Henderson Undergoes Heart Surgery

15 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

• 

  spokelooneh on July 11 at 8:20 p.m.

  I wish Mr. Henderson very well.

  I wonder did he try to negotiate with the physician, in this “free market” health care system.

  Maybe he could have gotten a triple bypass for a far better deal? Or maybe the quadruple bypass was on sale. Pay for a triple bypass, and we’ll throw in the fourth for 1/2 price. How did he know he REALLY needed a quadruple bypass?

  Did he at least get three estimates from three qualified heart surgeons? Don’t conservatives believe we all MUST “shop-around” for our health care needs?

  Sacred Heart has really had some financial problems lately, might they not have offered him a better deal, you know, just to get referral business and keep their cardiac operating room bringing in revenue?

  Not to mention the bragging rights for treating a high profile patient.

  Just because Mr. Henderson gets “socialized” medicine, as a senior citizen, aka Medicare, doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t be a good steward of the tax-payers money.

  I wish Mr. Henderson very well and a smooth recovery.

• 

  Bent on July 12 at 6:55 p.m.

  Oh, yeah… that was real sincere.

  Frank is great man who has donated many years of his long life to public service. I truly do wish him well… and I am glad his doctors caught his condition in time.

  Spokelooneh, your partisan assessment (sophmoric rant) just illustrates how naive and ignorant you are to the true politics of medicine and healthcare.

  Sure, let’s just snap our fingers and make healthcare free for all… All we have to do is get those stooopid conservative republicans to think straight, and tada it’s free!!!! See that was easy.

  Oh… wait just a minute, now… last time I checked Democrats controlled a fillubuster-free congress and the administration. So, if it is that easy, why haven’t they done it yet?

  The politics of healthcare are extremely complex, and certainly not a simple partisn split as you would like to believe.

  BTW, you should be ashamed of yourself for pretending to know what your are talking about and unecessarily kicking a good man while he is down.

• 

  Bent on July 12 at 6:59 p.m.

  “I wonder did he try to negotiate with the physician, in this “free market” health care system…” — Spokelooneh

  Umm, have you ever told a doctor that you don’t have insurance? If so, what was the response?

  If you are trying to tell us that people cannot negotiate a lower price in that situation, you obviously are naive…

• 

  spokelooneh on July 12 at 7:20 p.m.

  Millions of Americans without and WITH health insurance are forced into bankruptcy because of catastrophic health care situations and attendant costs.

  Tell me, Bent, what EXACTLY has Mr. Henderson done about that situation, while he enjoys the benefit of Medicare and his taxpayer funded health care?

  I still believe Sacred Heart would have cut him a deal. They need to up their in-patient occupancy in order to get approval for the additional beds they’re seeking.

  But perhaps Mr. Henderson was constrained in his health care “decision” by a “Buy Idaho” clause.

• 

  hmoffsuite on July 12 at 7:28 p.m.

  bent >> “Frank is great man who has donated many years of his long life to public service.”

  That phrase ‘public servant’ and dedicated to ‘public service’ really rubs me bad. They aren’t in public service or are public servants if they get paid. More like public employee. Government employee, to be specific. There is nothing gracious about these folks whatsoever. They had a ride on the gravy train and were fortunate to have all the perks. Nice work if you can get it.

• 

  spokelooneh on July 12 at 7:45 p.m.

  Bent thinks it’s all partisan, hmoffsuite.

  You see, in Bent’s world, a REPUBLICAN politician is a great SERVANT for the public, while a DEMOCRATIC politician is a leach.

  Both are sucking hard on the public teat, but you see… it’s different for Republican politicians, who enjoy all the benefits of socialism while on the public dole, while voting against any such benefit for the average American taxpayer.

• 

  hmoffsuite on July 12 at 7:52 p.m.

  spoke. In my book, they are all just government employeees that have a sack job with wonderful perks and guaranteed colas. This service bs is just that. Geez, I hate it when I hear someone was or is a wonderful public servant. Only if they work for free. (and none of them do)

• 

  lew2nl on July 12 at 8:04 p.m.

