Thursday, July 30, 2009

A Quick Review of Obama's Healthcare Plan is Shocking!

You have to read this to the end for your and my own good!

This health care bill in congress is beyond Socialism - it's diabolical.

We have allowed some to be elected who want to destroy the Country we worked to sustain. Too many simply could not see this coming. Look below from one of the versions of the Healthcare Bill. More below that. Current things.

* Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure!
* Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed!
* Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and
benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process)
* Page 42: The "Health Choices Commissioner" will decide health
benefits for you. You will have no choice. None.
* Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with
free healthcare services.
* Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard.
* Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access
to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer.
* Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community
organizer health plans (read: SEIU, UAW and ACORN)
* Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government
rules to participate in a Healthcare Exchange.
* Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the
Healthcare Exchange (i.e., total government control of private plans)
* Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services;
translation: illegal aliens
* Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and AmeriCorps to sign up
individuals for Government-run Health Care plan.
* Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically
enrolled: you have no choice in the matter.
* Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No "judicial review" is permitted against the government monopoly. Put simply, private insurers will be crushed.
* Page 127: The AMA sold doctors out: the government will set wages.
* Page 145: An employer MUST auto-enroll employees into the
government-run public plan. No alternatives.
* Page 126: Employers MUST pay healthcare bills for part-time
employees AND their families.
* Page 149: Any employer with a payroll of $400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays an 8% tax on payroll (Goodbye jobs)
* Page 150: Any employer with a payroll of $250K-400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays a 2 to 6% tax on payroll (Goodbye jobs)
* Page 167: Any individual who doesnt' have acceptable healthcare
(according to the government) will be taxed 2.5% of income.
* Page 170: Any NON-RESIDENT alien is exempt from individual taxes(Americans will pay for them).
* Page 195: Officers and employees of Government Healthcare
Bureaucracy will have access to ALL American financial and personal records.

* Page 203: "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated
as tax." Yes, it really says that.
* Page 239: Bill will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors
and the poor most affected."
* Page 241: Doctors: no matter what specialty you have, you'll all be
paid the same (thanks, AMA!) (Goodbye doctors)
* Page 253: Government sets value of doctors' time, their professional judgment, etc.
* Page 265: Government mandates and controls productivity for private healthcare industries.
* Page 268: Government regulates rental and purchase of power-driven wheelchairs.
* Page 272: Cancer patients: welcome to the wonderful world of
rationing!
* Page 280: Hospitals will be penalized for what the government deems preventable re-admissions.
* Page 298: Doctors: if you treat a patient during an initial
admission that results in a readmission, you will be penalized by the
government.
* Page 317: Doctors: you are now prohibited for owning and investing in healthcare companies!
* Page 318: Prohibition on hospital expansion. Hospitals cannot expand without government approval. (Goodbye hospitals)
* Page 321: Hospital expansion hinges on "community" input: in other words, yet another payoff for ACORN.
* Page 335: Government mandates establishment of outcome-based
measures: i.e., rationing.
* Page 341: Government has authority to disqualify Medicare Advantage Plans, HMOs, etc.
* Page 354: Government will restrict enrollment of SPECIAL NEEDS
individuals. (Let them die too)
* Page 379: More bureaucracy: Telehealth Advisory Committee
(healthcare by phone).
* Page 425: More bureaucracy: Advance Care Planning Consult: Senior Citizens, assisted suicide, euthanasia?
* Page 425: Government will instruct and consult regarding living
wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. Mandatory. Appears to lock in estate taxes ahead of time. (Goodbye Family Estate)
* Page 425: Government provides approved list of end-of-life
resources, guiding you in death.
* Page 427: Government mandates program that orders end-of-life
treatment; government dictates how your life ends.
* Page 429: Advance Care Planning Consult will be used to dictate
treatment as patient's health deteriorates. This can include an ORDER for end-of-life plans. An ORDER from the GOVERNMENT.
* Page 430: Government will decide what level of treatments you may have at end-of-life.
* Page 469: Community-based Home Medical Services: more payoffs for ACORN.
* Page 472: Payments to Community-based organizations: more payoffs for ACORN.
* Page 489: Government will cover marriage and family therapy.
Government intervenes in your marriage.
* Page 494: Government will cover mental health services: defining,
creating and rationing those services.



