"thunder" wrote in message
t...
On Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:40:26 -0400, Eisboch wrote:

"thunder" wrote in message
t...

It's also true that many hospitals go beyond the requirement,
regardless of the cost. Still, I wouldn't want to be in an emergency
room without insurance. Hell, even with insurance, a major sickness is
a leading cause of personal bankruptcy.

You've touched on the forbidden facet of health care. At what point is
someone's life worth destroying the lives of loved ones by putting them
in hopeless debt or bankrupcy?

If someone has a terminal illness, I might balk at spending hundreds of
thousands of dollars, for a few weeks more life. Short of that, I value
life far more than dollars. I understand your point. The last few
months of a life, probably cost more, medically, than the entire rest of
that life, but ...

Both of my folks, both in their nineties, are still going *relatively*
strong. My Mom just had a carpal tunnel operation. Now, some people
might say that's excessive. Not me, I saw the pain she was in.
Fortunately, they have good insurance, but if they hadn't, I wouldn't
have hesitated to pick up the tab.

Personally, I don't want to be calling those shots. Nor do I want the
insurance companies, nor the government calling them. I'll leave those
calls in the hands of a doctor. Anything short of that, smacks of
eugenics.


I certainly don't think a carpal tunnel operation qualifies for the
decisions I alluded to.
Good for her.

I was thinking more of terminal conditions and the costs associated with
keeping people alive for a relatively short period of time. My father
developed stomach cancer back in 1998. He knew, as did I, what the
prognosis was and although he had health insurance coverage for all kinds of
treatment attempts, he made the decision to forego them and lived his final
months with some dignity.

Like I mentioned to Harry, it becomes a personal, responsible decision.

Eisboch