Happy Mother's Day

[Edward Schreiber]

Zerka sent this to me, I pass it along to you.
Edward Schreiber






HEALTH CARE
What My 91-Year-Old Mother Wants for Mother’s Day
(It’s Health Care for All)



SOURCE: iStockphoto
Smart government can and must deliver a reasoned, evidence-based  
health plan for all. Compassion demands it. Is that so much to ask  
for this holiday?
By Jonathan Moreno | Friday, May 8th, 2009 | Share This |  Print
When President Obama described his grandmother’s decision to have a  
hip replacement in the weeks before her death I couldn’t help but  
think of my mother, who will be 92 in June. Between 2000 and 2005 she  
underwent three hip surgeries, including two to “re-do” failing  
implants, preceded by weeks of immobilization and followed by  
rehabilitation. Today that third prosthetic is not in a perfect  
position, so (as is her way), she has sensibly agreed with her  
surgeon to live a sedentary life to avoid further surgery.
And I haven’t mentioned the amputation of her right arm at age 39  
due to a sarcoma, or the fact that she taught herself to drive and  
sew with one arm, or that she re-read all of Proust in French two  
years ago, or that she is a world-famous psychotherapist who still  
works and still writes. The memoirs will be published next year. I  
challenge anyone reading this to find a tougher or more independent  
nonagenarian than my mother. My wife and daughter find her a  
formidable feminist act to follow.
My mother was luckier than the president’s grandmother. She did not  
have any other serious disease and recouped her strength following  
each of her hip surgeries. So when I read the president’s thoughtful  
remarks about the question of whether someone in his grandmother’s  
or my mother’s position should be able to elect hip replacement in  
their eighties, I thought it important to tell her story. As the  
president indicated, there are tough choices ahead. Perhaps not all  
expensive procedures can be justified for those near the end of life,  
but not everyone in their eighties is near the end. We don’t have  
enough data to justify the level of confidence that close cases  
require, which is why the president is right to support research that  
compares the effectiveness of medical treatments, and speeding the  
implementation of computerized information systems for better  
coordination of care. It’s not for government to decide life’s up  
at 80, but eighty-year-olds, like amputees who are decades younger,  
need evidence to make choices, with their doctors and their families.
Now you might suppose that my mother would join the chorus of critics  
of the administration’s efforts to secure adequate health care for  
all Americans, fearful that someone like her might someday be denied  
one hip surgery, let alone three. But if you spoke with her you would  
find that, like most Americans, she believes that a decent society  
should provide care as a moral imperative, and that markets alone are  
not well-suited to address the vulnerabilities that can come with  
illness, especially for those without family and resources. She would  
tell you that Medicare isn’t perfect, but at least the government  
doesn’t spend up to a third of her premium on advertising. How much  
better would it be if our health care system demanded a high quality  
of care rather than just paying for more procedures?
So she will not be cowed by the cries of “rationing” we will  
surely hear in the next few weeks from certain self-interested  
parties, anymore than losing her arm or her hip intimidated her.  
Smart government can and must deliver a reasoned, evidence-based  
health plan for all. Compassion demands it. Is that so much to ask  
for Mother’s Day?
Jonathan D. Moreno is the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor  
of Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania, a Senior Fellow at the  
Center for American Progress, and the Editor-in-Chief of Science  
Progress.

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