As stated in the bill, I worry about the mandate to the medical schools for the majority of doctors to be family doctors instead of specialists. That is fine for young people but people who have profound illnesses or older people need specialists. If there are fewer specialists, it will be close to impossible to get an appointment with one thus putting off tests until it is too late.

I worry that some idiot person with a list of rules will not allow the treatment I need to sustain life.

Having a fatal disease, I worry that I will be told to take a pain pill instead of treatment, for example, a hip replacement.

As a drag on the system, I worry that I will be given a strong nudge to end my life before I am ready.

Please, please, please give us a clear, fair bill for EVERYONE – no exceptions for congressmen, union members, the Amish, the State of Nebraska or special interest groups.

No bill is better than a bad or unfair bill.

Insurance reform would be a great start.

Please.

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