nurses are laid off, salaries decreased and vacant positions eliminated thanks to obamacare
read here:
http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-blue-mountain-layoff-obamacare-20130730,0,1278554.story?track=rssThis doesn't surprise me in the slightest - I read the entire healthcare reform bill before deciding how I would vote and saw all of this in the text of the bill. Plus as the law roll's out I have seen nothing the improves access or lowers the cost of healthcare - in fact more patients than ever are being turned away and being forced to change doctors. Also Physicians and caregiver's are being forced to take and additional 20% cut in reimbursements. The average fee a physician collects right now to see a patient covered by Medi/Medi is $8.00 so that will go down to less than $7.00. Is it any wonder that many Physicians would rather retire and close their doors than work for free?
Hppy
thanks for reposting cougarnurse, this article would be very helpful for other nurses in this forum as well..
i just hope none of them were included with those who got laid off..
I think it's too easy to blame "Obamacare" for lay-offs. We all know it's more complex than that. While the newly restructured healthcare program isn't perfect, it's a step towards gaining control over a very badly run system which has been on a collision course with disaster for many years. It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better but we will survive. A word of advice AND caution to anyone reading. Do your part and set positive a example for others by being resourceful and living in a health conscious way. Take responsibility for your own wellness. In this way, we might start a trend toward better living and not be among the countless over-consumers of health care services.
R
I do disagree with you about Obama Care because I have seen first hand how it's already effecting the delivery of care to medically underserved developmentally disabled community - it really does amount to death panels.
Still I like your closing statement about being resourceful and living in a healthful manner.
Peace and Namaste
Hppy
Death panels exist in critical care, where I work, too, and I don't struggle with it because there is so much futile care given to the already dead. I don't think my colleagues struggle with it either, but so often the families do and this is where we focus our attention. We jokingly call ourselves "death nurses" because we "pre-wake" the patients when they die-hospitality cart and all. Then we post the patient and send them to the funeral home where they get "waked" again. Most people have at least three funerals now before they get interred.
R
nurseamyg wrote:thanks for reposting cougarnurse, this article would be very helpful for other nurses in this forum as well..
i just hope none of them were included with those who got laid off..
:agree:
*OMG... Obama Must Go ... just another acronym version thought I'd share ;)
Ricu, must agree Preventative Care applies to both healthcare workers & the general public.
Still not acceptable in my book
SoldierNurse wrote:Ricu, must agree Preventative Care applies to both healthcare workers & the general public.
In the early days of the third Reich be fore he thunk up the "Final Solution" Hitler experimented on methods of killing people by targeting those in society that he considered to be "useless Eaters" these were mostly developmentally disabled, elderly and wounded war veterans and people who had suffered injuries which rendered them unable to work. Thousands of WWI vets were killed through a program of starvation simply because they could not contribute in a way that Hitler saw as "Useful". Who will be next in our society - Are we not committed to doing no harm? I see nothing compassionate about pushing mass quantities of Morphine into a person who is not in pain just to hasten their death . I have sat and held the hands of several people and watched the panic in their eyes as their respiratory drive shuts down.
The whole purpose of Healthcare reform was to provide needed healthcare services to the medically underserved. Now those same underserved are being denied medically necessary medications in favor of cost reduction. Doctors and hospitals are facing 20 to 30% cuts in reimbursement and healthcare facilities are going paperless and digital which means our healthcare records will no longer be confidential as anyone with the password can access our medical records at the touch of a button. This is not the America my family members fought and died for.
The average wait time for medical care in the countries who have socialized medicine is 18 to 24 months. Mostly this happens because it's cheaper to let people die while they are waiting than treat them for their illness. This is not what I became a nurse to do. In America prior to healthcare reform no-one was denied healthcare based on their ability to pay.
I don't know the answer but will be going back to the days when children born with disabilities were routinely allowed to starve under "Do Not Feed" orders. I certainly hope not.
Hppy
On an aside, Hppy (and I am not negating what you all are saying, just playing Devil's Advocate):
Before all the wonderful medical technology, pre/early 20th century, etc., we were born at home, died at home. If one was in the hospital, that meant you were dying. No thoughts of 'heroics', and all that stuff.
Think of it: how many women died giving birth? And I am not talking infections, either; I mean after 6-10 kids or so. Sometimes the kid would die, also. Could have been a premature birth, or something else (I am thinking of one of the 'Anne of Green Gables' books here).
With that said, I wonder what Darwin would think/say. Survival of the fittest? Or are we setting ourelves up for a weaker human race?
