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You Want To Talk About Myths Do You?
by James Glaser August 31, 2009 Every time a Democrat Senator or Congressman has a town hall meeting on health care these days, they start out debunking all the myths they think the people against their plan are putting out there. They will tell you there is no chance that you could lose the health care you have now if you like it. They tell us there are no "Death Panels" who will decide if a senior citizen should get continued care as they get older. They also tell us that most of the costs for their new program will be paid for with savings over the existing way we do health care. Also, they claim any sort of health care rationing is a myth. What makes it hard for so many Americans to believe these people is that we have been lied to by Congress for decades, but now we are supposed to believe them when they say that we will have "rights" in this new health care bill. Here is the kind of medical rights a Minnesota Woman had when she met our health care system. The story was written by Lora Pabst, of the "Minneapolis Star Tribune." Kerra Cameron first blacked out from panic attacks eight years ago. She would slip into a foggy state for about 15 minutes before returning to normal. She's been tested for everything from epilepsy to multiple sclerosis, but the only thing doctors have determined is that she has low blood pressure. The attacks were never a big problem until May, when Cameron, 34, passed out in a Coon Rapids Target store and soon found herself in the back of an ambulance. Over the loud protests of Cameron and her fiancé, who insisted she didn't need medical treatment, Cameron was rushed to nearby Mercy Hospital. When she got there, Cameron once again tried to explain her condition and get the doctors to let her go home. But she was ignored again. Doctors conducted more than $2,000 worth of tests before concluding there was nothing wrong with her. An hour after she arrived, Cameron was finally allowed to leave. The woman tried hard not to get treatment, because she knew what was best for herself. That made no difference to the hospital—in fact, the police got involved. By the time paramedics rushed into the store, Kerra was trying to stand up. Justin told the paramedics that his groggy fiancée would be fine in a few minutes, but they wanted to examine her in the ambulance. They made Justin stand outside, so he got Kerra's mom on his cell phone. He figured she could explain the situation, but the paramedics wouldn't talk to her either. Kerra said she panicked while she was in the ambulance because she couldn't see Justin. She began to yell that she didn't want to go to the hospital. A Coon Rapids police officer showed up. Paramedics told him they were concerned Kerra might be having a stroke. They asked the officer to sign a form authorizing a so-called "emergency hold," allowing them to transfer Kerra to the hospital against her wishes, Coon Rapids police Capt. Cary Parks said. "The paramedics are the experts," Parks said. "It was their opinion that she needed to go to the hospital." If paramedics and the police can hold you against your will because they think there is something wrong with you, does it seem a stretch that they could do the opposite and say, "You don't need any medical treatment." Members of Congress will tell you what kind of health care you can get with this new plan, and they try and make it sound like the government really doesn't have that much power to make change. The government, according to our elected officials won't be able to get between you and your doctor. Well, Kerra Cameron found out that they sure can now! Oh, and speaking of myths, our elected officials are talking about how they are going to save us all a lot of money, but this Minnesota woman found out just how much power our health care system has right now. The hospital, doctor, and the ambulance service all want to get paid for the care they gave this woman. The bill totaled to about $2,000 dollars. That's right, she has to pay a $2,000 medical bill for services that were not needed and worse yet, were against her will! Oh, and here's the rest of the story: After the tests, Kerra waited for about 45 minutes. A doctor came to her bed and told her what she expected to hear: "Everything looks fine." She was free to go. Right now, our health care industry has the power over our bodies if they want to exercise that power, and Congress is trying to tell us that all our worries about their new plan are just myths. Maybe you are willing to trust Congress and the White House to do the right thing for you and your health care, but I'm not. I wouldn't trust them any farther than I throw a copy of the proposed health care bill. In fact, after reading this story, any more government control of our health care system is scary as hell. |
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