How Much Free Health Care is Too Much?

[TheCorinthian]

Interesting story on NPR today.

 

Seems a 21 year old is "aging out" of her state/fed Medicaid paid intensive home care which she has had for 21 years.

 

With the aid of the US Justice Dept, her family is SUING the state and in fact a judge has stayed the termination of her care.

 

Family, indignantly says that have the 21 years of home care has "saved millions of dollars" for the state. (her home care alone has cost ~5 million dollars)

 

She cannot eat or communicate. Hard to tell is she has any cognition. A feeding tube has kept her alive all these years.

 

 

Story:

 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131145660

[Bangkoktraveler]

Republicans are getting a van to take her to Mexico or some alley in LA.

[LizardKing]

Remember a couple of year ago when LA hospitals were caught on tape dumping such folks in alleys in skid row...

[Bangkoktraveler]

Remember a couple of year ago when LA hospitals were caught on tape dumping such folks in alleys in skid row...

 

 

In Arizona, some of the hospitals [color:red]'self deport'[/color] some patents to Mexico.

[TheCorinthian]

So, if she lives to 80, the home care would be ~40 million dollars, medical care certainly the same, another 40 million.

 

If she needs specialized care such as chemo for breast cancer, those new treatments can be $150-200k/year, so add another million or two.

 

So, we are north of $80,000,000 not considering medical inflation.

 

The family and doctors should be the only ones with a say?

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

I might get some flak for this and I guess it is easy for me to say as I do not know her, but why the hell is a person who cannot communicate or eat kept alive for 20+ years? Never mind the cost, just keeping her alive seems utterly cruel.

 

Sanuk!

 

[Hugh_Hoy]

Indeed, a sad situation. But what is even more sad...and potentially chilling...is the involvement of the U.S. Justice Dept.

 

I feel sorry for the Welters. Their daughter, apparently through no fault of their own, is not much more than a vegetable or cadaever. A Tickle-Me-Elmo, as it were. But I refuse to accept that it is the responsibility of the State to provide expensive care on a long-term basis for whatever malady people might possess. It's just crazy.

 

So, the Welters must make more personal sacrifice to continue their daughter's survival. If she means that much to them, surely it isn't really a sacrifice, is it? I doubt very much that the husband would quit his job at the college and lose medical benefits. That would leave him and his wife with even more potential problems. Their refusal, on the other hand, to "compromise" with the administrators of the Illinois medical program does not engender a lot of sympathy from this quarter.

 

HH

[Flashermac]

When the PRC rules the world, such people will become organ donors.

 

 

[dave32]

My God Hugh and Corinthian, I surely hope you remain in the closet and don't let your fellow Republicans know how you feel, they will surely string your liberal asses up for supporting death panels.

 

Next thing you know, you guys will defend Terry Schiavo's hubbie like the rest of those pansy liberal scum.

 

 

 

[Old Hippie]

Lets see...the right is supposedly against abortion...but we should let this girl die? I agree it seems ridicules to keep her going with no hope of a cure, but this gets into a whole new legal debate that no side will really cave in on...too much of a volatile hot point...