Democrat presidential candidates are sparring over how much to expand Medicare. Should it be Medicare for all, for people over 50 and children, or for “all who want it”? Does “all” include veterans, Native Americans, and military dependents, who now have their own government program? Does it include everybody who happens to be in the country, legally or illegally? And do the benefits include just what today’s Medicare beneficiaries get, or everything the candidate can think of—dental, eyeglasses, hearing aids, mental health treatment, addiction treatment, “sex-change” surgery, etc.? Does it even include long-term care, which the Affordable Care Act had to discard because it was unaffordable?
Medicare for All means government-directed, corporate-managed care. The managed-care “insurance” cartel, giant hospital chains, and private-equity-owned medical practices will make sure that you get your flu shot (likely mandatory), your anti-tobacco lecture, your silver sneakers, your 15 profitable “preventative” drugs, cross-sex hormones, abortion on demand—and eventually your terminal sedation.
Beyond that, you’re on your own—if there are any private options left and if you still have any after-tax money.
Contributor & author: Marilyn M. Singleton, MD, JD, (Oakland-California) board-certified anesthesiologist and President of Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (see bio at bottom of release)
After creating the Medicare/Medicaid monster, the government’s expanded intervention into the medical care marketplace with the inaptly named Affordable Care Act doubled the premiums and deductibles for both employer-sponsored and individual insurance
Waste, fraud, and abuse are so rampant that the government has a Medicare Strike Force to root out and recover lost federal funds. Medicare fraud—about $60 billion in 2016 alone—is about 10 percent of Medicare’s total payments.
One amoral scheme recruits patients who unknowingly forgo curative treatment options by joining hospice.
In 2016 the government paid $160.8 million for drugs that hospice organizations should have paid for from its fixed daily fee. Our tax dollars paid for the drugs twice.
One typical victory is a Medicare patient whose neurologist prescribed a drug for his Parkinson’s disease symptoms. The government demanded testing that could not be done because of the patients debilitated condition. Despite a sympathetic ear and supporting research, the government arbiter could only parrot the party line: because the drug was not on the “list,” it was not covered by Medicare. In a fortunate twist of fate, with a Good Rx coupon the patient paid $34 per month cash instead of the drug’s $1,100 per month price with 20 percent patient co-pay that would have been charged through the Medicare Prescription Drug program.
The high cost of medical care is on the lips of every politician and draining the pocketbooks of most Americans. After creating the Medicare/Medicaid monster, the government’s expanded intervention into the medical care marketplace with the inaptly named Affordable Care Act doubled the premiums and deductibles for both employer-sponsored and individual insurance. Piling on more laws, regulations, and agencies is not the answer.
Anonymity, complexity, and opacity invite shady behavior. Individuals, companies, and patients who defraud the massive federal “health system” would never dream of lifting money from their patients’ wallets or stealing from their doctors’ cash drawer.
The government’s track record does not bode well for imposing more bureaucracy to remedy a problem created by the layers of third-party payer bureaucracy. Waste, fraud, and abuse are so rampant that the government has a Medicare Strike Force to root out and recover lost federal funds. Medicare fraud—about $60 billion in 2016 alone—is about 10 percent of Medicare’s total payments. By contrast the typical private business loses 5 percent of its revenues to fraud. Unfortunately, since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Strike Force has recouped less than $2 billion per year in misappropriated funds. More
I am 5th child of six siblings. I am single college graduate that works in local government in North Carolina as a senior systems administrator (Windows Server environment).
I am caregiver to my Aunt Edna Mosley of Rockingham County, NC. who is single with no children. My aunt has two sisters living: Willie Mae (mom) and my aunt Margie, who helps take care of Edna.
My aunt graduated Barber Scotia College in Concord NC. She was also helpful in restoration of African American schools and an active member of the housing authority, providing housing for low income families. She was active in many other social clubs.
Our story :
My aunt Edna retired after 34 yrs of service with local city government. A year later my aunt was diagnosed with dementia and 3yrs later went on dialysis (chronic kidney disease). My aunt was always been a caregiver to someone in our family. I believe she deserved the same care back.
A few months ago my aunts arm started bleeding around her fistula. She entered into the hospital and ended up at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital who informed us that her fistula could never be used again. The family requested dialysis be continued while in hospital. That never happened. And, we were told she would need to get a catheter to continue dialysis. We then moved her hoping to get better care. My aunt Edna was dialysed using the same fistula that Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem NC said could not ever be used again..
