Where Are Medicare Stories at BarackObama.com?

We rarely delve into politics. But if we must, Independence Day is probably a good occasion. So over coffee and a brioche, we were reading Health Care Stories for America @ BarackObama.com . There we noticed an interesting pattern: scolding of health insurance companies is on at full steam, but no one wants to talk about the elephant in the room: Medicare. And that’s where the real health care dollars are being sucked in, like into a giant black hole. Don’t believe our independent Medgadget team of doctors? Ask practically any other physician, and he or she will tell you about real horrors. How about stories where hundreds of thousands of dollars are spend on each patient that has practically hit the wall? How about pacemakers and AICDs on 90 year olds with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or stroke? How about interventional radiology procedures, where a terminal elderly patient becomes a cushion pad for physicians? How about CAT scans, MRIs, leg bypasses, peripheral catheters, exploratory laparotomies, and hundreds of lab tests that are done every day, that often prolong more suffering than life? We understand that there are many problems in healthcare when it comes to younger patients. We know that people

lose jobs, have prior conditions, and as a result they end up losing their insurance coverage. We also understand there are abuses in the health insurance industry. But the real bulk of the societal problems is not with the people under 60, but with older patients . In other words, with Medicare. And when families, who don’t have to co-pay for any medical services, are being asked to estimate the risk/benefits ratios of going ahead with a treatment, the hope itself forces them to go “all in.” And that is how the tax payer’s money are being spent nowadays. For all the talk over at the Health Care Stories for America , there is indeed little substance but lots of fear. And that is from the administration that has promised us hope. And, finally, the real question. Why does the President and his team use the wrong symbol of Caduceus for his health care initiative? As we noted before, the Staff of Asclepius should be a single serpent encircling a staff, and no wings and no snake families, please. We hope you have a nice Independence Day!

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Where Are Medicare Stories at BarackObama.com?