Sorry, but this was something I have thought about. :vulture:
No ,
I totally get it. But in my area of nursing I really do get to know my consumers (patients) I have known most of them for years. I suppose it's easier when you are working in an acute setting and only see your patients for 1 to 3 days. When I get denials because medicare/Medicaid says a psych patient can't be on more than two psychotropics it kills me. My clients have multiple medical diagnoses but they still work and live in community settings. They literally have no voice in their care and need strong advocates. By way of example - Medi/Medi would not approve a medication change for one of my patient's until he had had a full neurological work-up, but they weren't going to pay for it. So it took me 18 months to get this profoundly delayed man an appointment for differential diagnosis at a medical school. All to get him a $20.00 a month medication. They would not approve it before because it would be an off-label use. He's been on it now for 3 months and experienced dramatic improvement. Still he had to wait almost two years to get it.
Hppy
Thanks for understanding my Devils Advocate stance. It is a fine line, if one thinks about it. How 'preemie' is too preemie? Insurace costs are way up there.
I know that, when mom was dx'd with her heart failure, the cost of her stay was pretty expensive. That didn't even factor in the fact that she and dad pay private insurance premiums every 3 months. And LTC? Expensive as all get out; some homes are private pay only--after that, you're out the door.
Orphan drug use? From what I have read, the cost of research/coming up with those drugs? Again, pretty wild. (Which reminds me---I should look for an article on Orphan Drugs and add it to the Medication Forum)
I am going to strp off my soapbox for now. I hear coffee calling.
:coffeebath:
Agreed. Sometimes it feels like "1984" and sometimes it feels like "Brave New World." Either way, it's not a good feeling.
Hera's another good one for you = Since very few Physicians will see my clients and Medicare and Medicaid take anywhere from 3 to 6 months to pay - My clients are being denied at Urgent Care and being forced to use the much more expensive Emergency Room. We have also been told that very soon our clients who are seeing a psychiatrist will be forced to stop seeing the physician they've been seeing for years and go to the county Psych Clinic which for us is a 100 mile drive round trip.
Hppy
My "Death Panel" reply was perhaps a bit harsh and definitely short on background but ironically, I think reflective of the rather long siege of complex EOL patient situations I am currently involved in and as a result, a little compassion fatigued. Issues surrounding end-of-life are complicated and deserve more attention than offered here but a few thoughts and opinions on the subject are included and commentary is invited. First, in this country, we hide from death or hide death from ourselves. Life is sacred and we have the technology to prolong it for a very long time in fact for many, beyond meaningful or purposeful existence. That said, there are individuals who live quite contently with advanced debility and/or disease but I believe that they are not common. Regardless, we avoid thinking about aging, infirmity and death whether it is our own or that of our loved ones. Eventually, death visits and a great many of us are not prepared to face it consequently, under pressure, opt for aggressive treatment and/or prolongation of life support, whether or not doing so is realistic. Often compounding this already complex issue is medical providers who themselves are poorly prepared to face end of life especially from the position of being able to offer that "one more chance." Indeed, sorting out feelings about death, disease and life support is challenging under the best circumstances but is a necessary process that is best handled before a crisis happens and decisions end up being made under duress. While the "death panel" as featured in the prime time expose might exist in some institutions, the ones that I have worked in over the past thirty years take the human element into account when guiding distraught loved ones through painful decision-making and financials don't factor into it.
Very well said! I also believe that we as individuals need to have frank open discussions with our loved ones about death and dying. A colleague recently passed a way while eating a Hot Dog at Costco. He didn't choke just had a massive coronary. Funny thing was he lived well, exercised, ate right and had absolutely no symptoms of CAD. When my dad's cancer metastasized he told us point blank "Don't let me linger - My work here is done!" I will tell my family the same. My dad died in his bed at home, surrounded by his wife, children and grandchildren. That's the way it should be. One thing we all know about this life is nobody gets out alive. My girlfriends mother just passed away from pancreatic cancer and the girl just couldn't let her go in peace. She was receiving experimental treatment right up till the day she died.
I just think that these decisions should be ours to make not some arbitrary government office telling us what we can and cannot have in our final days and moments.
NUff Said I guess
Peace and Namaste
Hppy
Hey, folks.....thanks for the discourse!
Ricu, I understand the compassion fatigue.
Don't forget the Hospice/Palliative Forum. Speaking of which, mind if I copy some of these posts to that forum for further discussion?
cougarnurse wrote:Here's a link to a story I just posted in relevant Forums. Thought you all would be interested: http://www.ultimatenurse.com/forum/threads/97102-Doctor-precribes-healthcare-cost-savings-plan-to-Governors
And yes, I got some coffee in me.
will check this later. my internet connection is so slow today