  It’s interesting to see how, once again, everything gets turned into politics. Get well, Mr. Henderson.

• 

  Bent on July 13 at 9:22 a.m.

  “Tell me, Bent, what EXACTLY has Mr. Henderson done about that situation…” — Spokelooneh

  I suspect he has done much more than you have. Ignorantly bi*ching about a how partisan politics are to blame doesn’t count.

  “Bent thinks it’s all partisan, hmoffsuite.” — Spokelooneh

  Umm, you made it partisan pal. I am the least partisan person you will ever meet. These are my words:

  “The politics of healthcare are extremely complex, and certainly not a simple partisn split as you would like to believe.” — Bent

  Hmoff, when is the last time you checked what a state representative is paid for four-plus months of service in Boise each year. They get a very small stipend compared to what the average person could make in other professions during the same timeframe.

  If it is such a sweet deal, why aren’t more people running for it? The way I understand it, Henderson was recruited to run for that position. He did so, reluctantly, because he believed Post Falls should be well represented. He does one hell of job, all things considered.

  /It totally disgusts me when ignorant partisan whackjobs start piping off and trashing a good person who just endured a very tramatic situation— just to get in a feeble-minded political jab.

• 

  hmoffsuite on July 13 at 9:40 a.m.

  Sis. Please re-read the thread. I’m not making any political statements whatsoever except I object to the wording ‘public servant’ and ‘public service’. Its a job. A good one. They get paid and their employment is just that and not something more noble.

• 

  hmoffsuite on July 13 at 9:42 a.m.

  Sis >> “/It totally disgusts me when ignorant partisan whackjobs start piping off and trashing a good person who just endured a very tramatic situation— just to get in a feeble-minded political jab.”

  It seems you used this as a opportunity to do just that.

• 

  Sisyphus on July 13 at 10:03 a.m.

  Get some more coffee hmoff. I’m not participating on this thread until now. But the insight you provided into how you think of government gives one pause. You certainly undervalue the services you are provided. Surely, in government, like anything, you get what you pay for.

• 

  hmoffsuite on July 13 at 10:06 a.m.

  Sorry Sis. I mistakenly thought the Spoke post came from you. How silly of me to confuse you two. :~)

• 

  Dennis on July 13 at 10:12 a.m.

  Sisyphus on July 13 at 10:03 a.m.

  Surely, in government, like anything, you get what you pay for.

  ____________________________________________

  And what you ask for.

• 

  spokelooneh on July 13 at 11:08 a.m.

  Well Henderson is supportive of the Idaho Primary Care Association which has done some good work establishing community health centers to provide basic health care for those who lack insurance. And the IPCA supports moving to a single-payer model, which I doubt Henderson supports, if he agrees with his party’s position.

  We’re told over and over again by the GOP that the delivery of health care must involve making choices between providers and individuals bargaining over costs of such in order to be efficient and that such competition will drive health care prices down.

  Doesn’t actually work like that in the real world.

  “The idea isn’t that patients will haggle over whether to get three or four valves bypassed. The idea is that Dr. Gawande will offer to perform the quadruple-bypass for $40,000, while Dr. Dyke will say he can do it just as well for $30,000. The patient will go back to Dr. Gawande, who will move his price down to $35,000 but say his bypass is of much higher quality and can’t really be compared to that low-rent charlatan Dyke down the road. Then the patient will go back to Dr. Dyke, who will take his own final offer down to $28,000. Finally, the patient must walk out of Dr. Dyke’s office — this is the most crucial part of the negotiation, patients! Never buy any major medical procedure without letting the doctor see you’re willing to walk away from the deal! — and Dr. Dyke will run after her and make her a final, final offer of $26,000. The patient comes back, Dr. Dyke operates, and if Dr. Dyke’s services really turn out to be inferior and she dies, then next time she’ll go to Dr. Gawande.”

  http://mattsteinglass.wordpress.com/2009/05/28/atul-gawande-on-haggling-in-the-quadruple-bypass-souk/

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