Lawmakers Confirm House Health Care Bill Promotes Euthanasia Among Elderly LifeNews ^
| July 24, 2009 | Steven Ertelt

Posted on Saturday, July 25, 2009 6:04:09 AM by
NYer

http://www.lifenews.com/elderlypatnt.jpgWashington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Two Republican leaders in the House of Representatives are confirming reports that the health care restructuring bill the House is currently considering
promotes euthanasia. A leading patients rights advocate is worried about the effects of the legislation.

Betsy McCaughey, the former New York lieutenant government who is now a patient's rights advocate, notes that the government-run health care plan would require "end of life"
counseling for seniors.

The counseling, she says, would be focused on telling seniors how to end their lives sooner.

In a statement sent to LifeNews.com House Republican Leader John Boehner Republican Policy Committee Chairman Thaddeus McCotter confirm those fears.

"Section 1233 of the House-drafted legislation encourages health care providers to provide their Medicare patients with counseling on 'the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration' and other end of life treatments,'" the pair say.

That section "may place seniors in situations where they feel pressured to sign end of life directives they would not otherwise sign."

"This provision may start us down a treacherous path toward
government-encouraged euthanasia if enacted into law. At a minimum this legislative language deserves a full and open public debate - the sort of debate that is impossible to have under the politically-driven deadlines Democratic leaders have arbitrarily set for enactment of a health care bill," they state.

The members of Congress call the section a throwback to 1977 when the old Department of Health Education and Welfare proposed federal promotion of living wills for cost-savings purposes described as "enormous."

At that time, the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago decried this effort by saying, "'The message is clear: government can save money by encouraging old people to die a little sooner than they otherwise would.
Instead of being regarded with reverence, and cherished, human life is subject in this view to a utilitarian cost-benefit calculus and can be sacrificed to serve fiscal policy and the sacred imperative of trimming a budget."

Boehner and McCotter are especially concerned about the provision given that Oregon and Washington have legalized assisted suicide and Montana has given conditional approval depending on the outcome of a state Supreme Court
decision.

"With three states having legalized physician-assisted suicide, this
provision could create a slippery slope for a more permissive environment for euthanasia, mercy-killing and physician-assisted suicide because it does not clearly exclude counseling about the supposed benefits of killing oneself," they say.

"Health care reform that fails to protect the sanctity and dignity of all
human life is not reform at all," the conclude.

In section 1233 of the tri-committee health care bill, a government-run "Advance Care Planning Consultation" is created.

McCaughey, in an interview with former presidential candidate Fred Thompson on his radio show warned people to "protect their parents" from the measure and said the consultation is essentially an attempt to kill off elderly Americans.

"One of the most shocking things is page 425, where the Congress would make it mandatory absolutely that every five years people in Medicare have a required counseling session," she said. "They will tell [them] how to end their life sooner.

The bill calls for the recommendation of "palliative care and hospice" in the mandatory counseling sessions, which is pain relief as patients die.

The House bill requires "an explanation by the practitioner of the continuum of end-of-life services and supports available, including palliative care and hospice, and benefits for such services and supports that are available under this title."

The measure also recommends a discussion on "the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration," which suggests that elderly patients could be advised not to receive it, which would hasten death.

Congressional Health Care Reform Bill Criticized for Promoting Elderly Euthanasia

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 23, 2009


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http://www.lifenews.com/elderlyman.jpgWashington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The pro-life community is focused on the pro-abortion problems with the health care restructuring bills Congress is considering, but there appears to be another threat. One patients' advocate who is the former New York lieutenant
governor, says the bill also promotes elderly euthanasia.

The government-run health care plan the House is considering would require "end of life" counseling for seniors.

In section 1233 of the tri-committee health care bill, a government-run "Advance Care Planning Consultation" is created.

Betsy McCaughey, in an interview with former presidential candidate Fred Thompson on his radio show warned people to "protect their parents" from the measure and said the consultation is essentially an attempt to kill off elderly Americans.

