Jan Brewer's Healthcare Cuts Claim Another victim

[paft.livejournal.com]

Washington Post 1/5/11:

A second person denied transplant coverage by Arizona under a state budget cut has died, with this death "most likely" resulting from the coverage reduction, a hospital spokeswoman said Wednesday.

First it was Mark Price. Ever heard the name?



Price was a leukemia patient who died late in November from complications while preparing for a privately-funded bone-marrow transplant. It was provided after Jan Brewer cut off funding for such life-saving transplants. See, Price might have had his transplant early in October, when two potential donors became available, but that was the very day Brewer’s cuts went into effect. He didn't have the cash. Time is critical for leukemia patients, and apparently Price just could not physically afford the delay caused by Brewer’s cuts.

He was 37 years old.



The name of the second victim has not yet been released.

Hope the infinitesimal amount of money “saved” by these deaths is worth it to Brewer and her supporters – especially since Mr. Price left behind a wife who now has to raise six children without a father.

Crossposted from Thoughtcrimes

Comments

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

So...did someone mention Death Panels?

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

It's a sad reality that, when the government gets involved in things it's not supposed to, righting that wrong results in less than optimal results during the transition period. I'm not convinced this transition was done properly, but I suspect the complaints would be the same even if it were.

Your appeals to emotion, however, are not doing much to help your argument.

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

I'm not convinced this transition was done properly

If there is a Webbie for Best Example of Understatement in a Political Discussion Forum I would so put you up for nomination.

[paft.livejournal.com]

Gee. A father of six being denied a life-saving transplant when donors were available, and then dying after the desperate scramble for funds doesn't... well, just doesn't seem right somehow to you?

This is not a case of the government "getting involved in things it's not supposed to." It's a case of the government withdrawing from an area it needs to oversee. And the result was that a man died who could have been saved.

I really wonder how Brewer and her people live with themselves.

[headhouse.livejournal.com]

There aren't many things she does that help her argument.

[blorky.livejournal.com]

This story is about what level of health care is provided for by public funding. The answer is somewhere between "zero" and "infinite", and if the answer is less than "infinite" there have to be some metrics to determine a "price/life" guideline. Transplants are way out on the right hand end of that curve.

[paft.livejournal.com]

No, this story is about what happens when that public funding for health care is withdrawn.

[torpidai.livejournal.com]

Could always take your chances in the Natural order of things, Let nature take it's course, it's a damned site cheaper than healthcare systems :)

hell, forget lives, them bankers need your money much more than sick people do, I'll assume your "Victim" was just Joe blogs, unlikely to make those sorts of costs back? Hell if they wanna complain that loudly about it, tell em to pay for their own damned operations in future, then let em see that you get what you pay for!!!

[verytwistedmind.livejournal.com]

There is only so much money to go around. How are we as a people suppose to pay for everyone's needs? Can this be done? Does any country provide unlimited healthcare services?

[paft.livejournal.com]

vtm: There is only so much money to go around.

And saving someone's life just isn't worth it! Right?

vtm: How are we as a people suppose to pay for everyone's needs?

I suggest a system similar to what most other western industrialized countries have, like Canada. They manage to keep their infant mortality rates much lower than ours, and their life expectancy higher.

vtm: Does any country provide unlimited healthcare services?

No. Nor does any country provide unlimited police of fire protection. I don't know of other countries that provide rhinoplasties and boob enhancements free of charge.

But the idea of allowing a transplant patient who would benefit from the procedure to die because he can't afford it seems to be a rather uniquely American viewpoint among other western industrialized nations.

You do grasp, don't you, that a transplant is not "optional" surgery for many patients? That it's the only way they have a shot at surviving?

[debergerac.livejournal.com]

"Arizona faces a projected $1.4 billion shortfall in its next state budget. "

[paft.livejournal.com]

So naturally the state should allow sick people who could be saved to just die.

Right?

