Subject: Fw: Seniors on Medicare Extremely
Don W researches as one would expect a senior scientist to do. I therefore expect the information included is "straight skinny". If nothing else, just scroll to the end and read the highlighted sentences. No, We Haven't Lost It, not yet.
JRH
I searched the current 11/2013 Obama Care Act (or the Affordable Care Act (ACA)). I could not confirm or deny the assertions in this, however I tend to believe them. If they check you into a hospital for observation you are going to pay for the whole bill unless you are not covered like a non citizen. The reason I could confirm or deny the assertions is there are gaggles of Boards (most with nonrenewable final decisions, i.e. they can’t be appealed), the legislation gives new powers to several other agencies each with authority to make rule for implementation. Congress has the right to get a non-binding report, they do not have the authority to alter the rules made by some of the Boards established under the ACA, essentially rendering unnecessary the US Congress, relegating them to the role of a potted plant, and transferring their authority to the Administration. How the Supreme Court found this to be constitutional is astonishing to me.
Here is a clip relating to one provision of the ACA that is being answered by a Democratic Senator who voted for it. As a fine example of “Lying Congressional Style" he claims that he read the bill, (but that depends on what the term “read” means to him, which I doubt has anything to do with the word “Comprehend"). Reading it wouldn’t give you the ability to understand the effect or consequences of the legislation, because of all of the references to other law, the 50 plus Boards that have the authority to make non-reviewable Rules and Rules that are yet to be implemented.
CALLER: I want to know if Cardin read the bill, and if he could explain about the advisory board which is going to be established in 2014. The board can effectively edict certain mandates to the law and changes to the law without congressional action or approval and they cannot be challenged judicially by the constituents or the citizens of this country. In other words, they are going to be able to pass a law without authority, making congress irrelevant, which seems to be a blatant violation of our constitution. How could anybody with a clear conscience vote for that?BEN CARDIN: I did read the bill and I share some of your concerns about that provision in the bill. The Affordable Care Act contains many provisions. I strongly supported the bill itself. But in terms of that particular provision, I agree, there are certain concerns that I have. The purpose of the board is to make sure that health care costs are maintained at a reasonable level and that there is an objective review of the payments made under the healthcare system. That was the main purpose of this board in its report. It comes into effect under certain circumstances. It has not been implemented yet, but it is a provision in the law that needs to be revisited to make sure the concerns you expressed do not occur.
Clearly we have to vote the usurpers out and vote in a Congress that represents the people, or at least try.
This was forwarded to me. Very serious info for Senior Citizens!
Having just gone through a similar experience as this I am compelled to Pass This On! I was recently released from E.R. much worse than when I went in 5 hours before because I would NOT be admitted for ‘observation’. It did not matter to the hospital that I was in serious condition and could hardly walk, they just turned me out with no help to get to my pick-up by myself. It was 3 days later before I got the medication that I needed from my regular doctor. During those 3 days I was almost totally incapacitated! I was told that I was treated this way by the hospital because I am over 75, and "the affordable care act" doesn’t cover this type of situation for ‘Older Folks’! Please Read the Letter Below – It is important for those in their 70’s and above, and for those of you that are approaching the 70’s to know what is going on!
