What about the needs of the Living??? Home care funds threatened

[merh]

Home care funds threatened

By Julie Goodman
[e-mail]

GULFPORT — Salome McCaffrey loves soaking in bubbles, dousing her honey brown hair in tropical coconut shampoo and moisturizing her skin with Mary Kay buffing cream.

(snip)

Salome's life also is defined by several cans of Ensure poured daily into her stomach through a feeding tube, by the suctioning of mucus from her windpipe and mechanical gushing of air into the hole cut in her throat. Her reality is flexi-tubes, ventilators and catheters.

With spinal muscular atrophy, a degenerative neurological disorder similar to Lou Gehrig's disease, Salome has fought one battle after another all of her 21 years — breaking barriers in the Gulfport school district when she showed up for kindergarten class with a nurse and ventilator, ready to learn. She watched in pain as friends left for college without her.

(snip)

And now, because Medicaid says Salome is no longer eligible for her current level of home health care, she is facing the possibility of life in a nursing home.

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050331/NEWS01/503310379/1002

:rant:

How about protecting the living Mr. President and members of congress?
How about worrying about their lives and passing laws to protect them? :argh:

[LiberalEsto]

1. Another $3.8 million Predator drone crashed in Iraq

It was the second in the past few days

Boy that $7.6 million would have come in handy for caring for injured troops.

[merh]

2. Sure would have been nice to put it towards the health care of

the needy! Bastards! :mad:

[SoCalDem]

3. BushCo & pals do not want home health care..They want

elderly/ill people to "use" their home's assets as a transfer into the bank accounts of their pals who run nursing homes, and care centers.. So as soon as Grampa signs away his home, he'll get plenty of help, until the equity in his home runs out...then he'll be histled off to a "lower-rung" care facility so that his death is hastened..They sell the house and make a profit, and Grandma is left behind...homeless...

[merh]

4. Piratization!

[merh]

5. kick

:kick:

[Lindacooks]

6. kick

[merh]

7. I'm trying!

:shrug:

:hi:

[PA Democrat]

8. Bush budget also cut funds for housing for the disabled and mentally ill

He also proposed $45 billion dollars in cuts to Medicaid. The hypocrisy just makes me want to cry.

[merh]

9. Why won't the dems get a spine and call them out on it?

I am so mad as the slackers. Stand up and tell the people, sure they
want to protect those who cannot protect themselves, that is why they are cutting Medicaid!

:mad: :nuke:

[PA Democrat]

11. I know. I'm trying to think of how to organize a letter writing campaign

to highlight the inconsistencies between their statements and their actions. I was thinking about letters to the editor calling out all of the politicians who made statements about protecting the disabled.

Something like, I was so happy to read President bush's statement about protecting the disabled. When can we expect the president to reverse his cruel budget cuts and restore Medicaid funding?

Or, Senator Santorum's compassionate words about the disabled gave me a tremendous amount of hope that he will take action to restore funds for housing for the disabled and the mentally ill.

We need to show that these guys' sanctimonious rhetoric does not match their actions.

Anyone else have ideas as to how we can push this issue?

[merh]

12. Should we try an email, fax, telephone campaign to our

dem leaders? Ask them how can they not oppose the bankruptcy reform legislation because it harms those that are in the position due to medical emergencies.

Tell them that cuts to medicaid do not conform to the repukes "love of the helpless" and they need to call them out on their lies.

What can we do?

[PA Democrat]

13. I was thinking a LTTE campaign

with a copy to Democratic leadership, telling them that THIS is what they should be telling the American people. People in general don't see the huge disconnect between the right wing's rhetoric and their actions. We need to raise awareness somehow.

[merh]

16. I will try some LTTEs

We have to wake folks up, especially our leaders!

[merh]

10. kick

:kick:

[Lars39]

14. My mom was a home health nurse.

It absolutely broke her heart when one of her patients was denied
care and subsequently went on to lose a foot and then his life.

For want of a nail

the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe
the horse was lost.
For want of a horse
the rider was lost.
For want of a rider
the battle was lost.
For want of a battle
the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want
of a horseshoe nail

[merh]

15. The damn repuke governor just signed legislation tonight

that cuts the home health care visits from 60 to 25 and prescriptions from 7 to 5.

What the heck are people like this girl supposed to do? :shrug:

[merh]

17. kick

:kick: