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posted by martyb on Tuesday August 13 2019, @05:57AM   Printer-friendly
from the give-me-back-my-Obamacare dept.

From Fox News, Elderly couple found dead in apparent murder-suicide, note says they could not afford medical care:

A Washington state man allegedly killed himself after killing his wife, and left a note for authorities saying that he was driven to do so because they could not afford to pay for medical care for her serious health conditions.

The man, identified by the Whatcom County Medical Examiner Gary Goldfogel in a statement to Fox News as Brian S. Jones, was 77, and his wife, Patricia Whitney-Jones, was 76.

[...] "It's very tragic that one of our senior citizens would find himself in such desperate circumstances where he felt murder and suicide were the only option," [Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo] said. "Help is always available with a call to 9-1-1."

"We do what we can to help them," Elfo added in a telephone interview with Fox News. "We can't solve all their healthcare needs, but we can help them until a better day comes."

Elfo said he has seen people close to him struggle with healthcare issues and get exasperated fighting what can be a bureaucratic system.

"I know it gets very frustrating," the sheriff said, "you can get very easily worn down, and [roadblocks] build up over and over again."

From WSWS (ICFI/SEP), Elderly husband kills wife, then himself, in desperation over skyrocketing healthcare costs:

Police found the notes, which explained what had happened. Jones' wife, Patricia Whitney-Jones, suffered from serious health problems, and the couple could not afford medical care. Jones, an apparent Navy veteran, wrote directions as to how police could contact their next of kin. Police found the couple's two dogs and turned them over to the Humane Society.

The home was not located in a forgotten, impoverished area but in a semi-rural neighborhood near the Cascade Mountains where homes are valued in the $400,000 range. The bottom 90 percent of people in "the richest country in the world" are living under financial hardship that varies only in terms of degree.

[...] [The couple's next-door neighbor, Sherrie Schulteis] further noted:

"But here is the horribleness of this whole thing, less than 6 months ago our across the street neighbor shot himself, a young man with PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder], cops and SWAT all lined our street then too. He was young--in his 50's-- and this guy and the whole block knew and saw him riding his bike, or walking his tiny dog also. He lived directly across from our house and we talked with him everyday as we were outside a lot. We had no idea his PTSD would kick in and he started believing everyone was someone else and he was going to kill everyone."

Also at People and The Lynden Tribune (EU blocked)


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by curunir_wolf on Tuesday August 13 2019, @01:18PM (4 children)

    by curunir_wolf (4772) on Tuesday August 13 2019, @01:18PM (#879615)
    Right! We need to pass Medicare For All, NOW! oh, wait... they were on Medicare. Never mind, move along.
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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Booga1 on Tuesday August 13 2019, @01:45PM (3 children)

    by Booga1 (6333) on Tuesday August 13 2019, @01:45PM (#879635)

    You're right, Medicare is not the answer. True universal health care is, but people won't go for it yet.
    What we've got right now, at best, an average health care system that we pay twice as much for compared to just about any other country.

    • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Tuesday August 13 2019, @06:16PM (2 children)

      by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday August 13 2019, @06:16PM (#879770) Journal

      Sorry, in this particular case there probably was no good answer. There are lots of diseases of the elderly for which there is no cure, only a treatment. And the treatment may be expensive (actually rather than just manipulated cost), and therefore limited.

      People *WILL* die, eventually, even if we manage uploading. The accessible universe is finite, so there's no way around it.

      That said, true universal basic health care would be an extremely good thing. It would be a long way from perfect, but it would be a lot better than we have in the US. It should include basic care for those incapable of caring for themselves.

      Note that this might not have helped in this case, as it would have meant separation of the husband and wife, which the husband apparently could not stand. ( https://www.google.com/search?q=washington+state+physician+assisted+death&ie=utf-8 [google.com] )

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      • (Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Tuesday August 13 2019, @10:42PM (1 child)

        by Magic Oddball (3847) on Tuesday August 13 2019, @10:42PM (#879861) Journal

        As far as I've read, it was a murder, not a case where the wife wanted to die. That's part of the problem with assisted suicide laws; they too quickly result in people leaping from "this person has serious health issues that aren't fully treated (whether that means a cure or better pain medication) and/or are causing a financial strain, which is logically causing stress, isolation & depression" into "person is better off dead anyway" instead of "let's find a way to get the person the help they need."

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday August 14 2019, @12:16PM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday August 14 2019, @12:16PM (#880115) Journal
          Just like self-defense laws encourage murder? Humans can rationalize anything. It's not a failing of the law.