Turn on CBS News!

[in_cog_ni_to]

THIS is going to be good! It's about doctors who refuse to treat opponents of reform measures. They are refusing to treat TRIAL LAWYERS!

AND coming up...an elderly lady who turned to Medicaid when her husband was sick and now the government wants to take her HOUSE!!!!! :grr:

[lanparty]

1. They should be refusing to treat ...

... HMO executives!!!!!!

[in_cog_ni_to]

2. No shit!

Something is wrong with this country. Doctors refusing to treat a patient because of POLITICS?????? Damn!

[tishaLA]

42. Welcome to the nation where

Catholic bishops think withholding communion for pro-choice policies is a good idea, but they never mention pro-war politicians at all.

[bluestateguy]

3. Isn't there that little Hippocratic Oath thing?

Any doctor who would do such a thing has no business in the profession. It would be like a teacher refusing to admit a student in his classroom because he didn't like the student's political views.

[Senior citizen]

9. It isn't a profession anymore, it's an industry.

They don't take the Hippocratic Oath, they incorporate.

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. This was discussed earlier today

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x620661#621186

And I'll repeat my question to you: why is this any different, ethically, from refusing to treat someone because they can't pay?

[Carl Brennan]

4. These doctors have been reading to much Shakespeare

who said: "Kill all the lawyers".

[WilliamPitt]

6. Yeah, but in the context of the play,

Shakespeare meant that as "In order to do away with the rule of law, we have to get rid of the lawyers."

Not exactly a happy thought.

[WilliamPitt]

5. Everyone hates lawyers

until they need one.

[Speck Tater]

10. But the only reason anyone ever needs a lawyer

is because of someone else's lawyer. So it all starts and ends with lawyers who write all the laws in a secret code that only other lawyers can unravel.

[WilliamPitt]

13. Um...no

One might need a lawyer for a whole barnload of reasons.

A favor: Understand that you are talking to someone whose mother, father, uncle, grandfather, great-grandfather and several friends are all lawyers.

Just bear it in mind before the desire to hyperbolize against lawyers strikes you.

[AspenRose]

21. I agree

Re-watching "To Kill a Mockingbird" as a reminder of your astute (and true) observation might not be a bad idea.

[Jose Diablo]

25. I just used a lawyer

to incorporate my business. If you want to be sure a liability shield is solid, would you do it any other way?

What about those tort attorneys that go up against corporations putting out dangerous products. Are they evil?

Complaining about tort attorneys that go after doctors for malpractice is barking at the wrong tree IMO.

Some doctors deserve to get sued. Then again, some insurance companies do not defend lawsuits against the doctors as well as they should. I hear that sometimes the insurance companies settle not because the doctor did something wrong, it is because juries will award the plaintiff because they feel sorry for plaintiffs even though the defendant (doctor) did no wrong.

Then again, there are 'ambulance chasers'. I remember when I got broadsided by a truck, the very next day I received a call from an attorney asking if I was OK. He explained I could receive compensation for 'pain and suffering'. When I explained that I was OK, he said thats good and terminated the call. I suspect it was the insurance company for the trucking line, but it could have been an attorney looking for business by reading accident reports.

There used to be 'professional ethics' that prohibited attorneys from even advertising. Well, if you watch TV in the daytime, you can see all kinds of ads for accident attorneys of all strips. I think this encourages normally 'honest' people to seek big rewards. On the other hand, the only way you can get justice is use an attorney. Its a stacked deck and by doing the 'right thing', you end-up getting screwed.

Their should be a better way. But I don't know what it would be.

[Bandit]

27. I hope you did a C/S split

:shrug:

[Jose Diablo]

29. Yes, went S

But that was not on advice from an attorney, that was the CPA advise on that score.

Edit: This is a very complex world. There are experts in each field. I wouldn't call a plumber if I needed a carpenter.

[Bandit]

44. A C/S split is doing both

Do a C Corp and then lease assets to your S corp. You end up covered on all fronts. S is good for taxes but not as good for liability. You need to have two corporations for full coverage. It is referred to as a C/S split and quite common.

[k in IA]

15. I don't remember learning the "secret code" at law school but then maybe

I had a chip implanted and am not aware of it.

I'm evil and I don't know it.

[markses]

26. LOL

Ugga Bugga...Something about Coase, I believe. ;-)

[merh]

20. Yeah, I suppose Ashcroft and his cronies should be

considered "someone else's lawyer"! But then you forgot about state prosecutors. People often find themselves needing lawyers when they have been accused of violating a law. (Weed boy could tell you his personal experiences of late.)

[wellstone dem]

43. Legal Aid Lawyers

Have stopped unlawful evictions, forced slum lords to clean up their property, protected migrant farm workers, protected public benefits for disabled children, fought racism in public schools, protected victims of domestic violence, challenged inproper denials of health care, etc., etc., etc.

[Walt Starr]

35. Unless they're married to one

like me. I always love lawyers.

[in_cog_ni_to]

7. This elderly couple is a HEARTBREAKING story! n/t

[progdonkey]

8. Do I smell a lawsuit?

:spank: Bad AMA!

[SharonAnn]

11. I think that the deal was that they could keep the house until

he died. But with that large an asset, they could've sold it to provide the care they wanted the husband/father to receive.

Otherwise, millionaires could put all their money into their house and go on Medicaid for all their care.

The surviving spouse is usually entitled to at least half the estate (depends on wills, title of house, state laws, etc.)

I'm sorry, but the lien is part of the deal.

[depakid]

16. The lein is only part of the deal

(which is a RAW deal) because America is too corrupt and its citizens are too stupid to understand that on every single point of policy from econmoics to compassion, universal health care makes sense-

That the wealthy benefit alongside the poor & middle class is yet another argument in its favor.

