Where will the money come from...

[Betty]

to pay for all the brain dead people who Jeb Bush and Lieberman want to keep on life support forever... and to pay for the medical care of babies born horribly incapacitated because we've outlawed late term abortion procedures?

I am not specifically referring, by the way, to the Florida case because I know there are other issues invovled in that case. But here we are, three tax cuts into this travesty of an administration (with another cut planned) and not enough health care dollars to go around as is. How are going to pay for preserving the "lives" of people who are essentially brain dead, whether a baby born without a brain or an adult who is in a persistant vegetative state?

I hope I don't come off as callous here, but I think it's cruel to keep people tethered to machines. Of course, if there's any hope of recovery, I am all for doing everything possible to save the person. But what about when there is no hope?

[benddem]

1. You are right

No press report has indicated who is paying for her care. If the husband is...he should send the bills to Jeb. Millions of dollars in insurance and tax payer funds are spent keeping people like this alive.

[atreides1]

3. From What I've Read

...her husband is paying the medical bills, the money was from a lawsuit against the doctors that misdiagnosed his wife. The amount was 1.3 million dollars.

This was, according to the story placed in a trust fund for her medical care and rehabilitation.

Listening to NPR yesterday, one of the court appointed doctors who testified on her hubands behalf said that currently there is no type of rehab that exists that can help her.

The doctor also said, that the videos that her parents took are not evidence of actual recognition, he stated that it was an instinctive reaction and that it would have happened no matter who was in the room.

[redqueen]

4. I don't know if this is true, but....

this morning on C-Span a few callers mentioned that in this particular case there was a lawsuit, which provided a million (or millions of?) dollars for her care.

[Lars39]

2. gruesome and morbid, but with money being the bottome line with repubs

the book/movie "Coma" comes to mind. I just don't put anything past the moneygrubbers anymore. :(

[library_max]

5. I dunno.

They've got a soft spot for the brain-dead. They nominated one for President recently, if memory serves.

[realFedUp]

6. good question about the law that was passed.

Is this another decision like Bush v Gore that
only affected one case?