Death Panels? What Death Panels?

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

During the heated debate last summer over the proposed health care legislation, Sarah Palin and Barack Obama kept bringing to the media the phrase 'death panels', groups of people that would decide whether or not to "pull the plug on Grandma". While Palin was misguided in her analysis (as she was trying to say that end-of-life care or the living will system was the 'death panel' when it actually wasn't), she may not have been entirely off-base.

Stories have been featured recently through several media outlets of patients in Arizona and Indiana who have been denied life-saving surgeries in the past several weeks and months due to cuts in state Medicaid budgets. In Indiana, a six-month old infant named Seth Petreikis has complete DiGeorge syndrome. A surgery that was deemed "experimental" by Medicaid was denied to him, but the company that manages Indiana's Medicaid program has offered to pay for the surgery themselves. [Source]

In Arizona, 98 people who were already approved for transplants were later told they couldn't receive the surgeries because of recent cuts to Arizona's Medicaid budget. One man was set to receive a new liver, which was donated to him by a friend who'd recently passed away. Because he couldn't pay for the $200,000 surgery, the liver went to another patient. [Source] The reason for this? On October 1, 2010, the state of Arizona removed transplants from a list of medical services that can be funded through the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS). Keith Olbermann is asking viewers of his show Countdown to donate in the hopes of funding the transplants. Meanwhile, Democrats in Arizona are now using the 'death panel' analogy as an attack against Gov. Jan Brewer and Arizona Republicans, who agreed to Medicaid cuts to balance their budget, despite protests from Democrats. [Source]

The 'death panels' Palin referred to have little to do with federal government action and more to do with state government blunders. There should be some legislation on the table to mandate organ transplant surgeries be paid for through all health care providers, public and private.Transplant boards are still necessary to sort through the amount of transplant candidates but at least someone who's promised a chance at renewed life wouldn't have to worry about that promise being taken away.

Comments

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Love how you ignored that the medical insurance companies promised to obey all parts of the new Healthcare law and then with all their usual shame and self-consciousness broke every bit of that promise. Not that one should expect honesty from the "God picked out my curtain colors" crowd.

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

What are you babbling about?

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

I'm confused. Are you saying medical insurance companies are Christian fundies or what.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

I'm saying that the Tea Party types, as Fundies, are the ones who should look least kindly on the bad faith shown by medical insurance companies that shamelessly broke a promise they made to abide by the Pelosi-Reid bill's rules. Instead there's not been one peep about the corporations and everything's been blamed on the politicians.

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

Medicaid is a state and federal issue. It's not like private insurance. In this case, the states are denying these surgeries. I blame politicians in this case because they spent so much time lambasting insurance companies for denials and now they're doing the same exact thing. The company that manages Indiana's Medicaid program stepped-up and is paying for the surgery for Seth Petreikis themselves. I cited that already in the post.

Are you saying that because insurance companies in the past denied treatments, politicians should then be excused when they're states do the same?

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

I really don't care what conservatives get butthurt about when you ignore that the insurance companies promised to abide by all the rules in the Bill and then ignored it the very moment it was safe to do so.

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

Do you have a specific case that you can cite instead of this mild flaming and carrying on?

[jlc20thmaine.livejournal.com]

Or that unions who pushed for this bill are now getting waivers so they don't have to follow it.

Hey, I have an idea. Try readnnig the bill first before voting on it.