She was discharged from the hospital with no recommendation to go back to her ongoing local dialysis center but rather, to go home to die; so far it has been 8 days.
Which leaves us looking for ways to continue her life by seeking help to find new location or way to continue dialysis that does not involve hospice .
Surrounding areas close by Aunt Edna locate dialysis center ..
Reidsville Eden, Martinsville Va. Danville Va less than 30 minutes travel .
The admission sounded like something out of “Logan’s Run” or other dystopian sci-fi movie, not an explanation one would expect to hear from legal associates. Nancy Scott and others who joined her in a peaceful prayer vigil for her mother’s life on Tuesday, August 20, were stunned when representatives from the court-appointed guardian’s office explained that the reason that retired Alabama schoolteacher Marian Leonard was on hospice was because she was old.
According to Medicare.gov, hospice care is supposed to be for people who are certified by a hospice doctor and the patient’s regular doctor that they are terminally ill with a “life expectancy of 6 months or less.” Hospice care is palliative, or “comfort” care, rather than curative care, and it is supposed to be a choice that the patient makes, not a decision thrust upon them without their consent.
That is not what has happened with Marian Leonard. When the state seized guardianship of Mrs. Leonard in February 2018 at the request of St. Vincent’s Hospital and the Department of Human Resources (DHR), she was forced into a nursing home, Diversicare of Riverchase, and forced onto hospice care, against her will and that of her designated Power of Attorney, her daughter Nancy Scott. More
All that Nancy Scott has wanted was for her mother, retired Alabama schoolteacher Marian Leonard, to be able to live out her final years surrounded by the love and support of her family. Nancy never dreamed that such a simple wish could be thwarted by lawyers and judges and doctors. Now, it appears that time has run out for her to get her mother closer to her home in the Wiregrass area of southern Alabama.
A Hospice staff member called Nancy Scott Wednesday morning and told her that she needs to return to Birmingham as soon as possible, because the end is near.
A year and a half ago, retired Alabama schoolteacher Marian Leonard was taken from her family, placed under state guardianship, and forced onto Hospice, all against her will.
Marian Leonard assigned her daughter Power of Attorney, but all of her documents were set aside by probate judge Alan King. She is in solitary confinement, though she has committed no crime. See story: More
The new Medicare for All bill (H.R. 1384) has come and hopefully will go the way of the pet rock.
But as usual, bills contain hidden gems
The focus on palliative care and lowering costs by reducing “aggressive” end-of-life treatment is one more incremental under-the-radar step along the road to government control over life and death. A culture of hastening death has gradually evolved, disguised as “death with dignity.”
Subtly devaluing life primes the pump for rationing of medical care at all stages by a government-run program that is the exclusive purveyor of medical “benefits.”
This year, legislators were not so subtle. It is bad enough that our elderly are pushed into hospice, but now the compassionate legislators have set their sights on newborns. New York passed, and Virginia floated laws that permit the killing of babies after birth.
Starting in the 1970s, the federal government clearly saw a need to protect medical personnel from the tyranny of the government mandates that could violate religious or moral convictions.
We must not let the government bury our conscience and beliefs under layers of bureaucracy. Medicare for All may mean independent thought for none.
The new Medicare for All bill (H.R. 1384) has come and hopefully will go the way of the pet rock. Everybody now knows the basics: the government will take care of all medical, dental, vision, pharmacy, and long-term care services with no out-of-pocket expenses. The bill prohibits parallel private insurance, and has the glaring absence of a financing mechanism.
But as usual, bills contain hidden gems. Section 104 of the bill tracks the Affordable Care Act’s “anti-discrimination” rule, making it clear that no person can be denied benefits, specifically including abortion and treatment of gender identity issues “by any participating provider.” The bill does not correspondingly reaffirm the federal laws protecting conscience and First Amendment religious freedom rights of medical personnel. Such protections relate to participation in abortion, sterilization, assisted suicide, and other ethical dilemmas.
