Thread: Welcome to government health care

The Oregonian
O pponents of physician-assisted suicide are fired up this summer, and rightfully so, over an ethically questionable provision of the Oregon Health Plan.
The conflict came to light in a recent report in The Register-Guard of Eugene. The newspaper described the sad plight of Barbara Wagner, a 64-year-old Springfield woman with lung cancer.
After her oncologist prescribed a cancer drug that would cost $4,000 a month, the newspaper reported, "Wagner was notified that the Oregon Health Plan wouldn't cover the treatment, but that it would cover palliative, or comfort, care, including, if she chose, doctor-assisted suicide."
Fix this medical ethics glitch - OregonLive.com

Originally Posted by Stinger

The Oregonian
O pponents of physician-assisted suicide are fired up this summer, and rightfully so, over an ethically questionable provision of the Oregon Health Plan.
The conflict came to light in a recent report in The Register-Guard of Eugene. The newspaper described the sad plight of Barbara Wagner, a 64-year-old Springfield woman with lung cancer.
After her oncologist prescribed a cancer drug that would cost $4,000 a month, the newspaper reported, "Wagner was notified that the Oregon Health Plan wouldn't cover the treatment, but that it would cover palliative, or comfort, care, including, if she chose, doctor-assisted suicide."
Fix this medical ethics glitch - OregonLive.com

You posted an editorial.

Here's the newspaper the story allegedly originally published. Please show me the story, as I am unable to find it.

Home Page: The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore.

On edit. Found in the archives.

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms...&fid=1&p=print

Here is the story.
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms...73&sid=1&fid=1

Originally Posted by mjdsr

Here is the story.
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms...73&sid=1&fid=1

Link provided in OP

Originally Posted by Stinger

The Oregonian
O pponents of physician-assisted suicide are fired up this summer, and rightfully so, over an ethically questionable provision of the Oregon Health Plan.
The conflict came to light in a recent report in The Register-Guard of Eugene. The newspaper described the sad plight of Barbara Wagner, a 64-year-old Springfield woman with lung cancer.
After her oncologist prescribed a cancer drug that would cost $4,000 a month, the newspaper reported, "Wagner was notified that the Oregon Health Plan wouldn't cover the treatment, but that it would cover palliative, or comfort, care, including, if she chose, doctor-assisted suicide."
Fix this medical ethics glitch - OregonLive.com

If she had a contract between herself and a private insurance company the contract would spell out exactly what would be covered and what would not be covered. If the insurer were to be in breach of contract she could take them before the government to sue them. That is the role of government after all.

Does she have a contract with the state of oregon? I mean one of the things that makes a contract a contract is that both parties agree to join into it. Did she have a choice?

If she did have a contract with Oregon did they say they would pay for this kind of care? If they forced her into being a part of their program it would really be despicable to then not give her this kind of care when all sorts of other companies that she could have used instead do. Is this kind of thing the correct role for government? We could read the constitution to find out.

Can she take them to court? Would the state help her in her lawsuit against the state or would that be a conflict of interest?