This is from a friend of mine whose friend received this experience in the hospital. Obama, the Democrats and Chief Justice John Roberts are to blame. If I were the patient, I would send this entire email to John Roberts, a traitor to all Americans. Read this and weep. -PLEASE READ THIS. MARY & I HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED 3 LETTERS FROM MEDICARE REFUSING PAYMENTS FOR TESTS AND HOSPITAL STAYS TO OBSERVE THE PATIENT.I RECEIVED THIS FROM A LONG TIME AND DEAR FRIEND WHO KEEPS ME UP-DATED ON MANY ITEMS OF HEALTH AND POLITICS. IT IS WORTH KEEPING IN MIND SHOULD A HEALTH CARE EVENT HAPPEN TO YOU OR A LOVED ONE OR CLOSE FRIEND.WORTH READING AND CONSIDERING.------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------ Dear Family, Friends, Neighbors and former Classmates,
Some of you might ask, "why is he writing this?", others will be very aware of my reason. I just found myself in the middle of a medical situation that made it very clear that "the affordable care act" is neither affordable, nor do they care. I'll go back about seven years ago to a fairly radical prostate surgery that I underwent. The Urologist (a personal friend) who performed the surgery was very concerned that it was cancer, though I wasn't told this until the lab report revealed it was benign. Since that procedure, I have experienced numerous urinary tract infections, UTI's. Since I had never had a "UTI" prior to the prostate surgery, I assume that it is one of the side effects from surgery, an assumption since confirmed by my Family Doctor.The weekend of March 8-9, I was experiencing all the symptoms of another bout of UTI. By Monday afternoon the infection had hit with full force. Knowing that all I needed was an antibiotic, I went to an Urgent Care Center in Mesa, AZ., to provide a specimen, a requirement for getting the prescription. After waiting 45 min. to see the Doctor, I started getting very nauseous and light headed. I went to the Receptionist to ask where the bathroom was as I felt that I was going to throw up. I was told that I would have to wait for the Doctor because I would need to leave a specimen and they didn't want me in the bathroom without first seeing him. That was when the lights went out, my next awareness was that of finding myself on the floor (in the waiting room) having violent dry heaves, and very confused. At this point, I tried to stand up but couldn't make it, and they made it very clear they weren't going to let me get up until the ambulance got there. By the way, when you're waiting to see the Doctor and you pass out, you get very prompt attention.
Now, "the rest of the story", and the reason for sending this to so many of you. I was taken to the nearest hospital, to emergency. Once there, I was transported to an emergency examination room. Once I had removed my clothes and donned one of those lovely hospital gowns, I finally got to see a Doctor. I asked "what is going on" I'm just having a UTI, just get me the proper medication and let me go home. He told me that my symptoms presented the possibility of sepsis, a potentially deadly migration of toxins, and that they needed to run several tests to determine how far the infection had migrated. For the next 3 hours I was subjected to several tests, blood draws, EKG's, and demands for specimens. At about 7:30 the nurse came back to my room to inform me that one of the tests takes 1- 2 days to complete, I asked if they could be e-mailed, at which point she informed me that I wouldn't need them e-mailed because I wasn't going anywhere. I started arguing with her but was told, "if you don't start behaving, I'll start taking your temperature rectally, at which point I became a perfect gentleman. I did tell her I wanted to see the doctor because I had no intention of staying overnight. Now, this is what I want each of you to understand, please read these next sentences carefully. The doctor finally came in to inform me that he was going to admit me. I said, "are you admitting me for treatment or for observation?" He told me that I would be admitted for observation. I said Doctor, correct me if I'm wrong, but if you admit me “for observation” my Medicare will not pay anything, this due to the affordable care act, he said that's right, it won't. I then grabbed for my bag of clothing and said, then I'm going home. He said you're really too sick to be going home, but I understand your position, this health program is going to hit seniors especially hard. The doctor then left the room and I started getting dressed, I was just getting ready to put my shoes on when another doctor (the closer) came into the room, he saw me dressed and said, "where do you think you are going?" I simply said "I'm going home, to which he replied, quite vociferously, no you aren't. I said, Doc., you and I both know that under the "affordable care act" anyone on Medicare who is admitted to a hospital for observation will be responsible for the bill, Medicare won't pay a cent, at which point he nodded in affirmation. I said, "you will either admit me for a specific treatment or you won't admit me. Realizing he wasn't going to win this one, he said he would prepare my release papers. A few minutes later the discharge nurse came to my room to have me sign the necessary papers, relieving them from any responsibility. I told her I wasn't trying to be obstinate, but I wasn't going to be burdened with the full responsibility for my hospital stay. After making sure the door was closed, she said, "I don't blame you at all, I would do the same thing. She went on to say, you wouldn't