In honor of the second anniversary of the bloated leviathan known as Obamacare(less) and its grandpa, Mitt Trotsky, I've decided to put together a little tribute to government-run healthcare. Without further ado:
***********************************
"CROW AGENCY, Mont. - Ta'Shon Rain Little Light, a happy little girl who loved to dance and dress up in traditional American Indian clothes, had stopped eating and walking. She complained constantly to her mother that her stomach hurt.
When Stephanie Little Light took her daughter to the Indian Health Service clinic in this wind-swept and remote corner of Montana, they told her the 5-year-old was depressed.
Ta'Shon's pain rapidly worsened and she visited the clinic about 10 more times over several months, before her lung collapsed and she was airlifted to a children's hospital in Denver. There she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, confirming the suspicions of family members.
A few weeks later, a charity sent the whole family to Disney World so Ta'Shon could see Cinderella's Castle. She never got to see the castle, though. She died in her hotel bed soon after the family arrived in Florida."
http://www.gazette.com/articles/health-56520-indian-care.html#ixzz1q5m7e0w3
***********************************
You'll never guess who runs Indian Health Services. C'mon, take a guess. I'll give you a hint: It's really, really big. It robs you every payday. It robs you every April 15th. It builds bridges to nowhere and fish ladders. Yep, that's right, our Overlord, the federal government, runs Indian Health Services.
Ta'Shon's story isn't unique. In fact:
***********************************
"On some reservations, the oft-quoted refrain is, 'don't get sick after June,' when the federal dollars run out. It's a sick joke, and a sad one because it is sometimes true. Officials say they have about half of what they need to operate, and patients know they must be dying or about to lose a limb to get serious care.
Wealthier tribes can supplement the federal health service budget with their own dollars. But poorer tribes, often those on the most remote reservations, far away from city hospitals, are stuck with grossly substandard care. The agency itself describes a 'rationed health care system.'
The sad fact is an old fact. The U.S. has an obligation, based on a 1787 agreement between tribes and the government, to provide American Indians with free health care on reservations. But that promise has not been kept. About one-third more is spent per capita on health care for felons in federal prison, according to 2005 data from the health service."
http://www.gazette.com/articles/health-56520-indian-care.html#ixzz1q5twPS6z
***********************************
Then, there's the Veterans Administration that takes care of the brave men and women who have sacrificed life and limb to keep us free:
***********************************
"The VA sent letters to more than 3,000 veterans who had colonoscopies at the Miami VA hospital informing them that improperly cleaned equipment might have exposed them to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. Similar problems arose at VA hospitals in Tennessee and Georgia with more than 11,000 veterans potentially exposed to the unsanitary equipment.
The 74 patients should have been included when about 2,400 former Miami VA patients were notified in March 2009 to get tests for HIV, hepatitis and other infections.
At least two Miami patients have already been reported to have contracted HIV after having a colonoscopy at the Miami VA hospital."
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Hospital-Administrators-Deserve-discipline-VA-Board.html
***********************************
Now, to be fair to the Federal Regime in DC, there have been some successful attempts at running health care programs. There are some who get the best possible care that money can buy. For example, our CONgress Critters and other useless bureaucrats are well taken care of:
***********************************
"Like other large employers, the government pays a large share of the cost of coverage. On average, the government
pays 72 percent of the premiums for its workers, up to a maximum of 75 percent depending on the policy chosen. For example, the popular
Blue Cross and Blue Shield standard fee-for-service family plan carries a total premium of $1,120.47 per month, of which the beneficiary pays $356.59. Washington, D.C.-based employees who prefer an HMO option might choose the
Kaiser standard family plan. It carries a total premium of $629.46 per month, of which the employee pays only $157.36. [Do you pay $157.36
per month for
your health insurance ? I'm willing to bet the answer is "No way in hell!".]
In addition, members of Congress also qualify for some medical benefits that ordinary federal workers do not. They (but not their families) are eligible to receive limited medical services from the
Office of the Attending Physician of the U.S. Capitol, after payment of an annual fee ($491in 2007). But services don’t include surgery, dental care or eyeglasses, and any prescriptions must be filled at the member’s expense. [Oh, the horror!]
House and Senate members (but not their families) also are eligible to receive care at military hospitals. For outpatient care, there is no charge at the Washington, D.C., area hospitals (Walter Reed Army Medical Center and National Naval Medical Center). Inpatient care is billed at rates set by the Department of Defense."
http://www.factcheck.org/2009/08/health-care-for-members-of-congress/
***********************************
You know who else gets top notch care ? The Islamo-Nazi scumbags at Club Gitmo:
***********************************
"NAVAL STATION GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, Feb. 18, 2005 – In every case, enemy combatants held here receive medical care that is 'as good as or better than anything we would offer our own soldiers, sailors, airmen or Marines,' the general in charge of the U.S. detention facility here said.
Army Brig Gen. Jay Hood, commander of Joint task Force Guantanamo, said medical personnel at the detainee hospital here have helped detainees recover from 'some very significant war wounds.' [Just like the VA hospitals that gave our veterans hepatitis and HIV, huh ?]
Active-duty U.S. Navy medical personnel care for detainees as both inpatients and outpatients from a dedicated facility at Camp Delta, the main detainee- holding facility here. Most routine medical care is administered by corpsmen who visit each cellblock every two days or whenever a detainee requests care. [Perhaps Ta'Shon would have gotten some attention if she wanted to enslave us to Shariah law.]
More serious health concerns among detainees are treated at the small, state- of-the-art medical facility dedicated to their care. A senior administrator at the facility called it 'equivalent to a community acute-care hospital.'
The facility is equipped with 19 inpatient beds (and can expand to 28), a physical-therapy area, pharmacy, radiology department, central sterilization area, and a single-bed operating room. More complex surgeries can be performed at the base naval hospital, which also is equipped with an intensive-care wing."
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=25852
***********************************
Yep, government run healthcare....
It's to die for!