Most sane individuals agree that we do not want our government to control any aspect of our individual lives—particularly not our religious beliefs and moral codes. When the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sought to clarify such conscience protections, thousands of commenters offered evidence of discrimination and coercion to violate the tenets of the Oath of Hippocrates and their own ethics. Some left their jobs or left the medical profession entirely when their conscientious objections were not honored. More
We are already there! any time a bill is entitled “an ACT” it is a clear signal that what congress is about to do will violate individual rights by FORCE! the ACT will violate your protections under the Constitution and will be enforced by law enforcement and agency personnel who are more than willing to participate in violating your rights. These are Americans turning on other Americans for reasons I will never understand.
Dennis Andrew Ball’s hardship began with his father more than twelve years ago. Dennis was a caregiver for twelve years of his life; Dennis is going to share with us how is father and mother were murdered in the medical system. Since living through this nightmare, Dennis has dedicated his life to change for our system. He is an author of ten books with four more to release soon. He also believes that to change the system we should change it from within by running for elected positions. We will focus on giving Dennis a voice for what his mother and father had to endure in their last years under a Guardianship. Tune in on TS Radio at 8:00pm EST.
Whistleblowers! is presented in coordination with Marcel Reid and the Whistleblower’s Summit July 27-29 in Washington D.C.
Join us this evening as Carly Walden speaks about the quiet culling of America’s seniors and the disabled.
Carly was on her way to a career in medicine when her grandmother had become ill and was put into Hospice under a fraudulent diagnosis. This diagnosis was used to begin a program meant to create the medical conditions necessary to call for futility of care, and the hastening of the end of her grandmothers life. Carly, along with her father, rescued her grandmother from hospice, got her necessary medical treatment and brought her home. The fraudulent diagnosis would have resulted in a very early death which was said to be imminent. Three years later, with personal daily care from Carly and other family members, her grandmother is alive and well.
Her future in the medical field now just a distant memory, Carly devotes her time and energy to caring for her grandmother and serving as a board member on the Hospice Patients Alliance Board. The Alliance represents the stories of thousands of families and individuals who faced a premature death at the hands of unscrupulous medical providers and Hospice.
It is alarming to hear not only younger members of the country, but also some middle aged members, medical professionals and others, referring to Medicare as some kind of free, gravy train medical insurance that seniors don’t have to pay for. Are people really that ignorant of how this system works?
After paying into Social Security and Medicare for decades, those who receive medicare must also now pay a premium every month for this insurance. These premiums can range from a few hundred dollars a month, to several hundred. Married couples pay individual premiums which can amount to $700.00 per month or more, combined on average. These premiums are deducted from their Social Security checks; neither the government, nor taxpayers, pay this premium.
Then there is that handy-dandy “donut hole” where Medicare pays nothing. This was a huge gift to the insurance companies who whined about not getting a piece of the Medicare pie. From approximately the $2500.00 to $5000.00 costs of care, Medicare pays for nothing. Ta DA! We got your GAP insurance plan which will cost you another $200.00 per month at least. This will cover the costs incurred in the hole. Of course the insurance companies have no plans to make good on these GAP policies, so getting them to pay any percentage of anything is a monumental task.
Then there is the co-pay at your doctors office. Then the co-pay on medications. Then there are the costs of medications your insurance and Medicare don’t/won’t pay for. That comes right out of your pocket!
Now, to add insult to injury, an estimated 20 million illegal aliens will be given “free” healthcare and I have yet to hear the word “entitlement” attached to those benefits.
“The government says this is all in the name of “cost savings.” So that makes Obamacare’s new slogan appear to be: “Saving dollars, costing lives.” If you like your life, you may not get to keep it under Obamacare.“
Here are my Top 6 harmful changes in home health services and bidding rules for DME vendors:
Obamacare has made drastic changes in Medicare procedures for obtaining durable medical equipment (DxME) for home health services. Most patients will not be aware of the hidden new rules until they are hit with higher costs or denial of services or needed supplies.
1. Obamacare cut $66 Billion from the Medicare budget for home health services from 2013 – 2022, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
2. Obamacare cuts to home health services are the Democrats’ version of a War on Women: 60 percent of those needing home health services and equipment are elderly or disabled women. I say Democrats because there were zero Republican votes for Obamacare.
3. Obamacare cuts $17 billion from hospice care, another Medicare-covered service typically delivered in the lower-cost setting of homes instead of hospitals.
4. Medicare implemented new rules called “Competitive Bidding” (CB) for vendors of home health equipment and supplies. Like so many federal laws and rules, the CB process has an effect opposite to the one its name suggests. The new bid rules are non-competitive and damaging in many ways:More