[in_cog_ni_to]

18. The lien wasn't part of the promo...

They teased with...."This lady turned to Medicaid when her husband was ill and NOW the Government wants her house?" I understand the complete story now. It's sad that she had to go through that though. They need to explain things BETTER to the elderly....they don't understand this crap. It's like the new Medicare Bill. You have to be a politician/lawyer/doctor/Einstein to understand it, it's so confusing and they expect the elderly to understand it? :eyes:

[Joanne98]

28. Hillary Clinton made that point with her

"tale of two seniors" presentation on the Senate floor during the debates. She stressed how confusing it was.

[whistle]

30. No Mr. Bond, they expect the elderly to die....

...and leave everything to cover the tax breaks for the wealthy.

[Speck Tater]

12. Reminds me of priests who refurse to give communion

for politcal reasons.

[Wilber_Stool]

14. Trial lawyers

are the last people I'd fuck with.

[Doctor Smith]

19. Guess what? You can sue trial lawyers, too. I have sued several of them.

[merh]

23. Would you ever refuse to treat a patient because of politics?

I mean, can you justify refusing to treat a lawyer or a member of his family?

[Doctor Smith]

36. No.

I'm not sure how you'd even know.

[merh]

38. I didn't think so - thank you so much! (eom)

[Jose Diablo]

31. Ha, Morgage Lawyers eat 'Trial Lawyer' for breakfast n/t

[Malva Zebrina]

17. If you become destitue due to inablility to pay for medical bills and need

to go to Medicaid, then you can lose your house.

that is , actually , the reality in this country, In other countries that is NOT the case.

So, anyone who can see the writing on the wall will take care of this before they need the help of Medicaid because of old age and inability to pay for the increaseing costs of health care, which they NEED to keep them functioning.

Be smart.

Do not let it happen to you. Give your house and property to your kids or someone who rents it to you. Take care of it.

I once worked in a nursing home where doctors, who were NOT poor by any means of the imagination, enrolled their own parents in the nursing home under Medicaid. I kid you not. We were paying for the care of the parents of the wealthy doctors who owned the nursing home while they were the beneficiaries of their parent's assets.

IN this case,I think, it is certainly moral to bilk the system in order to take care of yourself and your needs if it is your life that is in jeapardy.

It is obvious that the system here in this country is NOT concerned about those who cannot pay, even though they have been working hard all of their lives and are NOT lazy leeches.

If a twit and lazy bitch such as Laura Bush can leech off of us taxpayers,travel all over Europe, several times, on our money,eating and shopping as she said she loved to do, there should be no guilt in anyone, who bilks the system.

Be smart

[Cleita]

32. I worked for the owner of several nursing homes myself, back

when there was no Medicare, but the County would pay a minimum amount to give the indigent elderly at least a bed to die in. I was surprised at the number of destitute old people who had rich relatives, including their own children who wouldn't fork over a penny for the old folks. I even tried to beg one of the families to buy their mother some dentures so she could eat, because dentures weren't covered under the bare bones medical coverage they received, but to no avail.

[Jose Diablo]

33. This would be one good reason

for the elderly to place their homes in a son or daughters name. And pay 'rent'.

[October]

40. 100 Days of Medicare...

Going through this with my mom.

She had surgery. Carotid arteries were blocked, but they said "not blocked enough to cancel the mitral valve replacement surgery."

After surgery...she went into cardiac arrest. Stroke.

Moved to another hospital. Doctors trying to say she stroked at the other place...

While is ICU for a month, her cardiologist called to say "We just got he results from her test and feel her carotid arteries are blocked to such a degree that we feel she's not a good candidate for surgery at this time..."

(A bit late.)

She's now in a nursing/rehab., with significant disabilities. Right side paralysis, inability to read/write. She's aware enough to talk and knows her life sucks right now.

After hospital care, you go on Medicare (at her age). You get 100 days of Medicare pay with her type of insurance, and the nursing home staff are the ones who decide from week-to-week, if she's "eligible" to continue receiving this Medicare!!!!

When Medicare runs out (100 days max), it's "private pay," meaning the nursing homes takes everything she has...house, car, savings, etc., till she's destitute.

At that point, when she's penniless, she goes on Medicaid.

Please...put your children's names on your properties/finances now. Congress passed a "3-year look-back" law, so even if my mom had put my name on things 2 years ago...too damned bad...nursing home gets it. She would've had to do it 3+ years ago.

It's un-f*cking-believable.

[seabeyond]

22. missouri no treat gays, pharmastists no fill birth control

and now doctor no treat trial lawyers.

hm...........something huh, but we still dont see we have a problem. damn we are a bunch of sheep

[Mike Niendorff]

34. wow. withholding treatment because of a patient's political views.

Can you say "malpractice"?


MDN

[PA Democrat]

37. Wasn't the woman who was refused treatment by the plastic surgeon

the DAUGHTER of a state legislator who had voted against medical malpractice caps? What's next, you and all your family members have to commit your vote to politicians who favor caps in order to get medical care?

[merh]

41. In my neck of the woods

physicians are making new patients sign arbitration agreements. If they don't sign it, they won't treat them. Gosh, wonder how that will hold up when challenged.

[thethinker]

39. What kind of a sick country is this?

The pentagon misplace 2.3 trillion dollars. That is 8,000 for every man, woman and child.

How many dollars would it take to fund national health care? Other countries find money to do this. Why can't America?

My health and life is more important than some corporation's profit.

No elderly woman should have to give up her home for her husband's health care. HEALTH CARE IS A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT !!! It should be free.

The doctor that wants to refuse to treat lawyers is just stupid. Health care is at a crisis point but it is not because of lawyers.