Read it, you ignit f***s!

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by icenine

There are death panels everyday....it is called a living will. It is a code that is put on many patients charts when they are in the hospital near the end of their lives....DNR....do not resuscitate. When tragedy strikes and a doctor ask whether the plug should be pulled that is a death panel. Sadly that is a fact of life and these decisions about death have to be made and have nothing to do with the passage of Obamacare, except that consultations about end of life care will be part of the coverage.

But the living will only exists if the individual patient has taken the time to execute one. It is a voluntary decision by an individual, and it saves the family of that individual from having to make an agonizing decision - or from being powerless to make a decision - about whether a dying individual will have any quality of life after extraordinary life-saving measures are taken. I recommend that every individual explore and consider the concept of living wills.

Another concept is the durable power of attorney. That responsibility fell to me when my mother suffered from Alzheimers. I had to make the decision whether to take heroic medical procedures at one point when she had stopped eating. I made the decision at that time to have them treat her for dehydration and to provide some IV nutirition. That allowed us time to obtain the services of Hospice. They modified her daily drug cocktail and made other changes that greatly increased her quality of life for her last year with us. Unless she had given some clear direction in the appointment paperwork, I don't know whether I would have been able (in consultation with my brothers) to make the decisions I did.

Regards,

D-Ray

[Rex E.]

Originally Posted by d-ray657

But the living will only exists if the individual patient has taken the time to execute one. It is a voluntary decision by an individual, and it saves the family of that individual from having to make an agonizing decision - or from being powerless to make a decision - about whether a dying individual will have any quality of life after extraordinary life-saving measures are taken. I recommend that every individual explore and consider the concept of living wills.

Another concept is the durable power of attorney. That responsibility fell to me when my mother suffered from Alzheimers. I had to make the decision whether to take heroic medical procedures at one point when she had stopped eating. I made the decision at that time to have them treat her for dehydration and to provide some IV nutirition. That allowed us time to obtain the services of Hospice. They modified her daily drug cocktail and made other changes that greatly increased her quality of life for her last year with us. Unless she had given some clear direction in the appointment paperwork, I don't know whether I would have been able (in consultation with my brothers) to make the decisions I did.

Regards,

D-Ray

D, you bring up an interesting and very good point. I'm still very slowly trudgin through the bill so maybe you can help me.

Does the bill include payment for such "living wills"? This way we can get the greedy lawyers out of it as well

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by Rex E.

D, you bring up an interesting and very good point. I'm still very slowly trudgin through the bill so maybe you can help me.

Does the bill include payment for such "living wills"? This way we can get the greedy lawyers out of it as well

Living wills existed for many years before health care reform was a twinkle in Mitt Romney's eye. Many organizations provide free forms to make a living will or advance health care directive. Check out this.

Regards,

D-Ray

[Rex E.]

Originally Posted by d-ray657

Living wills existed for many years before health care reform was a twinkle in Mitt Romney's eye. Many organizations provide free forms to make a living will or advance health care directive. Check out this.

Regards,

D-Ray

It was my understanding many of these do not hold up with out lawyer involvement. I'm sure I'm wrong.

[bobabode]

Thanks D Ray for that info.

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by Rex E.

It was my understanding many of these do not hold up with out lawyer involvement. I'm sure I'm wrong.

It's not my area of practice, so I can't speak with great authority to the complexity needed. The living/will advance directive can be pretty simple - addressing only one's desire that heroic measures not be used to extend life. I would expect that the more specific the documents are, the greater confidence the health care institution is going to have that the directive covered the specific situation addressed at the time a decision is made.

I wouldn't execute a durable power of attorney without an attorney's involvement. That can give another person a lot of power over ones finances, property and health care decisions. I would want to be sure that tall of the is are dotted and the ts are crossed before passing on that sort of power. A knowledge through case law how thing have gone awry helps to provide for contingencies in the document drafted.

Regards,

D-Ray

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by HatchetJack

Most of the people currently without insurance are young people who have yet
to find their way in life. Maybe it's by choice or maybe they are between jobs?
The very poor have insurance and you and I have insurance. This healthcare
reform should be a bill that helps American citizens by lowering premiums
while improving health care. Instead the democrats saw a way to swindle more
money out of it's citizens and stab the right in the back. And that is why you all
are so happy about this.It's not about helping out the poor and elderly.
It's another way to give us less power and the government more.
What's next? are they going to mandate what car you drive, where you live,
where you work, what type of treatment you receive if you are deathly sick.
Well when some of you are laid up in the hospital and you are denied
treatment because of your age or ability to generate revenue for "United Union"
under dictator Pelosi. When "they" walk out of your room with their clipboards
and close the curtain, when they mark your chart natural death, when the
nurse comes in rolling a bag of morphine to "make you comfortable" remember
that HatchetJack warned you.

Maybe even young people get sick and injured, despite the fact they THINK they don't need it? Under this bill they can stay under their parents plan until the age of 26 then go out and get their own.

It has nothing to do with YOUR NRA, Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck inspired paranoia. Why can't you get that into your head?

Jesus Christ, I swear the BS is so thick!

[barbara]

Originally Posted by Rex E.

It was my understanding many of these do not hold up with out lawyer involvement. I'm sure I'm wrong.

If you are over the age of sixty, or a caregiver of a person over the age of sixty, contact your local Area Agency on Aging.... they, in most areas of the country, (I'm guessing all areas, but not positive) they provide legal services for free under the supervision of a lawyer. In my area, they do a lot of PoA and Living wills and it is all legally binding. Your Area Agency on Aging provides a variety of free services for those over the age of sixty.

[Rex E.]

Thanks for the info Barbara but I'm just a pup at the age of 40.

[barbara]

Originally Posted by Rex E.

Thanks for the info Barbara but I'm just a pup at the age of 40.

Sorry I couldn't be more help, Rex.
Our county has another legal source for those folks who are not yet sixty, but, it is a local non profit. You might want to check out the non profits in your area.