"One of the most shocking things is page 425, where the Congress would make it mandatory absolutely that every five years people in Medicare have a required counseling session," she said. "They will tell [them] how to end their life sooner.

A WorldNetDaily report indicates the bill calls for the recommendation of "palliative care and hospice" in the mandatory counseling sessions, which is pain relief as patients die.

The House bill requires "an explanation by the practitioner of the continuum of end-of-life services and supports available, including palliative care and hospice, and benefits for such services and supports that are available under this title."

The measure also recommends a discursion on "the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration" and WND suggests that elderly patients could be advised not to receive it, which would hasten death.

McCaughey is also criticizing another section of the bill.

Calling it a "Quality Reporting Initiative," the bill says, "For purposes of reporting data on quality measures for covered professional services furnished during 2011 and any subsequent year, to the extent that measures are available, the Secretary shall include quality measures on end of life care and advanced care planning that have been adopted or endorsed by a consensus-based organization, if appropriate. Such measures shall measure
both the creation of and adherence to orders for life-sustaining treatment."


McCaughey, told Thompson, "As a patient advocate I am so shocked at the vicious assault on elderly people and the boomer generation. I hope people listening will protect their parents from what is intended under this bill."

According to WND, McCaughey said that the bill has a provision requiring the counseling every five years and mandating it when a patient's situation changes -- such as a move into a nursing home.

She said the message to patients is "to do what's in society's best
interests, and cut your life short."

"Can you imagine the response of the American people (when they find out)?" Thompson asked in response.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Our Evening in the Angels' Dugout Suite

Kirk won 2 tickets to the Angels vs. Twins game last Thursday night. Here he is standing in front of a memorial for the Angel player who was killed in a car accident recently.
We were ushered to a private elevator and went down to the dugout suites! Here is the inside of suite #3. We had popcorn, and the most delicious BBQ chicken pizza. The fridge was full of drinks and ice. We even had our own lovely bathroom!
We went outside and up 3-4 stairs to our seats. There are only 12 seats per suite. We were there with 10 other Beckman employees who had also won tickets. Kirk was able to chat with them before the during the game. Of course, we wore our red shirts, and Kirk bought an Angels cap for a souvenir.
It was fun being close enough to see the coin toss and all of the pre-game activities.
The players warmed-up right to the left of us. It was interesting seeing them shadow the player at bat.
Kirk stuck the camera through the netting to get this shot with the dirt (is that the right word, sports fans?), stands and fans.
Here's a lefty batting.
I took this to show how we were exactly lined up with home plate and the first base line.
In the 10th inning the Angels won 6-5! Here is the jumbo tron showing the players congratulating each other.
We had a great time! We didn't realize how lucky we were til some die-hard Angel fans told us that it is their dream to sit in the dugout suites! oh my!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Cochlear Implant-Part 5

Here is a picture of the house Ear Institute in LA. The doctors here are the ones who invented the cochlear implant in 1973. I sure am grateful!! I went back today for another long appointment. After tweaking and counting beeps, I got another audiogram. It showed that with the implant, I now have normal hearing!! My left ear has gone up 30 decibals points. I asked Dawna what the prognosis was, and she said she'd tell me after some verbal tests. So she said sentences that I had to repeat. Then I had to differentiate between words like teak & talk, grape & group without lipreading! I got 100% and she said my prognosis is FANTASTIC! Yahoo, I am SO grateful!
After my appointment Mina & I went to Langer's Deli for a delicious sandwich. When I got home from there, by surgeon called me and wanted to see my ear. Dawna had told him that it was still sore, so I zoomed down to UCI for him to check it out. The cartilage is inflamed still so he prescribed another round of antibiotics and a stronger steroid salve. I'm still not using the phone without my other hearing aid yet, and I have lots of gadgets to figure out, but I'm so hopeful. :-)

