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Cost is REALITY. Warm and fuzzy feelings don't pay bills.
Medical resources and dollars shouldn't be wasted on someone who no longer has a brain......just to make their relatives feel better. It is beyond ridiculous.
It is easy to sit there and say money doesn't matter when you aren't paying the bills.
I would bet my life that the people who say money doesn't matter would change their tune real quick if they were told they had to pay, let's say, $200 a month, to keep Jahi's heart pumping until her mother gets a clue.
If we would be dealing with reality here, the child would have already had a funeral.
If the hospital waived the costs of the bed (basically the basic costs), the rest of the expense isn't very much. She's just using the same equipment that's used everywhere in hospitals. There is nothing exotic going on.
The costs are going to her family, and who is to presume they, or their insurers, won't pay for it? Not every patient is indigent, you know...
Take all the "resources/money" argument out of this.
It's unconscionable to prolong the state this girl is in just to assuage guilt.
It's also not great for the emotional health of the family. They need to move on. This will never allow them to do that.
From my safe distance, I agree. But as I said in my earlier post, giving up on your child is damned hard to do.
My niece lost her first child to SIDS a day before her older sister's birthday. Her entire family was out in the country, putting things things together for a big family birthday party, and the baby was given continuous respiration until the EMT's arrived. The EMT's continued resuscitation efforts until they reached the hospital, and further attempts were taken there, but the baby was gone.
There were about 20 people altogether who refused to believe the baby was dead for many hours. I can understand the parents of this girl's refusal to accept reality. The fact was the baby was long gone before the first attempt ever began.
Who is to say they are being damaged by this? I'm sure they will bow to the inevitable, but they will know they went to the fullest measure possible before accepting it. I think that will be a comfort for them.
If we would be dealing with reality here, the child would have already had a funeral.
If the hospital waived the costs of the bed (basically the basic costs), the rest of the expense isn't very much. She's just using the same equipment that's used everywhere in hospitals. There is nothing exotic going on.
The costs are going to her family, and who is to presume they, or their insurers, won't pay for it? Not every patient is indigent, you know...
Gotta love the idea of an insurance company denying certain treatments to the living and then turning around and providing treatment for the dead. Do you really think insurance companies should use our premium dollars to keep dead people on ventilators? People complain about their premium dollars going to treat the overweight or smokers......let alone dead people.
And.....if the hospital waived the costs......do you really think they are going to eat that loss......or pass the cost on to other patients?
The only way this circus should be financed is by the family or donations.
The court affidavit from the attending physician, who took care of Jahi, outlines why a feeding tube would be futile. This physician explained that the bowels make no sounds which indicates a condition called ileus. Ileus means that the intestines are not functioning. This physician also reported that the lining of the intestinal lining was sloughed and defecated. To instill tube feeding into a gastrointestinal tract of this condition will result in the tube feeding not moving and the bowels distending. The bowels could distend to the point of rupturing. The tube feeding could also leak into the abdominal cavity from the bowel due to the loss of bowel integrity. This would quickly lead to peritonitis. The family could witness extreme distention of the abdomen and see oozing of tube feeding from the mouth, nose, and rectum. If Jahi wasn't brain dead, this condition would cause excruciating pain. If the doctor, who is treating Jahi now, really believes Jahi is not brain dead, this doctor would then be knowingly causing torturous pain to a person unable to communicate. What kind of doctor would do that?
Eeeesh...ok, that took care of snacking. ::folds up chip bag::
From other places I've read, the parents fed this girl solid food that she wasn't supposed to have and that caused all of the bleeding. Now their kid is dead and they are trying to shove nutrients in to her system...
Let this kid go, for cripe's sake! These parents did not listen to the doctors before, they are not listening now. They've done enough damage to the poor girl.
Gotta love the idea of an insurance company denying certain treatments to the living and then turning around and providing treatment for the dead. Do you really think insurance companies should use our premium dollars to keep dead people on ventilators? People complain about their premium dollars going to treat the overweight or smokers......let alone dead people.
And.....if the hospital waived the costs......do you really think they are going to eat that loss......or pass the cost on to other patients?
