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Ocasio-Cortez says ‘death panels’ exist in private health insurance market

IThinkImTurningJapanese

Senior Member
Messages
3,492
Location
Japan
Ocasio-Cortez says ‘death panels’ exist in private health insurance market
Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Sunday referred to "death panels," which was popularized almost a decade ago by Sarah Palin, saying they exist in the private health insurance market.

"Actually, we have for-profit 'death panels' now: they are companies + boards saying you’re on your own bc they won’t cover a critical procedure or medicine," she wrote in a back-and-forth with the president of a conservative think tank on Twitter.

"Maybe if the GOP stopped hiding behind this 'socialist' rock they love to throw, they’d actually engage on-issue for once."
 

hixxy

Senior Member
Messages
1,229
Location
Australia
Yeah, because no private health insurance ever refused to cover treatment. Both socialised healthcare and privatised healthcare alike have something resembling "death panels" (name obviously chosen to strike fear into the reader) that perform an evidence based cost-benefit analysis of any treatment before approving its use or coverage.

To be honest if a life saving treatment isn't approved because a pharmaceutical coming is doing some serious price gouging then the pharmaceutical company is to blame, not the provider and their "death panel".
 

IThinkImTurningJapanese

Senior Member
Messages
3,492
Location
Japan
She's an idiot, what more is there to say.

Perhaps you could say how you consider her to be an idiot.

She is publicizing the fact that her health insurance as a congresswoman is far cheaper than what she paid as a waitress. She doesn't think that is reasonable. She doesn't sound like an idiot to me.

Ocasio-Cortez: 'Frustrating' that lawmakers oppose 'Medicare for all' while enjoying cheap government insurance
Incoming Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) tweeted Saturday that she was frustrated to learn that her health-care costs would be chopped by more than half upon entering Congress, accusing her fellow lawmakers of enjoying cheap government health insurance while opposing similar coverage for all Americans.

In a tweet, the New York freshman lawmaker-elect wrote that her health care as a waitress was "more than TWICE" as high as what she would pay upon taking office as a congresswoman next month.

"In my on-boarding to Congress, I get to pick my insurance plan. As a waitress, I had to pay more than TWICE what I’d pay as a member of Congress," Ocasio-Cortez wrote Saturday afternoon.

"It’s frustrating that Congressmembers would deny other people affordability that they themselves enjoy. Time for #MedicareForAll," she added.
 

Judee

Psalm 46:1-3
Messages
4,461
Location
Great Lakes
So the question by a reporter was asked, " “My mother is now over 105. But at 100, the doctors said to her, ‘I can’t do anything more unless you have a pacemaker.’ I said, ‘Go for it.’ She said, ‘Go for it.’ But the specialist said, ‘No, she’s too old.’ But when the other specialist saw her and saw her joy of life, he said, ‘I’m going for it.’ That was over five years ago. … Outside the medical criteria for prolonging life for somebody who is elderly, is there any consideration that can be given for a certain spirit, a certain joy of living, a quality of life, or is it just a medical cutoff at a certain age?”

The answer that was given by a prominent member of government right before the passage of ACA: "I don’t think that we can make judgments based on people’s spirit. That would be a pretty subjective decision to be making. I think we have to have rules that say that we are going to provide good, quality care for all people. End-of-life care is one of the most difficult sets of decisions that we’re going to have to make. But understand that those decisions are already being made in one way or another. If they’re not being made under Medicare and Medicaid, they’re being made by private insurers. At least we can let doctors know and your mom know that, you know what, maybe this isn’t going to help. Maybe you’re better off not having the surgery but taking the painkiller."

I'll leave it to inquiring minds to find out the source of these two comments but will say there is rationing of healthcare no matter someone's will to live and to live an active life (in our case). Part of what we are dealing with with GET and CBT, I believe, has some of it's roots in rationing of healthcare, among other things.
 
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Belbyr

Senior Member
Messages
602
Location
Memphis
Healthcare (a commodity) is not cheap and adding more government will not make it cheaper, exactly the opposite. We actually need the government to get out of the way. Dr Klimas rails on government for halting her trials she wants to do. The FDA makes it incredibly expensive and time consuming for everyone.
 

*GG*

senior member
Messages
6,389
Location
Concord, NH
So the question by a reporter was asked, " “My mother is now over 105. But at 100, the doctors said to her, ‘I can’t do anything more unless you have a pacemaker.’ I said, ‘Go for it.’ She said, ‘Go for it.’ But the specialist said, ‘No, she’s too old.’ But when the other specialist saw her and saw her joy of life, he said, ‘I’m going for it.’ That was over five years ago. … Outside the medical criteria for prolonging life for somebody who is elderly, is there any consideration that can be given for a certain spirit, a certain joy of living, a quality of life, or is it just a medical cutoff at a certain age?”

The answer that was given by a prominent member of government right before the passage of ACA: "I don’t think that we can make judgments based on people’s spirit. That would be a pretty subjective decision to be making. I think we have to have rules that say that we are going to provide good, quality care for all people.

End-of-life care is one of the most difficult sets of decisions that we’re going to have to make. But understand that those decisions are already being made in one way or another. If they’re not being made under Medicare and Medicaid, they’re being made by private insurers.
At least we can let doctors know and your mom know that, you know what, maybe this isn’t going to help. Maybe you’re better off not having the surgery but taking the painkiller."

I'll leave it to inquiring minds to find out the source of these two comments but will say there is rationing of healthcare no matter someone's will to live and to live an active life (in our case). Part of what we are dealing with with GET and CBT, I believe, has some of it's roots in rationing of healthcare, among other things.

The difference is good "luck" holding Gov't ACCOUNTABLE much easier to hold insurance companies accountable, they can be sued. If people who have been suffering from Gov't neglect for our illness for over a generation, cannot or will not see that, I am not going to try!

Responding to previous poster as well :)

GG
 
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Judee

Psalm 46:1-3
Messages
4,461
Location
Great Lakes
We had a PR member say recently that she found out she was going to have to pay a penalty if she went to a doctor outside of her government health plan. If someone is willing to pay out of pocket for health care there shouldn't be a penalty just for wanting to go to another doctor. All she was trying to do was get better care.

When government owns the health care system they decide what you can and cannot do like in the conversation I quoted, the government official said, "we can let doctors know..."

They decide. Not your doctor and not you, the patient. That's the thing that scares me most about government run health care.

I see a lot of stories on this site of people being sanctioned (put into an institution) or on other sites about parents not being able to seek out more specialized care for their sick child even when they are able to do so financially. It seems like once the government in a country owns the healthcare, they own the people insured by that healthcare and that really scares me.

Edit: And I think your right, @GG, once they hold control there is no way of getting it back or making them accountable. :(
 
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rel8ted

Senior Member
Messages
451
Location
Usa
Perhaps you could say how you consider her to be an idiot.

We can start with Medicare for all, but has no idea how to pay for that. I'm leaving it at that. We all want things we cannot afford. This is no exception, and this is bound to go political. Putting on battle gear and leaving.

BTW, it has been public knowledge for years that Congress has great and inexpensive healthcare. I'm sure many people in positions of power are afforded this privilege. Life is never going to give us equal circumstances, I'm just trying to make the best out of what I have. My insurance likely wouldn't cover CCI surgery, but I am thrilled for those here who have been able to have it.
 
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