tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post3417006730413113303..comments2024-03-21T14:41:14.622-07:00Comments on Graphic Firing Table: Right Ol' BastardFDChiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-840800977009247262008-07-29T15:48:00.000-07:002008-07-29T15:48:00.000-07:00I'm with you all the way, Chief. There will be no...I'm with you all the way, Chief. There will be no gray areas as funding becomes more constricted. The most cost-effective care choice is the only rational state option. Of course, those facilities need to be efficient and humane.<BR/><BR/>If a patient wants something beyond that, it is on his dime.<BR/><BR/>Tangentially, I believe euthanasia should be an option. The herculean efforts to keep people like Terry Schiavo in persistent vegetative states against their own stated wishes and those of their family boggles the mind. What--so they can become a cause celebre for the fundamentalists? The Bush brother was despicable in his stand on that one.Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08839236994990699117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-3944418130638098902008-07-29T11:27:00.000-07:002008-07-29T11:27:00.000-07:00Conclusive proof that you are both better people t...Conclusive proof that you are both better people than I am...<BR/><BR/>You're right about the nursing home care quality, Meghan, and yet I tend to agree with Lisa that one big issue here is that what this guy WANTS is to be in his own apartment while what is probably more COST-EFFECTIVE is to have him in some sort of medical care facility. So to me the cold-bloodedly rational decision is to tell the guy, look, if you want care over and above the level of the baseline, you come up with the extra scratch.<BR/><BR/>But I can see how if I was this poor dummy I'd want more than to be a living fleshbag in some soulless nursing home.<BR/><BR/>Gray areas, indeed.<BR/><BR/>One news item I caught the other day was that one of the federal agencies - the EPA, I think, or OHSA - was directed to reduce the cost it placed on human life so as to make it less likely that business projects can be denied permitting because of hazard to life and health. Your tax dollars at work.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I think the take-home lesson is that we're probably lucky that I don't get to make these choices.FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-40060531841296608822008-07-29T10:25:00.000-07:002008-07-29T10:25:00.000-07:00As meghen says, we can't pick and choose who gets ...As meghen says, we can't pick and choose who gets support, only decide upon the most sensible approach. Darwinism doesn't work so well in our societies, and we constantly celebrate our failures (Challenger license plate, anyone?)<BR/><BR/>This guy clearly needs profound care, and it would seem more reasonable for him to be treated in some sort of of group housing facility, vs. private housing. I do not think the latter should be a state-bestowed right.<BR/><BR/>Unless things are different in OR, my experience with medical disability care is that only the basal level of assistance is provided.<BR/><BR/>In this case, surely a group health care facility would be the logical choice.Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08839236994990699117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-58476784363579472282008-07-29T09:32:00.000-07:002008-07-29T09:32:00.000-07:00I think we don't get to decide who is or is not wo...I think we don't get to decide who is or is not worthy of assistance, either by circumstance, IQ, or usefulness to society at large. If you're permanently disabled, that's what may (if you're broke) merit needing support.<BR/><BR/>I agree the dude was not the sharpest tool in the shed for getting paralyzed by riverside shenanigans. As taxpayers, I guess we might have some say in whether the state starts paying his caregivers a few more bucks an hour...if nursing homes are a better, more cost-effective option and could provide equivalent quality of life, great. The problem is that they currently DON'T, from my experience.<BR/><BR/>The state makes decisions all the time that impact someone's quality of life negatively -- just look at the story in today's O about the woman who was denied lung cancer treatment by her Oregon Health Plan, but told it would pay for the drugs she would need to exercise her right to die as given to her by the voters of our great state.<BR/><BR/>Gray areas abound...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com