Forfeit 80% of your income

THIS is why the insurance companies, Big-R_x & Hospitals-for-profit Co ,Inc are fearful, and why they are pulling out all the stops.

and about the Death Panels...

Don't forget that Nursing Homes, "Convalescent" Centers, and rehab places that specialize in aged-care are BIG BUCKS enterprises, paid for in TWO main ways..

.....1......medicaid (after personal "wealth" has been sucked dry)

.....2......wealthy , guilt-ridden folks who had no time for Mom when she was healthy, and now pay through the nose to show their friends what a good son/daughter they are

the facilities that are primarily medicaid-supported are notorious for fraudulent billing, and for horrible care..

Legislation that gives elderly patients more incentive to take control over their passing, could mean that millions of them will not choose to be artificially kept alive, only to be relegated to the bowels of some sub-standard nursing home, to spend years dying, mostly of neglect.

home care their time was very short, so the financial problems due to it were minimal. It can be so much worse if one ends up in there while the body still has a long has a way to go.

when she arrived at the hospital (she was 82). They "revived" her, but she never recovered her speech, was unable to read or to even walk. She spent SEVEN years "dying", miserable, frustrated and angry.

We were able to communicate with her, and she refused to come to california with us, and actually insisted on going to a "home" there so her friends could visit her.

My husband agonized over this, but did find her a very nice place, but it cost us dearly, and of course as her friends passed on, she was far away from her only child (my husband).
I am SURE that , given a choice, she would have preferred to NOT be resuscitated

Clearly end of life issue is important and more complex than the angry people shouting represent it as.

and "just not wake up". Gentle, peaceful passings are rare in the "real world". It's never a bad idea to plan ahead. And it all has an effect on the family when they have to see their loved one suffering unnecessarily, for a very long time.

AND nursing homes seem to attract the vilest of people from the ins. scams all the way down to the attendants who abuse those in their most vulnerable states.

as they "take" whatever assets it took a lifetime to accumulate.

(60 and 65 respectively). My grandmother survived them both to die at 93. She had been a nurse and was still quite active in volunteering her time in a local nursing home. When she was diagnosed with cancer she refused treatment other than hospice and pain meds, having seen the effects on patients and families when lives are artificially prolonged in spite of pain and suffering. She died about 4 weeks later. Gods willing, if faced with that situation (inoperable cancer) I want the ability to do the same thing.

The final year of each of my parents was heartbreaking. Too sick from chemo to enjoy the life the doctors were trying to prolong with 'experimental' treatments (both had cancers which have extremely low survival rates) they slowly faded from in front of our eyes. My mom hated their oncologist and blamed him for dad's death, but that's who her insurance insisted she go to...

We ALL will do it. The unfortunate part is that we are the only living organisms on earth who KNOW we will die. I guess, when push comes to shove, the will to live can be a strong urge, but when the quality of that living is only doctor after doctor and painful procedure after painful procedure, the law of diminishing returns has to kick in eventually.
I had a friend, who when diagnosed with cancer, started classes at the Chicago Art Institute, instead of chemo. Some people thought she was crazy, but she had always wanted to go, and decided that she would rather spend the remaining days of her life, painting & learning more about art, than being tormented, only to gain a few more miserable months.

I have several good friends who are involved with non-invasive alternative medicine and I will seek their help should it come to that. If it works, great, if it doesn't, well losing me ain't gonna be great shakes to anyone except for maybe the half-dozen people who love me and I'm sure they love me enough to not allow me to suffer. Death doesn't frighten me much, but I've spent a lot of time meditating and cultivating a spiritual outlook. it's just another facet of life and I'm pretty much at peace with it (except for pain, I really want to avoid that :) ).

Good for your friend to start classes instead of chemo (at the art institute, no less, love that place). There's a few studies out showing advantages for people who stay happy and continue doing what they love. Good luck to her! :hug:

We still love the painting she gave us.. a sailboat on Lake Michigan. When she was diagnosed, they told her that IF everything went perfectly and the surgery/chemo worked , the recurrence rate for her cancer was higher than some, and she would be likely to have to have more surgery. There was a very low percentage of people living even 2 years..with all that intervention. She lived about 16 months after the diagnosis, and she went to Copenhagen (her ancestral home), and studied art until about a month before she died..at home..with her family by her side.. just the way she wanted:cry:

Noted exceptions (I think; someone correct me if I'm wrong) being the ones run by religious orders.

In the for-profit institutions, the staff are incredibly poorly paid. My heart used to go out to my dad's aides who put up with his shit (literal and metaphorical) with a smile day in and day out while making $10/hour. I got to know some of them quite well. Many were single moms.

Another common practice in these places is to dope the patients up to the nines so they're less trouble (and more $ for the pharma). My dad was a zombie before he passed, and that was even with me fighting tooth and claw over every questionable pill they forced down his gullet.

There used to be "homes" for old people from their particular religious faith, but I haven;t seen one of these for ages..

It's much cheaper than what the 'health' 'Insurance' INDUSTRY charges.

Every OTHER "insurance" is specifically designed to cover things that will probably never happen. Life insurance is the ONE form that we know will pay off, but only if we keep paying ever-increasing premiums, and at some point, the kids are raised, maybe the spouse is gone too, so many older people eventually drop the big coverage life insurance, and scale it back to "enough for burial & final expenses"..or many older people run out of money to keep paying the premiums and it just lapses.

Using insurance as the vehicle to deliver services that we ALL know we WILL use, is an unsustainable model, UNLESS every single human is in the SAME payment pool.. Collecting premiums from the young and healthy would pay for the care of the old and sick, but like social security, it HAS to be mandated, and it also has to have strict governmental oversight, and as close to non-profit status as possible, or it ceases to "work".

when the scamming skimmers at the top take the first 30% as profit, and then deny coverage to the people who need it the most, it's a recipe for disaster.

How long would people be okay with the bank if, it broke a $100 bill for you every week, and gave you $70 for it?