Monday, July 20, 2009

Cochlear Implant-Part 4

WOOHOO!! I can hear!!! Robin took me to the House Ear Institute today to get my speech processor mapped & hooked up.
Here I am by the 30' ear holding my suitcase of supplies that go with the CI kit. It includes TV/Hi-Fi cords, an extra speech processor, a drying machine, battery re-charger, etc.
Here I am giving hand signals of how many beeps I am hearing at each of the 22 electrodes. My doctor, Dawna Mills explained that though I have 24 electrodes in my implant, only 22 are programmed and the other 2 are grounds.
Dawna is looking at the screen of her computer which is hooked up to my speech processor & implant. The whole process only took about 90 minutes! Since my left ear is still so sore from the surgery, she hung the contraption on my right ear and brought the cord & magnet around the back of my head to the magnet IN my head. She said I could start reprogramming my brain, then switch it over when it doesn't hurt as much.
When I took out my right hearing aid, she then started talking to me with only the implant working. At first there was lots of static, and her voice sounded like Donald Duck. She held a paper in front of her face so I couldn't lipread and said numbers & colors. I had to repeat each one. She was very excited that I was able to get 90% of them correct. :-)
Robin & I went to Phillipe's for lunch. I kept my hearing aid in for that and part of the way home.Then I took out my hearing aid and was able to carry on a conversation (& lipread) all the way home!! Yahoo! People still sound like Donald Duck or someone talking while holding their nose.
In the short video below I am concentrating & telling the doctor when each sound becomes painful. That will be the maximum volume for that sound. Tonight she wants me to try all 4 programs and write down what I liked about each one. Then tomorrow she will fine tune them. She gave me a DVD that I need to use 2-3 hours a day to retrain by brain. I guess this will be my "job" for the month of August. :-)
I am so excited & hopeful! PTL!
Thanks, too for all of your prayers, concern & help during this transition.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

P&A's Property -Part 3 Fixing it Up/Scroll Down for Part 1

The pocket door is almost finished. They are using the space in the wall for recessed shelving. It will be used like a nightstand for the bedroom. They have renters for the front house! Grace EVFree in LaMirada is renting it for 6 months for a missionary family on furlough. PTL!
Almost done!
Today Kirk & Philip installed a pocket door in the studio bathroom. Philip drywalled over the other doorway. This will give them more floorspace in the bathroom & the bedroom.
Mina has gone up almost every day to help Abby paint. :-) Here they are painting the 2nd bedroom in the apt.
The plumber tossed all of Philip's shirt into a pile on a chair, so Abby asked me if I wanted to come up & iron all his shirts. Since I taught Philip how to iron, this was a favor for him. I ironed for 3 hours-21 shirts! I also did some laundry & dishes so Abby could keep painting.
This is the back porch area of the 3-bedroom house. It is shady & has a nice breeze. This is off the master bedroom.
Here is a sketch of the future kitchen corner of the studio apt. They are getting modules from Home Depot.
Here's the corner with the drawings.
Abby is so handy!! Here she is putting one of the locks back into the door. They had all the locks on the property re-keyed, so each unit has only one key. Makes sense, huh?
Mina (Abby's mom) & I washed the mini blinds in the master bedroom and re-hung them.
Here Philip is prying off the tiles from the former bathroom floor. This is the corner of the downstairs studio where the future kitchen will go.
This hole was made in the ceiling for the future spiral staircase. After this picture was taken the 2 boards were removed and the hole was "boxed" in.
Here are P&A in the future kitchen corner.
The water heater was moved to outside the garage. Here you can see the stairs going up to the 2-bedroom apt. The bottom door will be the front door of the studio apt.
Heather & Abby cleaned the kitchen of the front house so they could temporarily live there while working on the other 2 units.

P&V's Property -Part 2 Moving Day

Ben Burke & Luke taking a lunch break on Moving Day
Aunt Teri, Juleigh Burke, Abby, Philip & Jeff on the front porch of the 3-bedroom house.
Since the move was only 2 blocks away, they put the mattress and bed springs on the roof of the car and just held it in place!
Here's the garage with lots of their stuff stored in it.
Here comes Abby with chips & cherries for the hard workers.
Heather & Jeff came to help P&A move. P&A moved over the 4th of July weekend.
Here Fred is helping Philip climb through the 2nd story window. See Philip's feet in the air?
Kirk is working on the lock to the 2-bedroom apt. Abby realized too late that they were not given keys to the door locks, only the dead bolts. :-(

Here is lots of paint to freshen up the 2-bedroom apt. P&A will be living in it while they build out the studio apt.