The only way this circus should be financed is by the family or donations.
A coma can commonly last a month or more. induced comas are also common. The actuaries in the insurance companies have coma accounted for, and this girl is getting the same treatment as if she was in a coma with severe restrictions. in terms of medical costs, this is one of the cheapest. No drugs, no feeding tube, no med drips. Nothing but a monitor and an air pump. She probably is not in intensive care.
The hospital won't waive all the costs, but it's likely they will waive some of them, just to free up the bed.
Costs are negotiated between hospitals and insurers constantly, all the time. Only the uninsured get slapped with the full bill, and it's bloated compared to the same bill that is sent to the insurers. Why? Numbers. Insurers' money is steady and stable, and keeps most of the hospitals in biz.
I had an emergency appendectomy last year. The bill that went to my insurer had large negotiated discounts to the insurance company on it, amounting to over $10,000. I would have paid the full tilt boogie if I had not had insurance; the full bill was around $25,000.
As it was, my part of the bill was only $300. The insurance took care of the rest. They probably pay for 4 or more appendectomies a week, and mine was typical. There were no unusual problems encountered.
A coma can commonly last a month or more. induced comas are also common. The actuaries in the insurance companies have coma accounted for, and this girl is getting the same treatment as if she was in a coma with severe restrictions. in terms of medical costs, this is one of the cheapest. No drugs, no feeding tube, no med drips. Nothing but a monitor and an air pump. She probably is not in intensive care.
The hospital won't waive all the costs, but it's likely they will waive some of them, just to free up the bed.
Costs are negotiated between hospitals and insurers constantly, all the time. Only the uninsured get slapped with the full bill, and it's bloated compared to the same bill that is sent to the insurers. Why? Numbers. Insurers' money is steady and stable, and keeps most of the hospitals in biz.
I had an emergency appendectomy last year. The bill that went to my insurer had large negotiated discounts to the insurance company on it, amounting to over $10,000. I would have paid the full tilt boogie if I had not had insurance; the full bill was around $25,000.
As it was, my part of the bill was only $300. The insurance took care of the rest. They probably pay for 4 or more appendectomies a week, and mine was typical. There were no unusual problems encountered.
You need to learn the difference between a coma and total brain death before you comment further.
This girl's brain and brain stem are both totally dead....NO BLOOD FLOW. Her body started to decay the minute that happened. The lining of her intestines were already starting to slough off through her rectum before she even left the hospital. Her brain is rotting and liquefying.
Why do you think the coroner issued a DEATH certificate?
Do you think the insurance company is going to be required to pay for treating a corpse?
A look at some of the differences between states of consciousness and brain
death:
Brain death: These patients are no longer alive. There has been an
irreversible cessation of all activity in both the brain and the brain stem.
Reflexes that go through the spinal cord may persist even in a brain-dead
state.
Coma: These patients are alive, but in a state of eyes-closed, depressed
consciousness from which they cannot be aroused. Coma is distinguished from
brain death by the presence of brain stem responses, spontaneous breathing or
non-purposeful motor responses. Coma has three possible outcomes: progression to
brain death, recovery of consciousness, or evolution to a state of chronically
depressed consciousness, such as a vegetative state or minimally conscious
state.
Vegetative state: Patients in vegetative states are alive but also have
severely impaired consciousness, although their eyes may open spontaneously. The
eye opening may give the impression of consciousness, but there is no awareness
of the environment. These patients do not acknowledge the examiner; they do not
attend or track objects that are presented to them; their movements are
non-purposeful; they do not speak.
Minimally conscious state: These patients are also alive, with a severe
alteration in consciousness, with intermittent, but inconsistent, behaviors
suggesting awareness. Contrary to patients in coma or a vegetative state,
minimally conscious patients may occasionally have purposeful movements, and
they may track motions with their eyes or speak.
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Do you really think insurance companies should use our premium dollars to keep dead people on ventilators? People complain about their premium dollars going to treat the overweight or smokers......let alone dead people.
So Sad, RIP Jahi.
