In today’s medical society a senior citizen is more of hindrance than anything else, especially when they can no longer fend for themselves. Oh the medical society does provide care, but only so much and for so long before they toss in the towel and send the senior off to die.
Let me tell you about Roger, an 83 year old Korean War veteran that served in a MASH unit until the end of the war. Roger married, bought a house, raised a family and had a good civil service job. In his later years he was diagnosed with melanoma, or skin cancer.
He went to the doctor many times to have it removed, which the doctor did. But the doctor never recommended or suggested chemotherapy because of his general health. Eventually the cancer became metastatic and spread through Roger's body affecting every organ in his body.
As the disease progressed he became weaker and more susceptible to illnesses like the flu and pneumonia. He did contract pneumonia during Super Storm Sandy after the power went out for he and his wife stayed in their cold and damp home without power for two weeks. He refused to leave his house and go to a shelter to stay warm.
He had to go by ambulance twice to the hospital emergency room with breathing difficulties and had to be admitted each time. On his last visit to the hospital a doctor came into Roger's hospital room, listened to his lungs with a stethoscope and declared that there was no sign of pneumonia. Roger was diagnosed with it just a day earlier by several other doctors and as a serious case.
Then the social workers came into Roger's room within the hour and convinced Roger to sign a DNR and sent him home to die. They said hospice would come to his house and give palliative care which they never showed up. Roger died in his front room a few days later.
The hospital simply gave up on the man instead of treating him.
Joanne, an 85 year old house wife and widow contracted esophageal cancer which made it difficult for her to swallow food. Due to her age and general poor health surgery was not recommended. Radiation was out of the question for that would only cause swelling of the esophagus preventing her from eating complicating things even further. So chemo at half strength was given to try and shrink the tumor, which it did.
Like with a lot of elderly, Joanne didn't drink that much in the way of fluids and became dehydrated. She thought she was drinking enough but in reality wasn't. She had to be brought to the ER several times for dehydration. The hospital would admit her, hang fluids to rehydrate her and a few days later, send her home.
Then one day she went back in again for dehydration and a low grade fever of 101. The hospital once again hung fluids and said they had no idea why she was running the fever. Instead of going the extra mile to find why she was running a fever, and since she was there so many times they tried to convince her and her caregiver to sign a DNR and talked about hospice and palliative care. Not once but several times the caregiver was approached by hospital staff and doctors insisting that she sign a DNR. Which the caregiver refused to do.
The hospital went as far as suggesting to the caregiver that if there was a medical emergency with Joanne again, do not call an ambulance but instead call for hospice and let the woman die.
Again like with Roger, the hospital simply gave up helping a senior citizen instead of using the latest technologies and care to help her. They wanted the bed for someone else with fresh insurance to charge for tests and procedures instead of taking care of a senior citizen.
Even her doctor gave up on her and refused to see her any further. So much for the Hippocratic Oath
And let's add in the insurance equation, insurance companies will pay only so much for care and even less for those over a certain age requiring acute care unless it is short term.
Karen went into the hospital with breathing problems from a severe flu and ultra high blood sugar that was caused by taking OTC cold medicine frequently plus dehydration. While in the hospital she suffered from numerous other maladies and eventually lost the ability to walk. Once the initial problems were solved she was transferred to a sub-acute facility for rehab to learn to walk again.
After a week and a half in rehab, she made very little progress. The insurance company was not pleased and decided not to cover her therapy any longer. The sub-acute facility appealed which was promptly turned down by the insurance company within 2 hours of receipt of the appeal. Karen was left to pay for staying at the sub-acute facility out of pocket.
She and her husband did not have the money so she was brought home against medical advice where the husband, a computer analyst had to give up his job to care for her and give her physical therapy and was able to teach her to walk again. Here the hospital made no effort to figure out why Karen lost the ability to walk and the insurance company refused to participate in her rehab. Due to his age, Karen’s husband is unable to find work again.
The conditions of the rehab facility were deplorable as well with black mold in the air conditioning vents, the aides would empty and clean the bed pan in the patient’s sink, not answer the call bell for up to two hours at a time, there was a lot of particulate matter in the water from the ice machine, the aides would cover any mess in the bed with fresh linen and expect Joanne to lie in it, they would not get her out of bed for therapy on several occasions. The doctor would bill the insurance patient and insurance company without ever seeing Joanne. Meanwhile the health department saw nothing wrong with the place. This is how all of the seniors in the facility were expected to live.
Enter Medicare which is supposed to provide insurance coverage for seniors. Part A is for hospitalization and comes at no charge to the senior. Part B which covers doctors has a cost and those fees come out of the seniors Social Security Retirement fund. Once that is exhausted then the senior has to apply for Medicaid.
Now in NY, Medicaid can and does apply a lien to the seniors assets to recover their costs. This lien includes the home, life insurance, any savings, stocks and bonds, real property and possessions. Only under certain conditions and with legal help can some of the assets be protected. Meanwhile Medicaid has been paid for by the senior though the taxes they paid all their lives.
Take this as an example, Linda who was a neighbor of mine who was a physically disabled woman who had to go into a sub-acute care facility for an extended period of time. She had no choice but to go onto Medicaid who put a lien on her house and all of the contents inside including her retirement and life insurance. She died in the sub-acute facility and before she was put into the ground, Medicaid took possession of the house and it’s contents and evicted her mentally disabled son onto the streets with only the clothes on his back. Medicaid took everything else.
Back to Medicare. There are other parts, C & D but these the senior has also have to pay for out of their pockets. Part D being for medicines and the premiums for Part D can be cost prohibitive and as such the senior has to go without their medications. There are numerous private supplementary plans available but those also have to come out of pocket with their premiums also being cost prohibitive. A lot of seniors live on a fixed income and many are barely making ends meet to begin with. Again the senior has to do without their medications.
So much for the Obama Affordable Health Care Act, which by the way the senior is no longer eligible for due to the fact that they must apply for Medicare.
Speaking of which, John was on the ObamaCare in NY and is turning 65. The NY State Of Health ended his healthcare insurance early and he was told to apply for Medicare and Medicaid otherwise he could buy health insurance from them. For the least expensive plan he was quoted $140 a month with an $8,000 deduction. With a senior on a fixed income and no other sources of income, they would have to do without food or medicines because of the high deductible. And again ObamaCare has failed our seniors.
This same basic attitude toward our seniors even comes from our politicians. As an example, in 2011 during a TV interview New York Westchester County Executive, Rob Astorino was asked about dental care namely dentures for seniors, said "soup is good" inferring that seniors do not require dental care.
So what happens to our seniors who are unable to fend for themselves? The medical community simply wants us to toss the senior aside into a sub-acute facility or home to die instead of giving them the care that they deserve. Will the carousel from Logan's Run become a reality in the not too distant future?
Note-All of the examples above are true, I changed their names to protect their privacy.
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