Guest Post By KenoshaMarge: About That Medicare *Open Thread*

I admit, I kind of put our dear KenoshaMarge on the spot. When I read the following, most of which was a comment she had at my “Family Matters” post, I knew I had to put it up as a post on its own. And I will tell you why.

As you know, I was up spending time with my beloved Great Aunt June returning on Wednesday (my flight had been canceled Tues. night). By the time I got up there, she had been moved to Rehab from the hospital. But it was the why and the how that Aunt June was moved there that had me riled up to go along with KenoshaMarge’s great rant below.

Now, understand that Aunt June had a massive, massive stroke Monday a week and a half ago. She could not swallow, or use her right hand any more, or walk, or even talk much at all, and when she did, it was near impossible to understand except when she said, “I love you.” And she had double pneumonia to boot. But three days after she had her stroke, the Patient Representative told her caregiver that she would have to take her home. I’m sorry, WHAT? Yes, she had to leave the hospital because as far as the hospital was concerned, they had mitigated the effects of the stroke.

Welcome to the United States under Obamacare.

Now here is the thing. When I worked as a hospital chaplain for in Charlotte, we had Medical Social Workers who were the ones responsible for setting up placements for patients under their care to ensure continuity of care. That this was thrown onto her CAREGIVER to figure out at the last minute was ridiculous. Her choice was to get a hospital bed into the house, and figure it out from there, or get Aunt June into Rehab. Bear in mind, this was a patient who had to have EVERYTHING done for her around the clock. EVERYTHING. But hey, the hospital had taken care of the stroke stuff, so SEE YA! Thank heavens there was a bed, and that Aunt June was able to enter in a timely fashion to live out the rest of her days. But that this was handled in such a manner, with such callous disregard, had me fuming.

That leads me to the following from KenoshaMarge. I added in the quote from PJ Media, a link and article provided by KenoshaMarge that WordPress left out of her comment for some inexplicable reason. Other than that, and just some formatting, this is all KenoshaMarge, and I thank her for allowing me to post this below. Without further ado, here it is:

There are many on the left who like to portray seniors as greedy for having the audacity to want Medicare. This greedy old gal is more grateful to Medicare than I can ever express. Having them as my only “insurance” for a triple bypass I was really surprised at how great they were. They paid fast and they paid well and I am slowly paying off the balances without having creditors clammering for payment or having to file bankruptcy.

The idea that some bureaucrats, especially ones chosen by Obama, would be in charge of my care is scary. I’m not yet ready to shuffle off this mortal coil and if wanting to live, and live a life with some quality as well as quantity is greedy, then I guess I’m greedy.

I know we aren’t dying off fast enough to suit the free spenders in Washington but that’s just too damn bad. They don’t, with the exception of a few smart folks like Joni Ernst, have any problem with taking “care” of our millionaire ex-presidents. Or their own health care which is subsidized by the taxpayers. From PJMedia:

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said taxpayers should not be paying $2.4 million to cover former U.S. presidents’ benefits and expenses.

“They include communications, office space, staff and travel expenses and in fiscal year 2015, former U.S. presidents, they cost our taxpayers more than $2.4 million. There are just a few of them, we just have a few surviving members and $2.4 million is a significant amount of money, maybe not in the grand scheme of things but it is somewhere that we need to start – so why not start here?” Ernst said at the Conservative Women’s Network luncheon.

“This seems to be an easy one. If we start tackling these small, easy problems we will be able to get our budget under control but it has to be done a sliver at a time. This is a small sliver, but it’s a start,” she added.

Ernst said former U.S. presidents generate “significant amounts” of money after leaving office by giving speeches and doing other work. The living former presidents are Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The legislation, which Ernst said has broad bipartisan support, would cap yearly spending allowances for former presidents at $200,000.

If passed and signed into law, the bill would also decrease the amount of perks available dollar-for-dollar for each former president’s annual income above $400,000.v[…] (Click here to read the rest.)

And this is a good time for this bill to come up. Elections are just around the corner and one of the many complaints about us old farts is that we vote in such large numbers. And anytime, anyone mentions messing with Social Security or Medicare we take notice.

Not to mention that those feckless spenders, left and right, emptied the coffers that would have helped pay for Social Security. Another thing our useless media doesn’t tell those who are too uninformed to know.

Damn, I got me all wound up again.

From Access to Medicare Act Would Protect Seniors from Obamacare’s 15 Unelected Bureaucrats:

Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board is a panel of 15 unelected health care experts chosen by the president who have the authority to cut Medicare spending without congressional approval. This rationing of health coverage, concerned legislators argue, puts seniors at risk as it places bureaucrats in the middle of their cherished doctor-patient relationships.

Rep. Diane Black (R-TN), a nurse, is an original co-sponsor of H.R. 1190, the Protecting Seniors’ Access to Medicare Act of 2015, which would repeal IPAB. On Tuesday she explained why this legislation is a necessary effort to protect seniors.

Rev. Amy here again. Yes, those “Death Panels” about which Gov. Palin tried to warn us are, unfortunately, alive and well, a fact even Daily Kos had to admit on Wednesday. And hell to the yes, that needs to change.

Thanks again, KenoahsMarge. This is an Open Thread.

Tags: Gov. Palin, Medicare, Sen. Joni Ernst