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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)
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 13 2019, @02:51PM (2 children)
I'm curious about what you expected to occur? People are not involuntarily committed for being, "super depressed." They are committed for being suicidal (or self-harming) or homicidal (or assaultive). While Major Depressive Disorder is often aligned with suicidal ideation, they aren't the same thing. A person is released when it is determined that the person is no longer actively in those positions. But it is no guarantee, and often times the behavior is repeated. (There is a cycle of treatment - patient takes medication - release - patient ceases medication - falls down - treatment - patient takes medication....)
If he had called a second time, do you think he would have been refused treatment? Answer: no, not if he acknowledged he was again suicidal. He would have had another stay.
The beauty of our system: He could do that as many times as necessary. At some point care would have been stepped up for him to try and avoid the ongoing hospital expenses. But so long one is credibly judged to be suicidal there are places in all fifty states where such people will be served without regard to cost or ability to pay.
Should the state pay for that? Yes, I'd agree it should. It beats letting the hospital eat the remaining costs (although most hospitals aren't hurting and can generally afford to do so). And someone who really is on the streets and penniless - there are always ways that the remainder can be written off by the facility to charity care but that takes either a patient who actively cooperates or a guardian who looks out for the patient's interests. Should the mentally ill be allowed to have a life of dignity? Yes. Comfort? Well, define "comfort," but generally yes.
The thing is: All these problems in your equation do not belong to the "healthcare system". They belong to how the healthcare system is funded, which is a governmental concern.
For all that, I'm sorry your acquaintance died and you were left to clean up his affairs. And you have every right to be bitter about it. And I could be wrong.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Tuesday August 13 2019, @07:16PM
Yes, you will get the bare minimum treatment, and in exchange you will be left homeless and with a debt that exceeds most people's lifetime earnings.
Nobody expects anything else to happen in the current system, that's why so many feel that the currenmt system is broken.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 13 2019, @08:39PM
The point I was trying to make, and wasn't obvious with, was that the system is great at fixing immediate crises but sucks for fixing long-term problems. A nobody who wants to kill himself gets treatment because it is an immediate emergency that everyone notices. The second he is "stable" and no longer a visible problem, there is nothing. Just dumped back onto the streets with no help to beg. And it isn't even that he wasn't smart or anything. Before he was fired for being committed too long, he was near the top of his field and no one would hire him afterward. No one else seemed to want to take a chance either for various reasons, including his mental health history. He had nothing but time to try and navigate the systems and programs, but what patchwork is there isn't enough. For example, he had to use a fax machine in my office to send in paperwork to the hospital to submit a rebate for some medication. How the hell is a random homeless person supposed to get a fax machine to send in a 15 page document that I, as a probate lawyer, had a hard time understanding? Or the fact that many places wanted proof of income. Where is a homeless person supposed to get proof of income from when they don't have a job and fell out of the labor pool? Or that in order to not freeze to death, you need to go to a shelter. But those shelters have a maximum number of nights in a row/month/year that you can use them, and even then you need to get there at the front of the line to even have a chance.
The point is to have some sort of safety net, not 10 trampolines haphazardly strewn across a 2500 square foot floor covered in spikes.