Philip & Abby's Property in Progress-Part I

Here are Philip, Kirk & Fred (Abby's dad) in the 2 bedroom apt. above the 4-car garage. It was built in the 80's and is very nice.
Turn your head to the left to see the bathroom in the studio apt. P&A are turning 2 rooms above & below each other into a studio apt. They will be putting in a spiral staircase to go between.
Here's the 3-bedroom "front house" that faces Comstock. It is on the block below Beverly Blvd.
This is a playhouse that Luke jokingly said he was willing to rent! They will turn this into a wash house for their washer & dryer.
This is the Franklin stove in the master bedroom of the front house. This room addition was build in 1976.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Our Pacific North West Cruise

We were invited on this cruise by Debbie & Steve Opfer to help celebrate their parents' 60th Wedding Anniversary. (Steve is on the left, with Dan (Debbie's twin) & wife in the center) There were 3 older couples and 9 of us "young ones!" Don Converse (at right), had liver cancer, so the family knew that this would probably be his last big vacation.
Our ship left the Port of Long Beach on Sunday afternoon, June 14 at 5:30 p.m.
Here are Kirk & I at the first "dress-up" night dinner. The food was delicious and our server, a Christian man from the Philippines, was excellent!
Betty Kimes & I worked out a few times in the on-board gym.
Here's Kirk as we got closer to the Astoria Bridge in Astoria, OR. I can't imagine trying to dock a ship that size! It would be like trying to park a city! We pulled in to Astoria at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday and were met my Vicki & Michael Sullivan.
Vicki was selling here handmade porcelain beads, necklaces, silver jewelry & other lovely pieces there on the dock. They moved to Astoria last year after living in Whittier for all of their lives. Michael graciously took us in his car and showed us around the town. First he took us to Fort Clatsop where Lewis & Clark wintered on their famous trek west from 1802-1804.
(If you live in the Portland area, Micahel IS a Santa Claus. I can connect you with him, if you want him to come to a party, etc.)
Here, Michael & Kirk are reading the scoop about the berries, fish & fresh water that L&C found in this area.

Here is the re-creation of Ft. Clatsop. Because L&C kept such detailed notes about their findings & surroundings, historians were easily able to rebuild this fort to their specifications.
Here is the outdoor cooking area.
Michael then drove us up to "The Column," a 125 foot tower at the top of the hill. Here is part of the expansive view from that hill. I believe this shot is looking toward the Columbia River.
Here is a sample canoe from L&C's time there.
Our room had a lovely balcony! We propped the door open everyday to get fresh air and to hear the sound of the ship swishing through the water. Here we are pulling into Victoria, BC.
Betty, Lynn Weber & I spent most of the day touring Victoria on the Big Bus. It has the roof off, so you can see easily the sites. Since we had all been there before, we didn't really want to walk all over. Kirk & others rented mo-peds and spent the day zooming around the city.
Here were are leaving Victoria, BC. We also did the Big Bus in Vancouver, BC. It's a great way to quickly see a city. Then you can go back to specific places, if you want.
We had a beautiful sunset as we left Vancouver. That night, Don was taken to the infirmary, as he was getting weaker each day. The doctor confirmed that his liver & kidneys had quit working and that it was a matter of time before he passed away. He boldly told the doctor that he was a Christian and was not afraid to die. He had no regrets and he knew he would go to heaven. The doctor was quite amazed at Don's attitude. Don went back to their room, where he died peacefully at 6:30 the next morning, Friday.
Friday was supposed to be the night we celebrated their anniversary, but of course we didn't. It was bittersweet. We were all glad to be there to support the family, yet it was sad for all of us. The ship employees took care of so many details and the Converse family are/were impressed with their care and respect for privacy.
We sailed for 2 more days, and arrived back to Long Beach on Sunday morning, June 21. Don's memorial service was on Kirk's birthday, June 25th. It was a happy occasion as we all remembered him as a man who loved to share Christ with others, who loved his Lord & his family.