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Along with my sister, I participated in that decision for both our parents. They were both in comas and the decision was hard, but not really close. And, of course, consultation with the doctors was an ongoing natural process over time.
No special, formal consultation was necessary and the idea of having one, charged for and reimbursed by public or private insurance, is distasteful to me. Some things just go with the territory. “I’ll talk to you about pulling grandma’s plug if you make an appointment with my receptionist. You do have insurance for that, don’t you?”
My wife and I have living wills, and she is my designated plug puller. She accepted that responsibility readily, which I found a bit disconcerting. It doesn’t help that she’s always cleaning out the closets and giving perfectly good clothes to Goodwill. I, on the other hand, never throw anything out.
I don’t know what might or might not be in any final medical “reform” bill, but I’ve seen and heard many references to waste, to the need for research to determine which procedures are effective and which are not, whether some are worth the cost, especially for older clunkers, and cutting the Medicare plan to pay for another government program. Regardless of current intentions, all this makes me very nervous. Especially, since many assurances are given when we don’t even have a final bill. It reminds me of the selling of the details of the stimulus package before there was a stimulus package. The sellers apparently forgot to tell the writers of the bill what promises they were making.
I know grandmas become a burden at some point; grandpas reach that point less often, unfortunately. I have two elderly aunts in assisted living quarters. When I visit-which is not often enough-there’s not usually a man in sight. Maybe that inequality is a cause government should take up. I fear, though, that leveling that playing field might be approached from the wrong end.
If government is going to make these types of decisions or put pressure on us to make them “in a cost effective manner,” at least they should kill the death tax to remove that conflict of interest.
2 Responses to “Pulling the Plug on Grandma”
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August 16th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Well Bob, your usual insight and common sense is showing … again. While the final bill is anything but defined (even the guidance and policy statements are vague), the public is again being asked to trust the good intentions of the Dems. But even the Reps couldn’t (or didn’t) live up to their intentions so what is it in the bill and policy and guidance the demands our confidence?
Surely we could find something that we need and believe. What in the bill assures that the supply of quality medical care and services will increase to drive costs down? What part of Obama’s plan for redistribution of health care are we to love? What part of the plan has proven its ability to “bend the cost curve” without breaking anything we like about the current “system?” What in the bill breaks down the barriers to cost reduction and improves the competition between insurance companies? What emergency measures will it construct to make the failures of the status quo magically vaporize?
Does it reduce the overhead of mal practice suits? Does it make doctors and nurses work longer hours for less pay? Does it motivate chronically overweight folks, chronic drug and alcohol abusers or drivers with demonstrated dangerous driving records to change their lifestyle decisions? Does it make hospitals and MRI machines cost less to build and operate? Please show me something that requires less than miraculous faith to believe!
We know that if you make the food lines long enough, you need less food because fewer survive to the front of the line … but that grim reality is hardly “change to believe in.”
I know at least one thing we can believe. If Obama doesn’t want his daughters “punished by a baby,” he is bound to want to assure they are not punished by unwanted medical bills from those that have “had a good life.” Trust him … he meant it.
EnjoyIt … What ever IT is.
September 1st, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Do you know that the health care bill in the House requires the IRS to furnish your income tax return info to the federal and state health commissioners? That is Section 431 of HR 3200. They might as well publish your tax return in the newspapers.