When I worked EMS, we would take patients to the hospital from their home, or a nursing home with various problems, and often they were admitted, and treated for the ailment(s). Some were very serious, and needed hospital care. They would be discharged after the care was complete, and return to the home. We would get a call, to pick them up again, and return to the hospital with them, as the problem had come back. They would be held in the E.R. for hours, and then usually returned to their home, or nursing home, with no further advanced treatment, because Medicare, or Medicaid would not allow it so soon after the first treatment. Many times, the Dr. could sneak them in for a 23 hour observation, but that was it. Now, if they could find some other reason to keep them, they could continue the needed treatment, as well as the "new one". These are both government funded care plans, and headed up by some of the same people YOUR health care will be regulated by. If the patients were taken to another hospital, and admitted, just to try to bypass the last care time, it would be denied by the agency, and the patient or family were then responsible for the care. This is the same thing people are talking about. I don't know if these qualify as Death Panels, but they do set the pace for it. Now, on the other side, there have been so many Doc's and facilities who have robbed the system, they have to be more critical of what goes on, and what is paid. But we ALL suffer. Now, back to my $5.00 Healthcare Plan...(I've made several posts around the web about this) We have around 10 million people in Texas who are employed right now. If each one paid $5.00 a week toward a State healthcare plan, the first week, we have $50,000,000.00. In 6 weeks, we are at about a quarter BILLION dollars.... Right now, the coverage in Congress will not be really available until 2014 for the most part. If we had a moratorium for 1 year on OUR money, we could start off pretty good right here in OUR State. If other States joined in, it would get better. Even if we put up $10.00 a week, it would still work with twice as much seed money, and would not be that much of a burden on each one of us. Even the small employers could afford to chip in $5.-10.00 a week for the employees. This would take care of the individual, as well as their family. Now, before you start fussing and cussing about those lazy slobs who don't work, at $5.00 a week, I DON'T CARE!!!!!!!! We can cover them a lot more cheaply than we are now, or with the New Guv'mint Plan... I spend $5.00 a day on coffee and a soda at lunch, so I'll drink a glass of ice water one day a week.. The reasons this cannot be done, is that no one wants to admit it will work first of all. Second, there will be too many trying to get their hands on OUR money. Third, no one listens. I have been saying, and posting this for almost 4 years now. I can't get a response from any elected official, and the big newspapers do not post it in the comments/editorials. Maybe I am crazy, but some of you finance wizards look at it, and see where it can go....
Hippie