Arizona Strikes Again - Remember The Repubs Taling About Pulling The Plug On Grandma

[EV_Ares]

Let us revisit the matter of pulling the plug on grandma.

You may remember the historic day in 2009 when Senator Chuck Grassley brought the issue to the fore at a town meeting in Iowa. “We should not have a government plan that will pull the plug on grandma,” he said to loud cheers.

This was when Grassley, a Republican, was negotiating with the Democrats on a bipartisan health care reform bill. Optimistic spirits felt his plug-pulling metaphor was simply an attempt to reassure his constituents, while he continued working in good faith with the Finance Committee chairman, Senator Max (I Am Always Wrong) Baucus.

Later, President Obama asked Grassley whether he would vote for the bill if all his suggestions for change were included. Grassley said probably not. This was taken to be a bad sign.

Then all hell broke loose and the Republicans kept ranting about how “Obamacare” would put the federal government between you and your doctor and try to save money by prohibiting said doctor from using the best treatments and procedures.

All this came to mind when I was talking to Flor Felix, whose husband, Francisco, a 32-year-old truck driver with four kids, was denied a liver transplant because the Arizona Legislature had yanked funds for it out of a state Medicaid program.

As Marc Lacey reported in The Times this week, Francisco had been prepped for surgery after a friend whose wife was dying asked that he be given her liver.

“It was good news when we heard the liver matched,” Flor said. “The doctor said: ‘Everything’s going well. We’re going to proceed with the surgery.’ ”

But Francisco, who has hepatitis C, had lost his health insurance when he had to stop working and had gotten coverage under the state Medicaid program. And Gov. Jan Brewer had signed a law eliminating Medicaid coverage of certain kinds of transplants as a cost-cutting measure. Flor said the next words she got from the doctor were: “You need to bring $200,000 as a deposit for the hospital.”

Francisco was summarily discharged. The Arizona state government, which is totally controlled by Republicans, got between him and his doctor.

The rest of this article @ the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/04/opinion/04collins.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a212

[Catshrink]

1. So where are Palin, Bachmann, and Virginia Fox now?

Yes, Virginia, the Republicans really are putting people to death at the hands of their government.

[Angry Dragon]

2. They are hiding

They can't open their mouths because it does not fit their agenda.

Republican death panels are alive, they did tell everyone there
would be death panels, they just didn't tell you they would be the ones having them.