[roofless.livejournal.com]

Had you made the same comments last week re: the blizzard in NYC and the orchestrated union slowdown (http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/01/04/2011-01-04_nyc_blizzard_feds_open_criminal_probe_into_alleged_city_worker_conspiracy_during.html) and the subsequent death of an elderly man (http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/12/30/2010-12-30_elderly_brooklyn_man_dies_at_home_after_snow_delays_ambulance_arrival.html), possibly due to said union slow-down, then /maybe/ you'd have a leg to stand on. At the moment it seems you're cherry picking your battles to further your ideology. Not to mention there are so (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-use-project-labor-agreements-federal-construction-projects) many (http://bradsherman.house.gov/2010/10/congressman-sherman-urges-elimination-of-unfair-labor-laws.shtml) different ways (http://bradsherman.house.gov/2010/10/congressman-sherman-urges-elimination-of-unfair-labor-laws.shtml) to go with the union corruption (http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/83955-obamas-stern-appointment-draws-fire-from-business) angle. But back to Arizona...

Interestingly enough, the cost of illegal immigration in Arizona is almost exactly that of the states budget shortfall:

Analysis of the latest Census data indicates that Arizona’s illegal immigrant population is costing the state’s taxpayers about $1.3 billion per year for education, medical care and incarceration. Even if the estimated tax contributions of illegal immigrant workers are subtracted, net outlays still amount to about $1.3 billion per year. source (http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters5e3f)

Therefore one might argue that illegal aliens killed Mark Price... or maybe it was the federal government... or leukemia. Seems more so that Mark's death is being politicized for ideological gain. tisk tisk.

[paft.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes, I know Fox and other right wing outlets have been pushing that line, but there was no "orchestrated union slowdown," in NYC. The problem, as city officials acknowledge, was in delays in declaring an emergency and a shortage of staff over the holidays.

Oh please -- FAIR? You're citing FAIR on illegal immigration?

[debergerac.livejournal.com]

it's different when unions are involved...

[mijopo.livejournal.com]

"Had you made the same comments last week re: the blizzard in NYC and the orchestrated union slowdown and the subsequent death of an elderly man, possibly due to said union slow-down, then /maybe/ you'd have a leg to stand on. "


Ummmm, yeah, great point. Incidentally, I failed to denounce the guy who robbed a liquor store in my town last week, so I guess I'm shit outta luck if I want to call the police and report a break in in my house? I suppose I'm not allowed to object to any moral shortcoming unless I've objected to all of them, or at least the ones you deem important? Seriously, though, WTF????

[headhouse.livejournal.com]

At the moment it seems you're cherry picking your battles to further your ideology.

That's actually one of the ideas they're kicking around as a title for her biography.

Paft is a murderer!

[reality-hammer.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

[404.livejournal.com]

The better question to ask yo, pafty, is how much are you willing to pay out of your own pocket for these type of cases? How much is a person's life in the similar position as this guy's to you?

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

'The better question to ask yo, pafty, is how much are you willing to pay out of your own pocket for these type of cases? '

$0.00

'How much is a person's life in the similar position as this guy's to you? '

Can his name fit on a bumper sticker?

[op-tech-glitch.livejournal.com]

It's the Glorious Libertarian Paradise in a nutshell...if you can't pay, GTFO and die.

[harry-beast.livejournal.com]

Either that or elect a government that will cut spending and raise taxes, to provide room in the budget for this level of medical coverage. The current situation and the consequences thereof are a reflection of the will of the electorate.

[jerseycajun.livejournal.com]

Regardless of who is paying for it, these kinds of stories will occur from time to time. Because there are limits for how much anyone or any body or organization (including government, it can't spend beyond its means indefinitely without consequence as we are in the midst of finding out at the moment) can spend.

A limit on spending comes naturally to most things, and there's no evil cartel or corporation that dictates that this is so, but a simple matter of, well matter and resources. What you at a glance seem to be arguing for is the perpetual motion device, something which is for all practical purposes is beyond the human ability to build, yet you seem to desire society to act as if such a device had existed for eons and only selfish boors are standing between it and utopia.

Given the restrictions placed on everyone by reality, prioritizing and choosing who gets what and when, and making decisions based on weighing the cost and likely benefits like this are going to happen. The only thing left to debate is who has the most right to claim those decisions.

Saying that Arizona has 'plenty' of money for this is hand-waiving and disingenuous. Lots of states are either going bankrupt or are on the verge of it. Arizona is among them, and they don't even have the privilege of 'quantitative easing' the way the fed does (as mentioned, a tactic which comes with its own high cost for society if leaned on decade after decade the way we've been going at the national level).

[pmax3.livejournal.com]

Well said.