- Mark Halperin is deeply disappointed at the “toxic freak-show nature of our politico-media culture” which has been perpetrated by people such as Mark Halperin. (TIME via Balloon Juice)
- Remember that time the House of Representatives unanimously passed a law (seriously, they did) in response to the RNC sending out mailers that looked like census forms? Apparently this law does not apply to the RNC, according to its spokesman. (AP/TPM)
- A North Carolina man was arrested for “trying to meet Obama” while carrying a gun and driving a fake police car. So, uh, good thing that they didn’t actually meet. (AP)
- Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is now totally in love with the healthcare reform law, which will help keep his older constituents alive long enough to vote for him again, which he totally opposed when it was a bill and now says is unconstitutional. (Think Progress x3)
- Most Americans would like President Obama to regulate the shit out of banks and financial institutions with his Kenyan voodoo socialism. (WaPo)
- When aliens eventually do find us, they will take one look at Politico Click and then destroy all of humanity, and who could blame them? says noted scientist Stephen Hawking. (Times of London)
Archive for posts ‘healthcare’
Obama: Let Hospital Patients Choose Who Can Visit
Good for the President. It’s about damn time:
MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
SUBJECT: Respecting the Rights of Hospital Patients to Receive Visitors and to Designate Surrogate Decision Makers for Medical Emergencies
There are few moments in our lives that call for greater compassion and companionship than when a loved one is admitted to the hospital. In these hours of need and moments of pain and anxiety, all of us would hope to have a hand to hold, a shoulder on which to lean — a loved one to be there for us, as we would be there for them.
Yet every day, all across America, patients are denied the kindnesses and caring of a loved one at their sides — whether in a sudden medical emergency or a prolonged hospital stay. Often, a widow or widower with no children is denied the support and comfort of a good friend. Members of religious orders are sometimes unable to choose someone other than an immediate family member to visit them and make medical decisions on their behalf. Also uniquely affected are gay and lesbian Americans who are often barred from the bedsides of the partners with whom they may have spent decades of their lives — unable to be there for the person they love, and unable to act as a legal surrogate if their partner is incapacitated.
For all of these Americans, the failure to have their wishes respected concerning who may visit them or make medical decisions on their behalf has real onsequences. It means that doctors and nurses do not always have the best information about patients’ medications and medical histories and that friends and certain family members are unable to serve as intermediaries to help communicate patients’ needs. It means that a stressful and at times terrifying experience for patients is senselessly compounded by indignity and unfairness. And it means that all too often, people are made to suffer or even to pass away alone, denied the comfort of companionship in their final moments while a loved one is left worrying and pacing down the hall.
…
By this memorandum, I request that you take the following steps:1. Initiate appropriate rulemaking, pursuant to your authority under 42 U.S.C. 1395x and other relevant provisions of law, to ensure that hospitals that participate in Medicare or Medicaid respect the rights of patients to designate visitors. It should be made clear that designated visitors, including individuals designated by legally valid advance directives (such as durable powers of attorney and health care proxies), should enjoy visitation privileges that are no more restrictive than those that immediate family members enjoy. You should also provide that participating hospitals may not deny visitation privileges on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The rulemaking should take into account the need for hospitals to restrict visitation in medically appropriate circumstances as well as the clinical decisions that medical professionals make about a patient’s care or treatment.
I wonder who will be the first wingnut to scream bloody murder about this new rule, the purpose of which is, among other reasons, to allow nuns to visit their sisters in the hospital.
Wanker of the Day
- Hmmm, I wonder what kind of “office supplies” the RNC is purchasing at Congressional Liquors? (Gawker)
- Health insurers are doing everything they can to avoid covering sick kids. Obviously, this is to defend ‘Murica from Teh Socializm!
- So the teabaggers, many of whom receive Medicare and Social Security benefits, would just love to get rid of Social Security… but probably just for other people. (NYT/ThinkProgress)
- Who do those dark-skins think they’re foolin’, with all their fast talkin’? asks former Swift Boater and Charlie Crist supporter Bud Day? (NWF Daily News)
Suddenly, Healthcare
By a vote of 219-212, the House of Representatives passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.
Update: I think Greg Sargent summed things up nicely:
For once, Dems managed to overcome their internal divisions, their pathological addiction to failure and defensiveness, and their bizarre eagerness to let outside voices get under their skin.
They transcended their own flaws, and they delivered. It’s a very human story.
Boehner to Caucus: “Behave like grown-ups”
Trying to stay class after HCR passes:
House Minority Leader John Boehner told his conference to “behave like grown-ups” if the healthcare bill is passed by the House on Sunday.
The Ohio Republican made the warning at a quick closed-door meeting with fellow House GOP lawmakers at noon in the Capitol.
According to several lawmakers who attended the 15 minute meeting, Boehner said “we will behave like grown-ups,” and not engage in taunting the vulnerable Democrats who support the controversial measure.
Leaders anticipated that the Democrats will erupt in applause if the bill passes and they don’t want Republicans to react with a chorus of “Nah-nah-nah-nah hey, hey, hey good-bye,” as happened in November when the House healthcare bill was approved.
In response: hahaha, Boehner.
Adventures in Reasonable Political Discourse
How many times do we have to hear teabaggers shout “kill the bill, nigger” at Rep. John Lewis, a hero of the civil rights movement, before we can just ignore them?
Also, I wonder who will be the first person to accuse the black congressmen who witnessed the incident of “playing the race card?”
Wanker of the Day
Wankers of the Day
Quote of the Day
If Obamacare passes, that free insurance card that’s in people’s pockets is going to be as worthless as a Confederate dollar after the war between the states — the Great War of Yankee Aggression.
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