The Cost of Honor Is Well Worth It

Listen to your father, who gave you life; and don't despise your mother when she gets old.-Proverbs 23:22 CJB-( Complete Jewish Bible translation)

I was at my doctor's office yesterday for my monthly Solu-Medrol injection, and as the nurse was preparing to give the shot, she mentioned how it had been a very rough day for her because she had been dealing with insurance companies all afternoon.. The conversation then took a quick turn to the future of health insurance and the possibilities of so called " Death Panels". I told her that they already existed , and they always have. Insurance companies have always had the say on what procedures they will approve, or what medications that they will pay for, and so has Medicare and Medicaid made those same decisions. Even if a trained MD gives a prescription for such and such, or a surgeon wants to perform a procedure that has the possibility of saving your life, an accountant sitting three thousand miles away in a suit and chewing a bottle of Tums, can say yes, you will live, or no, you will die.

The scary of part is that I see this really happening with our senior populations. The buzz word now days is " to make comfortable, or to  try to give a little quality of life" instead of actually authorizing any medical treatment that could ad days or weeks, or months to their lives. Heck, someday when one reaches a certain age, they will just give an injection and say good night. As  far fetched as that may seem, it may not be that ludicrous of a glance in to the future. And why is all of this? When monetary earning power is gone, and the seniors or seriously ill are costing too much to maintain, then ----------

We simply  do not honor the elderly in this American culture the way that we should. We can learn so much from our elders. I loved to listen to my father tell stories from the old days. His dry humor and his home style philosophy taught me many, many lessons.  My mother loved her children so much, and I never fully appreciated when she did for us until she passed away. They deserved the best care possible as they aged, and so do all of the others out there in our nation.

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Exodus 20: 12 KJV