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> > > I went to hear Senator Kerry at the Portland > Boys' and Girls' club. He emphasized the > need for increased long-term home health care being > funded to prevent unnecessary institutionalizations I hope that this can be a non-partisan discussion because it is imperative that we look realistically at this issue. I'm very, very concerned about health care spending. As a nurse I have seen a radical increase in sophisticated procedures and tests.. Many on this list have had MRI's, CAT scans, and, in a few instances, PET scans. Some have gone through DBS surgery, angiography, and bypass surgery. All of these tests and procedures are extremely expensive. Add to this list even newer blood analysis, medications, intensive care costs and rehab costs and it is no wonder that Medicare is in trouble. Medicare will be supplementing medication costs this year. From where I'm sitting, I'm very concerned that we may find Medicare dollars shrinking at a pace no one has anticipated. Already, there is discussion about decreasing Medicare home health care subsidies. In light of all of this, my question is.......how much should we expect the government to spend on health care?? Please let's not talk about how health care spending could be increased if we just stopped our presence in the middle ease - all of us know that is not going to happen, right or wrong. While the elderly population needs more medical care, it is also true that young families are being severely impacted by extremely high insurance costs. What is to happen to them?? How can dollars be allocated in such a way that everyone gets a piece of the pie? And, more importantly, do we (as a population dealing with a chronic disease) have have a right to expect that even more dollars be spend on the care of our loved ones in the face of decreasing dollars for health care? ------------ Mary Ann Ryan (CG Jamie 64/24) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn