Laughter Increases Memory And Learning Ability In Elderly People

Credit: Wikipedia

Before It's News: Watching a funny video increased memory, learning ability in elderly people. 

Too much stress can take its toll on the body, mood, and mind. As we age it can contribute to a number of health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease. Recent research has shown that the stress hormone cortisol damages certain neurons in the brain and can negatively affect memory and learning ability in the elderly. 

Researchers at Loma Linda University have delved deeper into cortisol’s relationship to memory and whether humor and laughter—a well-known stress reliever—can help lessen the damage that cortisol can cause. Their findings were presented on Sunday, April 27, at the Experimental Biology meeting (San Diego Convention Center from 12:45–3:00 PM PDT).

Gurinder Singh Bains et al. showed a 20-minute laugh-inducing funny video to a group of healthy elderly individuals and a group of elderly people with diabetes. The groups where then asked to complete a memory assessment that measured their learning, recall, and sight recognition. Their performance was compared to a control group of elderly people who also completed the memory assessment, but were not shown a funny video. Cortisol concentrations for both groups were also recorded at the beginning and end of the experiment.

The research team found a significant decrease in cortisol concentrations among both groups who watched the video. Video-watchers also showed greater improvement in all areas of the memory assessment when compared to controls, with the diabetic group seeing the most dramatic benefit in cortisol level changes and the healthy elderly seeing the most significant changes in memory test scores.

“Our research findings offer potential clinical and rehabilitative benefits that can be applied to wellness programs for the elderly,” Dr. Bains said. “The cognitive components—learning ability and delayed recall—become more challenging as we age and are essential to older adults for an improved quality of life: mind, body, and spirit. Although older adults have age-related memory deficits, complimentary, enjoyable, and beneficial humor therapies need to be implemented for these individuals.”

Study co-author and long-time psychoneuroimmunology humor researcher, Dr. Lee Berk, added, “It’s simple, the less stress you have the better your memory. Humor reduces detrimental stress hormones like cortisol that decrease memory hippocampal neurons, lowers your blood pressure, and increases blood flow and your mood state.

The act of laughter—or simply enjoying some humor—increases the release of endorphins and dopamine in the brain, which provides a sense of pleasure and reward. These positive and beneficial neurochemical changes, in turn, make the immune system function better. There are even changes in brain wave activity towards what’s called the “gamma wave band frequency”, which also amp up memory and recall. So, indeed, laughter is turning out to be not only a good medicine, but also a memory enhancer adding to our quality of life.” 

Contacts and sources: 

Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)

Technorati Tags: Laughter,Memory,Elderly,Seniors

Obamacare Slashes Senior Home Health Care Services

In early April, the Obama Administration delayed cuts in the Medicare Advantage program mandated by Obamacare. These plans, used by 30% of Medicare beneficiaries, supplement traditional Medicare coverage. The planned cuts to the MA program risked a political firestorm just months before the midterm elections. While MA received a short-term pardon, the Obama Administration is going forward with dramatic cuts to home health care services for seniors.

by Mike Flynn 23 Apr 2014, 7:59 PM PDT  -  Breitbart.com: Over 3.5 million seniors receive health care services in their home. Over 60% of the recipients are women. These beneficiaries tend to be older, poorer and sicker than the overall Medicare population. Because of this, they often lack transportation, making home health care services critical for their well-being. Those impacted by the ongoing cuts are the most vulnerable and at-risk seniors. 

Obamacare gave the Obama administration wide latitude in containing spending in the program. In a decision that baffled critics, however, the administration chose to impose the maximum cuts allowed, cutting reimbursements by 14% over the next four years. The announced cuts will dramatically shrink the home health care sector and leave over a million seniors without access to health services. 

“Despite the broad discretion granted to it by Obamacare, the Administration decided to impose the deepest possible cut, which is already having a dire impact on jobs, women and vulnerable seniors,” Eric Berger, CEO of the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare said. “Without relief, these Medicare cuts will continue to impact the home health professionals upon whom millions of the Medicare program’s most vulnerable seniors depend.” 

In issuing its reimbursement guidelines, the administration acknowledged that "approximately 40%" of the more than 11,000 home health care agencies would be losing money by 2017. 

Home health care services had been one of the fastest growing sector for jobs. In December, 2013, however, on the eve of the cuts taking effect, the sector shed almost 4,000 jobs, the largest loss of jobs in the sector in more than a decade. Over 1.2 million Americans currently work in the home health care sector, 90% of whom are women. An analysis by Avarle Consulting estimated that almost half of these jobs, 498,000, are threatened by the Obamacare cuts.

Technorati Tags: Seniors,ObamaCare,Watch the Other Hand,ObamaCare Delays,ObamaCare Surprises,Medicare,Medicare Advantage,ObamaCare Mandates,Elderly,Medicare Cuts

Are You Ready to Take Your Senior to ER?

How to be ready for emergencies so you and your senior can get to the hospital and be comfortable while you deal with the Emergency Room or extended stay. by francy Dickinson  -  SeniorCareTips

Grab n Go Ready ER Kit – Just 4 You!

Dear Francy; I live in a small community and my dad lives with us. He had issues last week, his heart was in a race and he was fainting…on the floor…I was in a panic. I called the doctor, because dad was on a lot of heart meds and they said take him to hospital. A neighbor helped me get him in the car and off we went for a 28 minute drive to the hospital. Once there…they took over…but I just lost my head. I had none of his information with me, we start in ER and then were there for two more days while his drugs were adjusted and watched.  I was exhausted, worried and still dressed for work. It was an all around horrible situation. I remembered you talking about being prepared…I failed on that end…would you review the ideas for stress and emergency room trips. Thanks..Cindy, New Mexico

Thank you Cindy…don’t feel bad…I’ve been there too. You sit in that hospital and are uncomfortable…and can not just race home to change or get your things….so what I suggest is that if you are caring for a senior….YOU NEED A BAG FOR THE ER!

I have heard the stories for years…a spouse, family member or dear friend goes into a serious backward spiral and you know that you have to call 911 or take them to the hospital yourself. You are caught up in the moment of panic, worry and actual action of caring for the senior. Out the door you fly…to drive behind the ambulance or drive to the emergency care place yourself. The last thing on your mind is comfort..your mind is racing and your heart is in a high state of worry. But once at the hospital…everyone starts to ask you questions…social security numbers, health card information, does the senior have allergies, what are the medications that they are taking…you stand there in stunned silence…just wanting to be in the ER with your spouse or parent…and there you are – stuck with answering questions that you are not prepared to answer. After that nasty 15-20 minutes…you try to find your senior and they have started treatments. They are telling you things and you wish you could write them down…new ideas for treatment, interactions of medications and you are just trying to breath and tell your senior that they are OK…just hang in there. Then the ER puts the senior in a side area and they have to wait…wait for tests, wait for doctors to arrive, wait for ER or CAT scans…and the minutes stretch into hours and hours…then they say they will put the senior in a room for a couple of days…they want to keep them on close watch. Close watch? That means you don’t leave your senior’s side.

You are tired…your phone is on the last few minutes of energy…you have no phone numbers with you to use the hospital room line. You need to drink some water, have a snack but its the middle of the night and the cafeteria is not open yet and no change for the snack machines. You have now been at the hospital for 4-6 hours and you are looking at an over-night stay…sitting in a chair in the room. Nasty….and all of us…have gone through all of this and there is no reason to do that to ourselves….we do enough just loving and caring for our seniors. We need to be prepared for these fast, unscheduled emergencies….so we all need to put a kit together for our own use.

“ER Grab n Go Bag”

If you have not experienced this yet, please believe me…it happens…your senior can fall or become unwell in an instant…and you will be faced with all this drama…and wind up feeling like a fool that you did not plan ahead to make the trip so much easier for your self. REMEMBER: the hospital is going to give full care to the senior in the emergency…YOU are the one that is not going to be cared for…you are simply in their way…so you stay quiet and try to stay close to your senior so you can give them calm and love. BE PREPARED!

ER Info Kit for your Senior

START WITH ER INFO KIT FOR YOUR SENIOR

I keep an ER info Kit for George in my handbag…and one in the kitchen. I have given one to my sister and his kids know where I keep another copy. I have all the info that the ER entry office person is going to ask me. There is a good copy of all his cards, front and back. There is a review of what he is allergic to and his personal needs for check-in. There is a very detailed medical prescription and doctor listing and there is Power Of Attorney or a letter signed…that allows you to give and get medical information. I also tuck in the driving instructions so if I get too nervous or stressed…I can still get to the hospital. This is a must…and you have to take time to type it up and make copies…and then you are set to go. I update my medication listing…and you will find a whole blog on the details on April 21, 2010 called “If your senior goes to ER, are you ready” Please put that in the search bar on the top of the page and read over that blog…it has all the details for the paperwork to get you in the out of the check-in process of hospital or doctor visits. I can not tell you how many health care professionals tell me how they love my kit…you will too.

Just remember this information is all of the personal ID on the senior and it has to be kept private and safe…so keep it protected...I use a plastic envelope and I also have a whole booklet that I use for his medical information. If you do put together the “Grab n Go Ready Kit” you will also have a spiral notebook n pen to take notes. Trust me…I have given care to my mum and my husband for over 10 years now…you need these items when you go to the doctor and the hospital. I know you may think they have all the patient’s information in their computer system…but you are wrong…info is rarely updated and they often lose the patient in the computer files. Be ready to give them any thing they need to help the senior get well in the middle of a crisis. Do not count on your mind…even ss# can be forgotten or mis-stated when you see someone you love in peril! (NOTE: What I remember is wasting time at the check-in window when I wanted so badly to be with my frightened 95 yr old mother in the ER room…to keep her calm. I did all of this so I would never have to repeat that.) The next time we were at the ER…the check in lady…just took my paperwork and told me she would enter it all and bring it to me in the ER…it was perfect. I have been thanked by nurses, doctors and admin-people for having the information so well-organized and it only took the time for me to enter it into the computer the first time. I update the info every six months or on medication changes. Easy -peasy for no stress check-in’s.

NOW LETS TALK YOU…HOW ARE YOU GOING TO COPE WITH HOURS IN THE ER– IF NOT DAYS IN THE HOSPITAL? JUST LIKE SCOUTS….”BE PREPARED”

Well this is the chair you get to live in for a couple of days. As you can see it is not pretty, but it does recline and you can stay in the senior’s room…by their side and be part of their healing team. Even a First lady, does not get anything better than a sleeping chair in most hospitals. But trust me…its a lonely place if you don’t have anything with you.

So, out comes your ER GRAB n GO READY BAG…and you have a few things to make yourself feel comforted and rest as you help your senior do the same.

1. Comfort and Warmth; I put an old pair of sweats and a warm top in the bag…with cozy warm slipper socks…that way my clothes are presentable to the public…but totally comfortable for me to sit and sleep. I also have a throw…or you could put in a hoodie so at night you can be extra warm…the hospital rooms are always cold to me. They often give you a blanket…but its never enough for me. As you see the chair it does have a lift so your feet will be up and the back will tilt. I have a pillow collar that I can tuck under my head or put on my lower back to ease the comfort level. You can get blow up neck pillows in the travel department. They are honestly the best gift to yourself in this situation. (I would rather use my things instead of hospital things…its a germ thing with me…my things make me feel safe, not worried about catching something)
2. A small water bottle is in my bag…you can refill it in the hall with the drinking fountains. This is just a must…I don’t want to be buying soda all day…and swell up…the hospital can have dry air…so stay hydrated. I also have a couple of snack bars…to get me through. Usually the emergency is through the night and when I am able to take a few minutes to eat…the cafeteria is not open and you are faced with only snack machines. So, I have my snack bars and I tuck a few dollars in an envelope and keep in my bag. Often times, I am out of cash in my purse so this makes it easy to get anything I want out of the machines…and then I can also go to the cafeteria for a sandwich or soup during the day. I also tuck in a few tea bags and sweeteners…you can always get hot water from the nurse’s station…and it tastes so good to relax and calm yourself with tea. You can also ask them if there is a snack fridge for family….the VA has a nice area for us to go and get hot coffee, yogurt, or pudding etc – any time, when we are with our loved ones. Don’t be afraid to ask…it maybe there for you, just steps away from the room.
3. Keep clean…wash your hands until you drop when you are in the hospital…and I have a small hand cleaner in my bag with Kleenex if I get snuffy. Plus…you will never find me wo/ my Advil. I have a bad back and I tend to get pressure headaches…so my little package of Advil that I got at the Dollar Store is heaven-sent when I’m in need. If I was taking medications…I would have a couple of ziplock baggies with a couple of days of those in my Ready Bag too. Nothing worse than going without your bladder or blood pressure med for a day or two…add in the stress and your body will really complain.
4. Bored? Remember…people that are unwell…sleep. The hospital will give them drugs to keep them calm…but what about you? I bring a book to read. I use a Kindle but you don’t want to depend on remembering that….as you run out the door. A good old fashion paperback book and a pair of readers can be tucked in and ready for you to dive into and remove your stress in a good story. An older Mp3 player is also a great tuck in…yes, TV’s are in the rooms…but often they are on a channel that you don’t like or you can not hear them…so I make sure I have my own things to keep me calm. If you are a knitter…just tuck in an old project you have never finished…in a zip lock bag and its there for you. Think what it is that you enjoy…and make that happen in your Ready Kit.
5. Calling the family? You need to have a re-charger in your bag…buy one that will recharge all your devises and if you tuck in your reader or tablet as you run out the door…you will be able to keep them going with your charger. Your mobile phone is your lifeline to the family…but many times the hospitals…block the cell phone signals. What then? You have to walk all the way to the front of the building and make your calls…not an easy thing to do. I had that happen to me and it was exhausting. So, write down a few of the key family phone numbers to keep posted. You can always ask them to send the information out to others. This way you can use the in-room telephone for local calling. I have my number in the front of my spiral notebook and I’m ready to go.
6. Pets left behind…what about the mail? After a long stay in the ER and then you find out you maybe in the hospital for a day or two longer….have a neighbor or friend that has a key to your home and will take care of your pets. They can also pick up the mail and put it in the kitchen for you and just keep the lights out and everything in order while you are gone. I always put a key ring with my name on it…so the neighbor can keep it and knows who it belongs to — it could be a couple of years before the call could come for them to help….once you have this info in place…you can relax and know that all is well without you leaving your loved one to run home.
7. A Ziplock baggie with little things that mean something to you…to keep you calm. Maybe you need cough drops…or lip balm. A new toothbrush and small toothpaste. Hand cream and face cream…Glasses and a glass cleaning cloth. Maybe you are a person that needs a few peanuts to keep you going or hand wipes to feel clean. If you are in need…you can tuck in a few Poise/Depend pads. Think comfort. NO the bag does not have to be a huge case…its just a big tote…but keep it full of things that bring you comfort…so when you are stressed and worried…you can keep yourself calm.
8. If you forget your tote…then you call a friend to retrieve it from your hall closet and everything is in the tote..instead of the friend wandering around your home for a “few things”.

I suppose you read this and think…Oh, I will get on this pretty soon….please do not do that. Go right now and just put a few things in a bag and tuck it in the hall closet. You can make it fancy or expanded later..but get the ER senior’s information kit, in order and a few things in your own Ready Kit–RIGHT NOW. Its like giving yourself a gift…and you will rejoice in it if and when the day comes that an emergency hits your home…and you can just open a door grab your Ready Kit and walk out the door caring for your senior in need.

I always want to thank you for caring for your senior. Would you do me a favor and “sign up” up for the blog. That way it will come to you via the email and you will not miss any of the tips…and if you know someone that is a care giver…please share my blog with them…thank you.

As a spouse of a Alzheimer’s/Parkinson’s senior…I find the care giving can be so overwhelming and it represents such love. The gift of care is the dearest thing you can give to a person that has become unwell, unsteady or confused.

My Georgie has been declining a great deal lately. Falls and safety issues are a daily challenge for me to handle now. I am not blogging as much as I would like…but know I’m here for you to send me a message if you have a question or need help.

I am pleased to say I have a dear friend that helps me with my care giving….and I want to thank you for just “being there” for me in this journey I am taking with George….Friends are the best. I hope you feel I am on your friend list and you will feel free to ask questions that you may have at any time….Blessings…francy

Me with my friend Cheryl who is always helping me with George and supporting me as a loving friend…Thank you Chery

Technorati Tags: ER,Seniors,Caretakers,Care-Tips,Caregivers,Healthcare,Preparation,GRAB-n-GO,Senior-Care

World's oldest man and oldest person ever dies in Japan at age 116

Oct. 15, 2012: Jiroemon Kimura smiles after he was presented with the certificate of the world's oldest living man from Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday at his home in the city, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. (AP)

FoxNews/AP: TOKYO –  Japan's Jiroemon Kimura, who had been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest living person and the oldest man ever, died Wednesday of natural causes. He was 116.

Kimura, of Kyotango, Japan, was born April 19, 1897. Officials in Kyotango said he died in a local hospital, where he had been undergoing treatment for pneumonia.

According to Guinness, Kimura was the first man in history to have lived to 116 years old.

Kimura became the oldest man ever on Dec. 28, 2012, at the age of 115 years, 253 days, breaking the record set by Christian Mortensen, a Danish immigrant to the United States, whose life spanned from 1882-1998.

The title of oldest living person is now held by another Japanese, 115-year-old Misao Okawa, of Osaka. Okawa was born March 5, 1898.

"Jiroemon Kimura was an exceptional person," said Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records. "As the only man to have ever lived for 116 years — and the oldest man whose age has been fully authenticated — he has a truly special place in world history."

Kyotango officials said Kimura's funeral would be held Friday.

"Mr. Kimura was and will always be a treasure to our town, to our country and to our world," said Mayor Yasushi Nakayama.

The new oldest living man, according to the U.S.-based Gerontology Research Group, is James McCoubrey, an American who was born in Canada on Sept. 13, 1901. Now 111 years old, he is the 32nd oldest living person according to GRG's list, which shows all those older than him are women.

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Technorati Tags: Gerontology,aging,seniors,oldest person,pneumonia,Guinness,death panels,Ezekial Emanual,Complete Lives System,Centenarians,socialized medicine,rationed healthcare,rationing for seniors,Soylent Green,granny,Japan,elderly

American Nurses Association Should Not Support Assisted Suicide

The National Association of Pro-life Nurses (NAPN) has responded to ANA’s call for public comments on their proposed document “Active Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide.”

As an organization dedicated to the preservation of ethical standards in the nursing profession, NAPN finds the document an unnecessary change from the current position. While the document makes several good statements regarding respect for the patient, any accommodation to the legalization of assisted suicide/euthanasia has no place in the medical profession. Nurses are healers, not killers, and legalization of the practice will not make it ethical.

The document cites as one resource for their study the pro-euthanasia organization, Compassion in Choices. The use of organizations as resources which have as their primary focus the legalization of these practices does not lend to the credibility of the document. There are other sources for the same statistics that could have been cited.

NAPN notes that the current statement of the ANA position on assisted suicide and euthanasia does not require any revision. Sadly, even that document, which declined to endorse assisted suicide/euthanasia, was not sufficient for the ANA to come to the protection of the life of Terri Schiavo who was not in the process of dying as food and hydration were withdrawn from her in order to assure her death. In their official statement, the ANA sided with the controversial determination that Ms. Schiavo was in a persistent vegetative state and as such, the proper decision was reached in the withdrawing of nutrition and hydration based on some unsubstantiated statements she supposedly made regarding the care she would have wanted under such circumstances. The stated position of the ANA does not translate into life-affirming actions on the part of the ANA. The absence of activity to protect the life of patients speaks volumes and it would be naïve to think that the new document would produce any different action on the part of the ANA.

The main objection of NAPN to the document is the lack of any real protection for the conscience rights of nurses. As an organization which has been involved in the defense of exercise of these rights, it is distressing to us that the professional organization which purports to represent nurses has been absent in the defense of these nurses in spite of any platitudes to the contrary. Yes, limits outlined in the document do exist, but it seems unlikely that the ANA will come to the defense of the nurse who declines to participate when it has not done so in the practice of abortion. More than once at the state level where conscience protections were being considered for legislation, the state affiliate of the ANA has testified, not on behalf of the nurses, but on behalf of those who would force them to violate their conscience. Where are the protections for those in the medical profession who would object to participating in the omission of care for Terri Schiavo? The ANA remained silent when President Obama rescinded the conscience protections which were put in place in the waning months of the Bush administration. Such actions lead one to question just who the ANA actually represents.

Lastly, it should be noted that the ANA position of support for the highly politicized Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act further clouds the stated position of the ANA. Support for an act which promotes wholesale practice of abortion and provides for a Patient Advisory Board which would limit treatment is counter to the stated position of the ANA. The ANA cannot have it both ways. You cannot make high minded statements to the public and then act in a manner contradictory to these statements and retain your credibility.

We pro-life nurses feel abandoned with regard to the protection of our conscience rights in the workplace. In spite of the position statement of ANA supporting a nurse’s right to be exempt from participating in procedures which transgress her moral principles, they have been absent in the defense of nurses such as Cathy Cenzon-DeCarlo in New York in her dispute with Mt. Sinai Hospital for forcing her to choose between her conscience and her job. They were in absentia in the defense of the twelve nurses in New Jersey who were told they must participate in abortion or lose their jobs. In spite of platitudes in their statement, it has not translated into action. Nurses deserve better representation.

LifeNews Note: Marianne Linane is the Executive Director of the National Association of Pro-life Nurses. She holds a Masters Degree in Bioethics from Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois.

Technorati Tags: euthanasia,seniors,elderly,watch the other hand,life,pro-life,nurses,eugenics,bioethics,death panels,wake-up America,Catholics,Christians

Death Panels are HERE

The Grouch of Right Truth

Today while working my shift in the emergency room, an old lady was brought in very sick and in fact near death. I did my usual workup and evaluation and attempted to administer life saving treatment. It was my plan to admit this woman to the hospital. I found out a little later that this same woman had been a patient here just slightly more than 2 weeks ago with a DIFFERENT DIAGNOSIS. I was told that if this woman was admitted, the hospital would not be paid.

The new Medicare rule now is that if the same Medicare patient is re-admitted to the hospital within 30 days, the hospital will not be paid. When they first started this nonsense they said this only applied to patients with the same diagnosis. Now they have "expanded" the rule to include re-admissions for any reason. So if you're in the hospital for pneumonia, and 3 weeks later, you break your leg.......too bad. Medicare will not pay the hospital to fix your leg.

A little later a man was brought in by ambulance, very sick, in pain, and near death. I did my usual evaluation and treatment, doing my best to ease pain and stabilize this man's illness. He needed to be admitted. To my chagrin I found out that he had been treated for the SAME problem at a DIFFERENT HOSPITAL about 10 days prior. If I admitted this man, our hospital would be paid nothing. I admitted the man.

My friends I am caught in a terrible position. I could have given treatment to both of these people and sent them out. There is no doubt that both of them would have died. Oh, I could also be sued for malpractice, but nobody cares about that. That's why we have insurance, right?

My other choice is to admit the person, knowing full well that the hospital will have to absorb the cost of care without hope of remuneration.

This is the climate we as healthcare providers find ourselves in today. How many small and struggling hospitals will survive under such ludicrous payment schemes? Indeed many facilities will close their doors. Many doctors will retire early or simply go do something else. As more and more are added to the Obamacare rolls, there will be less and less access. People will get sicker and yes, people will die because of it.

I had a sick and sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach today after both of these incidents. We have a good hospital. Our nurses, technicians, and support staff work very hard and they deserve to be paid for their efforts. I am not so worried about myself as I am near retirement, but I worry for all the younger folks in the healthcare business and I worry about our seniors who are in the long run going to be sacrificed as the government implements cost cutting shenanigans to cover up their broken promise made way back in 1964.

Folks, this is a nightmare!

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Technorati Tags: rationing panels,rationed healthcare for seniors,granny,seniors,Complete Lives System,Sarah Palin,Soylent Green,ObamaCare,ObamaTax,elderly,ObamaCare surprises,John Holdren,Ezekial Emanuel,Obamaland,wake-up America,wake-up seniors,repeal and replace ObamaCare,Romney-Ryan 2012,death panels

On the Road to Death Panels

Star Parker: “America's 'soulless materialism,' declining birthrate leading to disaster”

WND: With the first presidential debate and the only vice-presidential debate behind us, it seems pretty clear that so-called “social issues” are not going to get much attention in this year’s presidential politics.

It’s unfortunate, I think. We deceive ourselves to permit the assumption that values and behavior are not the real drivers behind our economic problems.

The fiscal crisis of our entitlement programs is the direct result of these values and behavior.

The fiscal soundness of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is rooted in the assumption that those working can fund the needs of our elderly through payroll taxes. In the case of Social Security, we’re talking about retirement income. In the case of Medicare, we’re talking about health costs of the aged, and, Medicaid, long-term care of low income elderly.

When these programs were founded, the approach of using payroll taxes to fund care for our elderly seemed like a viable idea.

The bottom has fallen out, however, because of changes in our behavior. There are fewer and fewer workers per retiree as result of longer life spans and a shrinking workforce.

In 1950, there were 16 working Americans for every retiree. Today, there are less than three. According to projections, by 2030 there will be less than two.

It doesn’t take a supercomputer to realize that if we don’t reduce the retirement and health care resources available to our elderly, the burden on each working American to provide those resources increases substantially when they must be provided for each retiree by two, rather than 16, workers.

Yet the discussion about this crisis is 100 percent focused on how to cut the spending, and zero attention is spent on restoration of values that could rebuild families, produce more children and stop destroying the unborn.

According to a new report just out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the overall fertility rate of American women – defined by the number of births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 – is the lowest ever recorded since the government started gathering this information.

According to demographers, a fertility rate of 2.1 is necessary to keep a population at a steady state – which means that the overall population remains the same size over time. The 2.1 rate means that each adult woman produces 2.1 children on average over her lifetime.

After years of the U.S. fertility rate hovering slightly above 2.1, it has now dropped below to 1.9. That means the overall U.S. population is shrinking.

We generally look to Europe to see low fertility rates and shrinking populations. However, according to the Economist magazine, the U.S., at 1.9, now has a fertility rate lower than France, whose fertility rate stands at 2.0.

A change in prevailing values could reverse this trend. But the opposite is happening.

According to a new Gallup poll, for the first time most Americans feel that government should not promote any particular set of values.

In 1993, the first year Gallup did this annual survey, 53 percent said government should promote traditional values and 42 percent said that no particular set of values should be promoted. Now, in this latest survey, it is the opposite. Fifty-two percent say no particular set of values should be promoted, and 44 percent say government should promote traditional values.

With no rebirth of traditional values that could lead to more babies, caring for our elderly will become an increasingly onerous burden. Where can this soulless materialism lead?

In a recent New York Times op-ed, New York investment banker and former counselor to the Treasury secretary in the Obama administration Steven Rattner provides a shockingly candid answer.

The op-ed begins, “We need death panels.”

Rattner then qualifies this by saying, well, maybe not “exactly.”

But he then concludes with, “We may shrink from … stomach-wrenching choices, but they are inescapable.”

Star Parker is the author of Uncle Sam's Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves America's Poor and What We Can Do About It, Revised and Updated Edition, Pimps, Whores and Welfare Brats: From Welfare Cheat to Conservative Messenger and White Ghetto: How Middle Class America Reflects Inner City Decay

Related:

Meet the ObamaCare Mandate Committee

Obamacare rationing panels an ‘immediate danger to seniors’: former AMA president

“Death Panel” Three Years Later

The Bilderberg Group’s Connection To Everything In The World – Updated

People of Faith

Obama Regulation Czar, Cass Sunstein, Advocated Removing People’s Organs Without Explicit Consent

Obama’s "Science Czar" Advocates De-Developing the US to World of Zero Growth

Video: More Scary Stuff From Obama’s Science Czar

Holdren Says Constitution Backs Compulsory Abortion

Holdren: Seize Babies Born to Unwed Women

List of Obama’s Czars Plus Two – Updated: 8.18.09 – Remember when the Czars were the hot topic… but they overwhelmed us and forgot them to do they scary dirty jobs…

Science Czar John P. Holdren – Updated 9.2.09

Meet Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel: Deny Coverage to Elderly an Disabled for the Greater Good – But don’t forget… Sarah Palin was crazy…

Complete Lives System by Ezekial Emanuel

Checkout: ObamaCare Survival Guide

Technorati Tags: ObamaCare Mandate Committee,rationing for seniors,rationing,death panels,ObamaCare,repeal and replace ObamaCare,wake-up America,Star Parker,rationing for the disabled,Rationed healtcare,Ezekial Emanuel,Sarah Palin,John Holdren,watch the other hand,ObamaCare mandates,stand-up America. Complete Lives System,Sarah Palin was right,birth rate,U.S. declining birth rate,entitlement programs,social issues,Steven Rattner,Social Security,Medicare,Medicaid

GAO Report: White House Intentionally Delayed Obamacare’s Cuts To Medicaid Until After 2012 Election…

GAO: Obamacare Timeline Based on Election

WFB:

A recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has laid bare the Obama administration’s effort to delay the impact of Medicare cuts in the health care law until after the 2012 election.

Under the new law, cuts to Medicare Advantage funding would force many seniors off their preferred health plans. This aspect of the law was originally intended to go into effect before the election in November, but fearing the political backlash, the administration launched an $8.35 billion “demonstration project” that would effectively delay the cuts until after the election.

The GAO report urged the administration to cancel the project, citing its numerous “design shortcomings” and noting that the program fails to “conform to the principles of budget neutrality,” meaning the $8.35 billion is not offset by spending cuts or other revenue, and will have to be borrowed.

The Weekly Standard’s Jeffrey H. Anderson has written extensively about the controversial program here.

“This is a grossly underreported story—one aimed right at what is perhaps Obama’s most vulnerable point: his amazing decision to pay for Obamacare largely by looting from Medicare,” Anderson told the Washington Free Beacon in an email. “What’s more, it ties in the corruption and lawlessness of his administration and hearkens back to the Cornhusker Kickback, the Louisiana Purchase, and Gator Aid.”

Former campaign strategists Democrat Joe Trippi and Republican Karl Rove have both said that Obama is waging a Chicago-style gutter politics campaign and that he will say and do anything to get re-elected to the most powerful office in the world, including demeaning it with using falsehoods and smoke & mirrors  to stay there.  If Obama is re-elected this is only the tip of the bad news iceberg for seniors, healthcare overall, taxes, and the American way of life!

Technorati Tags: repeal and replace ObamaCare,ObamaCare,watch the other hand,Election 2012,seniors,elderly,one term Obama,Medicaid,Chicago-style politics,GAO,wake up seniors,wake up America

Obamacare to Herd Disabled Seniors to Bare-Bones Medicaid Plans

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former senior official at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the Bush administration, warns that under Obamacare disabled seniors who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid will receive inferior care, according to a report by the New York Post.

Gottlieb, an American Enterprise Institute resident fellow, says these low-income people who are elderly or have disabilities will be uprooted from the tried-and-true Medicare fold and “herded” into state-run Medicaid plans as another phase of Obamacare grips the nation.

“It’s hard to see how they’ll be better off in bare-bones, and sometimes poorly-run state Medicaid plans than by getting access to Medicare options they were entitled to before Obamacare,” Dr. Gottlieb lamented on Friday.

A so-called Obamacare “demonstration” program kicking-off in January will turn over management of such “dual-eligibles,” along with the money that the federal government was spending on their medical care to any state that wants to climb aboard the latest federal money wagon.

Some cash-strapped states are jumping at the chance to capture federal Medicare dollars for their Medicaid programs, according to Gottlieb.

Indeed, some anxious states have already committed to automatically placing these folks in existing Medicaid plans. Big problem lurking here, says Gottlieb: Such plans often aren’t equipped to serve an older, sicker group of patients. “That will mean big savings for the state and worse care for the vulnerable,” he concludes.

The doctor cites significant examples:

• New York is looking to shift 700,000 “dual-eligibles” into a capitated managed-care model or HMO-style care. The target: Corral most of the elderly poor and disabled by 2015.
• California plans to move up to 1.1 million duals into its state-run Medicaid managed-care system.

These examples are but the tip of a huge green iceberg of big cash.
According to the Post report, Wall Street figures the entire “dual eligible” market at $350 billion a year.

While this is good news on The Street where the stocks of Medicaid HMOs are being bid skyward, Gottlieb is not consoled. “Care is likely to suffer. Many of these elderly poor also suffer from a lot of chronic ailments like diabetes and lung disease. [T]hese people have diverse medical problems, and have been most successfully served by Medicare programs that tailored services to their specific needs.”

Gottlieb’s bottom line: The Obamacare demonstration looks like an effort to shore up Medicaid by subsidizing it with Medicare dollars. “It’s another case of how Obamacare is designed to serve the existing health-care system, rather than transforming it to meet the needs of individual patients.”

Source: Newsmax.com: Expert: Obamacare to Herd Disabled Seniors to Bare-Bones Medicaid Plans

Wow… two ObamaCare death panel target groups rolled into one, the disabled and seniors.  Time for some major apologies to Sarah Palin who was soooo right!

Related:

“People 70 and Over Will Not Be Treated Under ObamaCare”… and You Thought DEATH PANELS Were Gone – Updated

Obama Embraces ‘Death Panel’ Concept in Medicare Rule

"People 70 and over will not be treated under Obamacare… and you thought DEATH PANELS were gone"– Updated

Mark Levin received a phone call Tuesday night from a brain surgeon who had just been to Washington DC, learning about the requirements the government has in place with the Obama Health Care Plan. This is a must read. The surgeon says that if you are over 70, you will get “comfort care,” and that surgery can be performed “if” the government panel deems it necessary. It also reveals that the government language used to describe patients is “units.”

If you are over 70 and have a stroke, you can and will be denied surgery. The documents referred to by the caller are not public yet.

Here is the youtube of that call, posted by warrenherrick.

A transcription of that phone call appeared on Free Republic, posted by ‘Future Useless Eater.’ Thank you, FUE.

Transcript…

Caller: I heard you talking earlier about the government not knowing how to make pencils, and then you talked about brain surgeons, and I happen to be a brain surgeon, so I found your topic very interesting. And actually, I just returned from Washington DC, where we were reading over what the Obama Health Care Plan would be for advanced neurosurgery for patients over 70, which we all found quite disturbing.
…
Because as our population gets older the majority of our patients ARE getting over 70, which requires stroke therapy and aneurysm therapy, and basically what the document stated, was if you’re over 70 and you come in to an emergency room and you’re on government supported care, that you get ‘comfort care’.

Levin: wait an minute… what? what document? what’s the source for this?

Caller: This is the Obama’s new health care plan for advanced neuro-surgical care.

Levin: and who issued this? HHS?

Caller: Yes. And basically, they don’t call them patients, they call them ‘units’ and instead of… they call it ‘ethics panels’ or ‘ethics committees’ which get together and meet, and decide where the money would go for hospitals, and basically, for patients over 70 years, that advanced neuro-surgical care was not generally indicated.

Levin: So its generally going to be denied?

Caller: Yes, absolutely.

Levin: Ok, let me ask you this… is this public…? GO ahead…

Caller: If someone comes in at 70 years of age with a bleed in their brain, I can promise you I’m not going to get a bunch of administrators together on an ethics panel at two in the morning to decide that I’m ok to do surgery.

Levin: Let me ask you this… Is this published somewhere for the general public? In other words, where a pedestrian like me can get ahold of it?

Caller: Not yet, not yet.

Levin: So this was discussed just with your community, of neurosurgeons?

Caller: Yes, exactly. The AANS and CNS, the American Association of NeuroSurgeons and the Congress of NeuroSurgeons, because everybody knows cuts are coming in medicine, in reimbursement, and we’re the most expensive in all the fields of medicine, and we’re the smallest field.
But at two or three or four in the morning, we’re the ones that are in the operating room, and we will have to wait for an ethics panel to convene, and they’re not made up of physicians, they’re made of administrators, to decide whether a patient should receive our care.

Levin: So Sarah Palin was right? We ARE going to have these death panels, aren’t we?

Caller: Oh, Absolutely! I’m German by heritage, and I’ve read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, and basically, they dont call them patients, they call them units, and if you’re a unit above a certain age, you get comfort care, instead of advanced neurosurgical intervention.

Levin: Now this… You went to a seminar in Washington D.C?

Caller: Yes, A few of my former partners, two of them have gone to work for… One runs the VA system, and one is head of the Congress of NeuroSurgeons out of DC.

Levin: And this information is based, you’re certain, on representations and information provided by HHS and other government officials?

Caller: Yep.

Levin: And when will the rest of us become aware of it? After the election?

Caller: Ah, Probably. There are so many things that the government keeps under control, that are used in surgery called HUD devices, or Humanitarian Use Devices, that we’re allowed to use now, because they haven’t undergone full FDA approval, and they’re just used in surgery, because people know its the right thing to do.

But the government can step in at any time, like they did two months ago with a device, and said, this device hasn’t met what we want, and there’s no exact criteria, and then they can take it away from us.

Levin: And the people who are telling you what to do, they don’t even know how to make a pencil, do they?

Caller: Exactly, that’s what I’m saying. And we always joke around, “it’s not brain surgery”, but you know, I did nine years after medical school, I’ve been in training ten years, and now I have people who don’t know a THING about what I’m doing, and telling me when I can and cannot operate.

Levin: All right, please keep in contact, will you? I have to go, but this has been a very very cruical call!

Update: This caller confirms that what Obama said to Jane Sturm was exactly what was planned for in Obamacare.

by jenkuznicki @ 10:40 am on November 24, 2011. Filed under Mark Levin Audio

Related:

Seniors Left Behind?

Useless Eaters

People with this Factor Live Past 100

Cutting-edge research is revealing the power of a “master antioxidant” – a tripeptide molecule called glutathione (GSH).

People with the highest levels of GSH are the ones who routinely live past 100. Plus, it may prevent a host of chronic diseases like arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer and diabetes – just to name a few.

Best of all, boosting your levels of GSH is easy. Today, I’ll give you an effective strategy that may add decades to your life. I’ll tell you exactly how to get the most powerful forms of GSH and how much to take.

When scientists at the University of Louisville gave mosquitoes a GSH booster, their levels went up by 50 to 100 percent. And, their life spans increased by a remarkable 30 to 38 percent.1

Doctors at the Montreal General Hospital Research Institute in Canada then repeated the experiment with mice. They were able to duplicate the results – boosting levels of GSH and increasing life spans.2

Their success prompted others to investigate the effects of GSH in humans. Odense University in Denmark compared levels of GSH in centenarians (age 100 to 105) and people age 60 to 79 and found that GSH was higher in the centenarians. And among the centenarian group, those who were the most active had the very highest levels.3

In the same way that high levels of GSH increase life spans, low levels of GSH show a direct link to chronic degenerative diseases. Here’s just a partial list:

Heart Disease	Cataracts
Arthritis	Renal Failure
High Blood Pressure	Leukemia
Diabetes	Hearing Loss
Cancer	Obstructive Lung Disease (COPD)
Macular Degeneration

And high levels of GSH are associated with fewer illnesses. A University of Michigan study found that those with higher GSH levels reported a greater sense of well being along with lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol and reduced body fat.4

The most natural way to get more GSH is eating foods high in glutathione. These include horseradish, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale and Brussels sprouts.

These nutritional supplements will also boost your GSH:

· Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA)

· Melatonin

· Bilberry

· Grape Seed Extract

· Turmeric

There are also two reliable GSH precursors – substances that stimulate the production of GSH. These are whey protein5, commonly found in protein powders and N-acetyl cysteine6 (in a dose of 1,800 mg to 2,400 mg a day) – both are available at your local nutrition and/or health food stores.

Finally, you can take GSH supplements (1 to 2 grams per day). The latest reports show that up to 80 percent of most GSH supplements are absorbed and used by your body.

For best results, I recommend using a combination of all four ways to boost GSH.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

Posted: True Health Is True Wealth

Obamacare: Cut the Elderly and Give to AARP

Among the $500 billion in Medicare cuts that will provide the bulk of the financing for Obama's health care plan is a $160 billion to $180 billion cut in the Medicare Advantage program, which offers a range of benefits not available to beneficiaries under basic Medicare.

Medicare Advantage should be Obama's favorite program. It combines all the elements he likes -- premiums are subsidized for low-income elderly, and the companies negotiate low-priced, managed care that emphasizes prevention, treatment of chronic conditions and coordination among doctors. As a result, its costs on the one hand and its premiums on the other are both much lower than with conventional insurance.

Ten million primarily low-income elderly have voluntarily enrolled in Medicare Advantage and realize savings of about $1,000 annually in enhanced benefits over and above what Medicare itself provides. These extra benefits include reductions in out-of-pocket costs and comprehensive drug coverage, vision, dental and hearing benefits, wellness programs (like gym memberships), and disease management and care coordination programs.

Medicare Advantage, which gained momentum during the Bush-43 years, essentially implements all the economies and efficiencies that Obama preaches nonstop. Doctors speak to one another, duplication is avoided, care is managed, and there is an emphasis on prevention.

The alternative to Medicare Advantage is Medicare supplement plans, popularly called Medigap coverage. But these conventional health insurance policies offer fewer benefits at higher premiums. They offer no care coordination, no chronic care management, no pay-for-performance incentives. They have no way to control costs. They just write out checks.

Because Medicare Advantage negotiates payment levels and saves money through bulk purchasing, inpatient costs run 20 percent to 25 percent lower than under Medigap insurance. More patients are handled through outpatient care. X-rays and other radiation cost 10 percent to 20 percent less, and durable medical equipment like wheelchairs, walkers and oxygen bottles run one-fifth less than with conventional insurance policies.

So why is Obama so keen to cut Medicare Advantage?

Here's a clue: AARP (the American Association of Retired Persons) does not sell Medicare Advantage. But it makes a vast amount of money selling Medigap coverage. AARP has had no higher political priority than to curb the Medicare Advantage program and replace it with Medigap insurance. The profit margins on Medigap are greater, and AARP has every intention of exploiting them with Obama's help. His price? AARP backing for his program.

The American Seniors Association (ASA), an alternative to AARP that represents hundreds of thousands of elderly, says, "It is outrageous that Medicare Advantage, a private program with premium assistance for seniors ... has come under attack." Stuart Barton, ASA president, notes that under Medicare Advantage, private healthcare companies "compete to provide care based on a negotiated price."

Obama's deal with AARP represents special interest politics at its worst. He has already negotiated a deal with the big drug companies to get their support for his bill (and their advertising bucks to promote it) in return for guaranteeing that the cuts in their prices and profits will be small. And, by cutting Medicare Advantage, he signed up the AARP too.

Obama plans to slash the premium subsidies to low income elderly for Medicare Advantage coverage. This would drive up the premiums and drive many poor seniors into Medigap coverage. And then, most cynically, he would take the money he saves on shortchanging poor old people and use it to subsidize the policies of people in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s who are, by definition, not poor (and thus not eligible for Medicaid).

And all this from a liberal? A Democrat?

by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann – Authors of Catastrophe. Dick Morris, a former political adviser to Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and President Bill Clinton (Dem), is the author of Condi vs. Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race.

There are several good Republican options available, HR 3400 is one, but the Dems won’t even look at them and as much as Obama likes to look inclusive, he has not met with the Republicans since April and either refuses or ignores any of their attempts to set up a meeting.

(1) SERIOUS tort reform is needed. Medical malpractice needs to be redefined from ordinary negligence (that is, any time anything goes wrong, you can sue) to gross negligence (that is, you can sue only if some ridiculously awful thing has happened, such as the surgeon botched the surgery because he was drunk at the time). Furthermore, since medical drugs, machines, and procedures have to be OK'ed by the FDA, they should carry NO liability whatsoever, as long as they are made up to specs -- if the gov't insists on the power to say what treatments you can have, and the gov't says this or that treatment is OK, then the gov't should accept liability for such treatments. Period.

(2) Medical savings accounts (combined with high-deductible, catastrophic-coverage-only insurance) would bring the market into medical prices, since people would shop for the lowest price to save money for themselves. Remember, the price of two types of medical procedures has been falling while everything else has gone 'way up: cosmetic surgery and laser eye surgery. Why? Because these procedures are not covered by insurance, so people shop for the best price.

(3) Add to this a free market to allow the inter-state purchase and sale of health insurance, which is not allowed now, and portability and the bulk of our problems would be over without destroying our medical system, maintaining freedom of choice, and without allowing a gov’t takeover of healthcare.

Related Resources:

AARP Series: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing - Part II

What Will the Year 2109 America Be Like for Babies Living to 100?

Are the elderly cost effective?

Stop Paying the Crooks

The Healing of America

Prescription for Truth: Daniel Hannan from England - HealthCare Worse for Elderly

Daniel Hannan, a British 37-year-old member of the European Parliament, says socialized medicine is worse for the elderly; long waits for services, rationing and no option to pay for better services or procedures yourself. He cannot imagine that Americans would consider trading in what we have for European-style Socialized Medicine.

Is this what you guys want? He lives with this system and wonders why the heck we would want it: They have more bureaucrats than doctors and the British Healthcare System is the 3rd largest employer in the world! ...So once we have it, there are so many bureaucratic jobs involved that there is no going back. And it is exactly that fact that makes it so enticing to Team Obama and the Dems; giant government and huge control of funds and power.

In the Unites States if you are diagnosed with prostate cancer we have a 100% minimum 5 year recovery and survival rate. In Canada it is 95% and in Britain it is only 77%.

Daniel Hannan from England on U-Tube - Healthcare Worse for the Elderly

Daniel Hannan on ObamaCare: Are you people insane?

A desperate intervention from a man who’s already seen this car crash up close, wondering why any free people would tolerate it short of a major war forcing them to. The words of one of the world’s most eloquent conservatives need no elaboration from me, but as companion reading to Beck’s point about how lame the arguments are for this boondoggle, try Ramesh Ponnuru’s piece on the paradoxes of ObamaCare in Time.

