Tough Love For The Frail And Sick

[babylonsister]

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/tough-love-for-sick-and-frail.html

Tough Love For The Frail And Sick

by digby


If the world was sane, this would be the end of the Rand Paul campaign:

A new video today catches Rand Paul repeatedly supporting a $2,000 Medicare deductible on Kentucky seniors – despite his claims just last week that such a statement was a “lie.”

Video at link~

Because it's important the elderly people with dozens of health problems be more responsible with their health care dollars. We certainly can't expect people like Dr Paul to take that role. After all, they "deserve to make a comfortable living" and can't be expected to ensure that these frail old people aren't overusing the system. These "greedy geezers" need to take more responsibility for themselves and maybe a little of that Paulite "tough love" will snap them into reality.

By the way, the average social security check is $1,000 a month.

[PA Democrat]

1. Those old people need to take responsibility and not get old in the first place!

And better yet, they need to plan to die without incurring any medical expenses because the majority of medical expenses are incurred in the final years of one's life. Those people in the movie Soylent Green had the right idea, right Rand?

What a selfish piece of shit Rand Paul is.

[ejpoeta]

2. that's the thing that gets me.

if you are lucky enough to stay at the same employer for your entire working career, and let's assume that you stay with the same insurance the whole time ( i know this is not a reality, but for argument's sake) you pay into this insurance while you are generally healthy and visit the doctor once a year and maybe go in for something concerning you once five times. now, you are paying into a pool and thus far you haven't really needed to use any of it. now you retire at 65 and are eligible for medicare. Now all that money you have just paid into your insurance while you were relatively healthy is gone.... it is no longer available to you. you are now on medicare. and since you are getting older, the chances that you will need to use it increase with each year. but all that money you paid into the for profit system is in another pool. while you have been paying into the medicare system, you were paying a lot more into the for profit system. where does that other money go?

the only people in medicare are people who are more likely to be using it. this is what is frustrating to me. i have tried to explain this to my republican family members. you are paying into this insurance and when you need it because you get sick it will be gone because when you get sick are you going to be able to work? there are so many ways that this system doesn't work. and once you get kicked out of this pool that you have been paying into then what? you end up on the state insurance or medicaid or medicare if you are old enough. this is just insane!! and i wish that these jerks had to live with what they propose. ok mr paul. let's see you use this insurance you propose before you are allowed to try to push it on seniors. you are only allowed to access $1000 a month from your income and it has to pay all your bills and your deductibles etc. you live with it first.

[old mark]

3. Yet another reason to vote Democratic. Fucking Republicans are greedy, evil pigs.

My wife has been on Social Security Disability since her mid 40's...she has end stage liver disease and degenerative spine and neck diseases. Her first liver doctor gave her 5 years to live-that was ten years ago this month.

Her medication each month costs several thousand dollars, paid for by state funded health insurance that backs up her Medicare. At one time she was taking injections that cost $1500 a month for that single medication - she took them for a year and a half.

She did nothing to cause these chronic illnesses, and she will spend whatever remains of her life dependant on government sponsored health insurance, as will I.

Fuck you, Rand Paul. If there were a hell, you would be on the waiting list.

mark