Previous: 
: 
10 Things Your Primary Care Doctor Does That Should Make You Run for the Hills
Sign In >>
Dr Orrange received her BA in Biology at the University of California San Diego and a Masters Degree in Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health She received her MD from the USC Keck School of…
FAST FACTS
Many of us have seen that the "discussion" surrounding healthcare reform is heated to say the least. As a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at USC we in primary care are waiting to see how this plays out. I believe reform has to happen and that everyone deserves access to affordable healthcare, I also realize this will mean changes for us as Physicians that aren't all good. Physicians and Patients are frustrated at shorter office visits and we have to figure out how to attract medical students to Primary Care or we aren't going to have anyone to take care of us when we are older.
The most disgusting part of the healthcare reform discussion, however, is now fully underway. I heard Newt Gingrich defending Sarah Palin's remarks about Death panels choosing euthanasia. Newt Gingrinch "reminds us" that a Government run healthcare plan would mean that euthanasia is a likely outcome of Bureaucrats being able to decide who gets healthcare and who doesn't. This, more than any crazy comment I have heard in the last year, infuriates me. It is such a disgusting idea it's hard for me to legitimize it by responding to it but I realize this idea of "death panels" is catching on with some folks. I'd like to remind folks starting to worry about Death Panels and euthanasia that Medicare is a government run entity and we certainly don't engage in Death Panels with our Medicare patients, and in fact Medicare will cover you and all of your inpatient hospital care no worries. My ICU last week was full of Medicare patients receiving the highest level of care as we should all expect. I trained at a VA Hospital in La Jolla, also Government run, and we certainly didn't engage in Death Panels or Euthanasia. In fact, I spend quite a bit of time at LA County Medical Center where folks have no coverage at all and receive excellent intensive care. Not only is this a baseless argument but to imply that Physicians would go along with Death Panels and time limits in ICUs, for example, is insulting. This discussion of Death Panels and euthanasia is uneducated, annoying, disgusting and none of us should stand for the dumbing down of this discussion. It's too important.
Dr O.
CATEGORIES:
News
CONDITIONS AND COMMUNITIES:
Alcoholism
•
Alzheimer's Disease
•
Anger Management
•
Arteriosclerosis
•
Arthritis
•
Back Pain
•
Bipolar Disorder
•
Breast Cancer
•
Chronic Pain
•
Congenital Heart Disease
•
COPD & Emphysema
•
Coronary Heart Disease
•
Degenerative Disc Disease
•
Degenerative Joint Disease
•
Dementia
•
Hepatitis C
•
Heroin Addiction & Recovery
•
Medicaid
•
Medical Mysteries
•
Medicare
•
Obesity
•
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
•
Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
•
Organ Transplants
•
Smoking Addiction & Recovery
•
War in Iraq
Displaying comments 86-67 of 86
Got a Question?
Older individuals will not receive urgent care as rapidly as younger.
If you chose to have private insurance you wills till have to contribute to the government insurance.
Again - step out of the political arena.....
You misquoted Sarah Palin. She didn't refer to euthanasia but to bureaucrats denying health care based on a persons "worth": "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s ‘death panel’ so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their ‘level of productivity in society,’ whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil,”
Of course there will be no panel named "death panel". They will have non-offensive names. There will be panels and entities deciding who will get what care and they will have to consider the costs because our resources are completely depleted. All of these additional costs are going to incur debt so they WILL be rationed.
You seem convinced that rationing based upon worth or life expectancy won't happen here even though it happens in EVERY nation with government run health. Have you studied the other nation's programs, rationing, and results? Have you noticed that many of those countries are moving back towards privatised medicine? You really should.
The death panel debate is like the illegal immigrant debate. No, the bill doesn't SAY the illegals will be covered, in fact, it says they won't, but there is NO REQUIREMENT for proof of identification or citizenship so it's a "pretend" rule. Saying there are no death panels in the bill is like saying there will be no cost limits or decisions made by anyone but you.
First of all I don't use SS or medicare. As for "my employer" not getting to use my SS benefits....SO WHAT? First of all, I am self employeed. Second of all I pay a LOT of taxes I don't "benefit" from. I have never received ANY public money of any kind, yet, I pay for these programs and I KNOW they are neccesary. I did NOT approve of ANY of the wars of the last 65 years, yet my taxes were used for them, and NONE of the wars since WWII did a damn thing to help me. I pay for LOTS of taxes and programs I don't use. BUT, that is how a SOCIETY WORKS. I pay for things I may not use, you pay for things YOU may not use, some people get some benefits, others get a lot of benefits, some get few.
I can see farther than the tip of MY OWN NOSE and care about other people, so I am willing to pay taxes for many things I never use, and never will. I guess this plan divides the "I care about other people" people from the "I only think about my own fat a**" people. SOME of us actually care about other people and are willing to PAY for benefits even if WE don't benefit from these rights ourselves. You may choose to ONLY care about programs that benefit yourself.
Have a selfish day.
A provision in President Obama's health care reform plan that requires businesses to offer health insurance to their workers or face a federal tax would cost employers at least $49 billion dollars a year, putting 5.2 million employees at risk of unemployment or underemployment, according to a new study....
http://tinyurl.com/mlnrwe
It is good that you chose to be a doctor, but please open your eyes and ears and stop following all the sheep that jump over the bank because of the leader decides to go that way, in this case, Obama.
Thanks Doc O.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Holly