Quote:

There are two basic points about health-care reform that President Obama wants to convey. The first is that, as he put it in an ABC special in June, “the status quo is untenable.” Our health-care system is rife with “skewed incentives.” It gives us “a whole bunch of care” that “may not be making us healthier.” It generates too many specialists and not enough primary-care physicians. It is “bankrupting families,” “bankrupting businesses” and “bankrupting our government at the state and federal level. So we know things are going to have to change.”

Obama’s second major point is that–to quote from the same broadcast–”if you are happy with your plan and you are happy with your doctor, then we don’t want you to have to change … So what we’re saying is, If you are happy with your plan and your doctor, you stick with it.”

So the system is an unsustainable disaster, but you can keep your piece of it if you want. And the Democrats wonder why selling health-care reform to the public has been so hard?

Exit question: How do we get Hannan to run for office here? Seriously.

by ALLAHPUNDIT – Hot Air

Posted: True Health is True Wealth

Useless Eaters

While Americans worry over government insurance plans, longer waits for treatment, and "healthcare rationing," a more sinister agenda lurks in the shadows of the healthcare bill now before the House of Representatives.  Today's Medicare recipients could be the first to experience our government's new solution to America's "useless eaters."

Section 1233 of HR 3200, the healthcare reform measure under consideration, mandates"Advance Care Planning Consultation."  Under the proposal, all senior citizens receiving government medical care would be required to undergo these counseling sessions every five years.  Further reading of the law reveals that these sessions are nothing more than a not-so-veiled attempt to convince the elderly to forego treatment.  HR 3200 calls outright for these compulsory consultations to recommend "palliative care and hospice."  These are typically administered in the place of treatment intended to prolong life, and instead focus on pain relief until death.  These are, of course, reasonable and beneficial options for terminally ill patients and their families.

But this legislation doesn't stop there.  Section 1233 requires "an explanation by the practitioner of the continuum of end-of-life services and supports available, including palliative care and hospice, and benefits for such services and supports that are available under this title." But, under the terms of the section, the federal government can compel more frequent end-of-life sessions if it declares a "significant change" in the health of the Medicare recipient, a change that the bill does not confine to fatal illness, but which encompasses broad and abstract conditions described as "chronic," "progressive," or "life-limiting."  The bill even empowers physicians to make an "actionable medical order" to "limit some or all specified interventions..."  In effect, the government can determine that a "life-limiting" condition demands the withholding of treatment.

The bill puts the Secretary of Health in charge of life and death decisions coming out of these sessions.  Under the heading,  "QUALITY REPORTING INITIATIVE," the bill says, "For purposes of reporting data on quality measures for covered professional services furnished during 2011 and any subsequent year, to the extent that measures are available, the Secretary shall include quality measures on end of life care and advanced care planning that have been adopted or endorsed by a consensus-based organization, if appropriate. Such measures shall measure both the creation of and adherence to orders for life-sustaining treatment."

These measures are merely an extension of the healthcare provisions hidden in the stimulus bill, which contained alarming new guidelines that required medical practitioners to judge whether or not treating certain patients was "comparatively effective."  These decisions were to be based on the findings of a presidential advisory council on the costs of varying treatments. As a result of these changes, treatment is now a question of "cost" and humans are viewed as potential "liabilities" instead of patients. 

Doctors up in arms over these radical changes have been attacked with the worst kind of demagoguery imaginable. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) lacks any shame, saying that doctors who oppose this legislation have "lost sight of the common good and the pledge they took in the Hippocratic oath."  Last time I checked, the Hippocratic oath didn't say anything about refusing to treat patients on the basis of cost.  And somehow, whenever the words "common good" are thrown around, individuals are about to be hurt.  McDermott even went on to accuse anti-reform doctors of "practicing fear without a license," saying that "they should be subject to a malpractice suit."

President Obama has even been so disingenuous as to accuse Republicans of denying medical treatment to people that need it, saying, "The opponents of health insurance reform would have us do nothing. But think about what doing nothing, in the face of ever increasing costs, will do to you and your family."  This is a classic false choice scenario.  Either we pass Obama's legislation, or people will die.   In fact, doing nothing is infinitely preferable to doing the wrong thing, especially when we're being pushed to move too quickly.

It was the same with the stimulus package.  And we all know how that turned out: 9.4 percent unemployment and a budget deficit four times larger than when President Bush was in office. Obama has become a master at using false urgency to achieve hidden goals completely unrelated to the issue at hand.

The real concern is not the imaginary people who might die without this legislation, but rather those real people who might die because of it.  Never before have we been this close to making federal law that formalizes procedures for limiting the care we will provide to certain categories of citizens.

Never before have we been this close to adopting a system that will tell certain citizens to forego treatment for the good of their country.

Totalitarian regimes approach matters of human worth in this way.  But this is America, and our Constitution says that, "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process."

But if HR 3200 becomes law, "due process" regarding someone's life will become a question for bureaucrats.  When all is said and done, the ultimate result of the proposed bill is to transfer to government the unprecedented power of determining who lives and who dies.

Once a government adopts this utilitarian stance toward human life, anything becomes possible.  Suspend for a moment your jaded response to Hitler references, and note that in Germany, Order T4 required physicians to kill 70,273 people[i] "judged incurably sick, by critical medical examination"[ii] or those "unworthy of life."[iii]  5,000 of these victims were children.  The elderly, the mentally infirmed, the deformed, and the racially impure, were put to death by teams of "medical experts."  Thousands were sterilized.  By 1939, 360,000 people had been sterilized to prevent the reproduction of the socially "unfit."

Although the methods have grown more subtle and the language more libertarian, our attitudes are not so very different in America today.  We casually discuss whether people with certain afflictions merit the costs necessary to keep them alive.  Quality of life trumps sanctity of life in most quarters.  Dr. Jack Kevorkian's assisted suicide methodology, once unthinkable, is now an acceptable topic for polite conversation.

In America, a rising number of parents abort children on the basis of tests indicating imperfections or disorders, the effective slaughter of the mentally ill.  In fact, over 80 percent of fetuses diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted.

Once a nation that cherished the right to life, America is now a nation that cherishes the right to death.  50 million dead unborn children testify to this fact.   Prior to the ban in 2003, partial birth abortion-effective infanticide-claimed the lives of 5,000 children every year.

The language of Obama's healthcare reform bill should be a warning to us.  This is only the first step in a process that spells death to our way of life.  This bill is a test to see what the American people will allow.  If you treasure the elderly and the wisdom of previous generations, if you value human worth and care about equality for all Americans.

By:  John Griffing – July 26, 2009

---

[i] Robert N. Proctor, Racial Hygiene: Medicine under the Nazis, (Harvard 1988), 191.

[ii] Ibid., 177.

[iii] Dr. Robert Jay Lifton, The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide by (holocaust-history.org)

Source:  American Thinker

Posted:  True Health Is True Wealth