believe the people who elect to leave for the same reasons, people who are deathly sick, people who have to be wheeled out on a gurney. She further said, the "Affordable Care Act" is going to be a disaster for seniors. Yet, if you are in this country illegally, and have no coverage, you will be covered in full. This is not internet hype folks, this is real, I just experienced it personally.Moving right along, this gets worse. Today I went to a (required) follow up appointment with my Arizona Family Practitioner. Since my white count was pretty high, the follow up was important. During the visit I shared the experience at emergency, and that I had refused to be admitted. His response was "I don't blame you at all, I would have done the same thing". He went on to say that the colonoscopy and other procedures are probably going to be dropped from coverage for those over 70. I told him that I had heard that the affordable care act would no longer pay for cancer treatment for those 76 and older, is that true? His understanding is that it is true. The more I hear, and experience the affordable care act, the more I'm beginning to see that we seniors are nothing more than an inconvenience, and the sooner they can get rid of us the better off they'll be.So where does we go from here? The way I see it, we have two options. First, go to the polls and vote out every congressman/woman who supported this debacle, republicans and democrats alike. The vast majority of whom didn't even know what was in it when they voted for it. Remember, when Nancy Pelosi was asked, "what is in the affordable care act"? She replied, "we have to pass it to see what's in it". Now doesn't that make us all feel warm and fuzzy. As seniors, I think our only other option is to find a pastor who operates like the government does, follow him to a mountain retreat, and drink the Kool-Aid. Where is the Reverend Jim Jones when the government needs him?November is coming folks, we can have an impact on this debacle by letting everyone in congress know that their responsibility is to the constituents, not the president and not the lobbyists. We need to let them ALL know that they are in office to serve and to look after the BEST INTERESTS of "we the people", their employers, and not to become self-serving bureaucrats who serve only out of greed. And if they don't seem to understand this simple logic, we'll fire them.On the mend,REMEMBER; BE ADMITTED FOR TREATMENT not FOR OBSERVATION
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3 comments:
Read this screed if you like, that is, if your retinas can handle the gaudy highlighting and the ourageous fonts, but the quote from the "author" sets the tone for anybody intellectually honest.
"I could not confirm or deny the assertions in this, however I tend to believe them."
In other words, complete BS.
In typical right wing ideologue fashion, they think drama will carry the day where critical thinking will not.
It's true that Medicare does distinguish between 'observation' and 'in-patient'. But Mr_C is correct in pointing out the disingenuous bullshit throughout this rant. This issue has nothing to do with ACA.
The eye-opener is that this law (the Recovery Audit Contractor program) was approved by Bush and by the GOP congress back in 2006. It's a terrible law with unintended consequences.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/danmunro/2014/04/27/medicare-patients-are-first-casualty-in-emerging-healthcare-revenue-battles/
What's really aggravating is that, as has been pointed out by gruaud, parts of this are true. Happens that it's because of legislation passed under GW Bush and NOT corrected by ACA. One can be angry with whomever one chooses, but face facts: while you roll around in your rightwing fictional fantasyland of feeling SO GOOD to endlessly blame "Democraps" for all the ills of the world, in fact, what have you accomplished??
Shorter A: nothing.
Jokes on you, wingtards.
1. "Yet, if you are in this country illegally, and have no coverage, you will be covered in full." False.
2. "He went on to say that the colonoscopy and other procedures are probably going to be dropped from coverage for those over 70." As far as colonscopies are concerned, most doctors cease prescribing them after their patients have their last one around 70 years of age. If your family medical history doesn't include a lot of cancer, it has been *standard* procedure for decades to cease colonoscopies after about 70 because the purging required can be more deleterious to elderly people than not having the procedure. If your family history is one where colon cancer, in particular, may be frequent, then older patients may still get a colonoscopy. Let's try for some reality here. Oh wait, my mistake, this is rightwing land where only fiction applies.
3. "I told him that I had heard that the affordable care act would no longer pay for cancer treatment for those 76 and older, is that true? His understanding is that it is true."
A: False. Yet another Sarah Palin b.s. "death panels for granny" crapola.
I could go on, but I'll stop now. There are issues with ACA; there are issues with Medicare coverage. That is very true. It would be great if older WHITE righwingers could *learn* the true facts about these issues and respond in a mature way to help find solutions.
And finally: where in this screed is there anything approaching a solution??
Shorter A: no solutions, just vetiching, whining & victimizing to the dreaded Kenyan Nazi Muzlin Usurper.
Divide and conquer, bitches.
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