"My wife and I took my 91-year-old mom to the emergency room yesterday because she had a bad pain in her back and said she now needed 24-hour care.
After ten hours waiting, she was finally admitted.
As I heard her continuous, continuous screaming and crying, when her blood pressure went to 220/130, at which point she asked God to help her and that it was time to go, and as she had two morphine shots, other pain relievers, and finally a muscle relaxer, I learned that none of that would allow her to be admitted under Medicare.A C.T. scan showed that in a fall, she had caused an acute fracture in a vertebrae.
She had literally broken her back.
The same bureaucracy was at work when I was told that this alone would also not be accepted as a legitimate cause for a stay at the hospital, according to Medicare.
You see, a broken back, according to the bureaucrats at the government, merits only observation, not admittance, because three days in the hospital might cause Medicare to have to pay for 20 days of acute nursing home treatment.
Thank goodness my mom also has a UTI, is dehydrated, isn't eating, and isn't confused, because that might be good enough for Medicare.
The doctors are not even sure that all of this will qualify mom for Medicare coverage..."
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