à Touching Story about a New Son

[BeenThere...DoneThat...]

...imo, a touching story about a new son...

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americasright.com/?p=7171

A few hours ago, I had the chance to feed my son for the first time. Staring at my little boy while seated in a rocking chair in the NICU, finding peace amidst the beeps and chirps of expensive machines and the vulnerably weak grunts and cries from little boys and girls in cribs and incubators on each side, I found myself telling him about his big sister and puppy dog back at home, explaining to him as best I could the trials and hurdles he must face and surmount in the next few days, and sharing with him our hopes and dreams for his coming life.

I did not have the heart to tell him that, despite only having drawn breath for approximately 24 hours, his share of the national debt was already a whopping $45,774. Nor did I have the heart to explain to him that, according to an already outdated and far too optimistic analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, his share of the public debt will reach roughly $60,000 by his 12th birthday, $80,000 by his 18th birthday, and $170,000 or so by the time he reaches my age now. I also did not feel right explaining that every American taxpayer owes more than $1.01 million as their share of unfunded liabilities such as Social Security and Medicare. And, frankly, if I had explained that costs associated with higher education are outpacing inflation by anywhere between 350 and 650 percent, he might have been confused because of all that prior talk of our hopes and dreams for his coming life.

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...congratulations, Jeff and family...

[henryclay]

Yes, BTDT, it makes one stop and consider what we are doing to the future of little innocents that we claim to cherish, as we profess a dedication to their welfare so loudly. It is a shame that the little tyke will have to live with this as his dad's treatise on how things really were when he came into the world/ Worse yet is that hos dad has to think about this when he should only have joy and thanksgiving in his heart:

"......... over the past two years alone our rapidly expanding entitlement society has received an enormous boost from the most entitlement-sympathetic chief executive in American history, and just as France and Greece and England and Spain in only the past few months have witnessed firsthand the reaction of the entitled masses to the reining in of certain benefits, in state capitals from coast to coast we have seen the same thing. In Wisconsin, thousands of people have protested and leveled death threats against a Republican governor and state legislature who have done nothing more than remain steadfast and honor campaign promises to rein in the excesses of public union power. The level of discourse from the American political left has descended so far down into the doldrums of incivility that even Time Magazine referred to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker as “Dead Man Walker.” The interests of this nation and her people have taken a back seat to political gamesmanship and theatre........"

[steff]

how sad that one of the greatest moments in life was lessened because of politics.

[Value Buy]

I would be more worried about his low life expectancy due to radiation poisoning from Japan, than the National Debt....
The Democrats will declare National bankruptcy and knock the debt out, before he has to pay his share.
Strike the last comment.
It should have read, after your Republican and or Independent son writes the check for his share of the debt, the Democrats will declare bankruptcy and knock the debt out for all the liberals who did not pay their fair share.

[Deleted]

Interesting... given that we the people, through out insurance premiums and government funding have probably already paid tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars so that there is a NICU in place to service that child... and the beeps and chirps of all that 'expensive machines and incubators'...

... Do you really think that father paid 'his fair share' of what a stay in the NICU cost?

[BeenThere...DoneThat...]

Mar 18, 2011 21:50:47 GMT -5 oped said:

Interesting... given that we the people, through out insurance premiums and government funding have probably already paid tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars so that there is a NICU in place to service that child... and the beeps and chirps of all that 'expensive machines and incubators'...

... Do you really think that father paid 'his fair share' of what a stay in the NICU cost?

...sure... don't you?



...in fact, I'm intrigued, oped... your posts normally tout the benefits of all paying their portion of shared services... nat'l parks, public schools, EMTs, etc.... so for you to suggest that maybe this particular father might not have "paid his fair share" implies a "pay as we go" system... so have you crossed over?

[Deleted]

I was saying its ironic that the father in the OP is bitching about his son's share of the debt... while ignoring the fact that the boy's already run up his share of the costs as well... an infant in the NICU is probably already well into a 46K tab... so instead of complaining about having to support the system.. how about being grateful that we have the system which is already supporting the kid...

What i find constantly hypocritical is the people who complain and complain about how much they owe in taxes and how horrible it all is they have to pay taxes... while in the same breath ignoring the benefits they receive from the very system they complain about supporting.... the OP is a perfect example... here is a father in the NICU benefiting from the governments spending and a collective insurance system... and all he can focus on is how he might have to pay for part of it...

No i haven't crossed over... i am just calling out the hypocrisy of the OP...

[Deleted]

The way they calculate it is silly. There is no way to estimate it out like that because conditions change, and there have been times when the debt to GDP have been as high as now and the issues were resolved... systemically....

[henryclay]

".......... there have been times when the debt to GDP have been as high as now and the issues were resolved... systemically.... "

When? Who were the players? What was in the system that made an effective resolution possible? Is whatever it was still in the system and viable today?

I'll give an example of what is NOT in the system today. . . . . . . . . . Nobody is buying American products any more, , , , , Americans are not even buying American products any more. That means Americns are not working and when Ameriicans are not working they are not paying taxes and when they are not paying taxes the government should not be spending money. But the government IS spending money, , , more than it has ever spent before.

So in additin to the examples you are going to provide on how times like this were resolved in the past, what is your solution for this time?

[formerexpat]

What i find constantly hypocritical is the people who complain and complain about how much they owe in taxes and how horrible it all is they have to pay taxes... while in the same breath ignoring the benefits they receive from the very system they complain about supporting.... the OP is a perfect example... here is a father in the NICU benefiting from the governments spending and a collective insurance system... and all he can focus on is how he might have to pay for part of it...

People can be for risk sharing and the concept of insurance while be against government providing services on the "black" credit card that doesn't have a limit.

Considering that the government payments for health care services cover about 70-80% of COST, I highly doubt that the developments of our health care system came off the backs of government support.

However, I wonder what benefits we have (including NICU) thanks to PROFIT MOTIVES in our health care industry?

The way they calculate it is silly. There is no way to estimate it out like that because conditions change, and there have been times when the debt to GDP have been as high as now and the issues were resolved... systemically....

As of right now, it's pretty clear and calculable that we have over $100 trillion of unfunded liabilities. Some might be as far as 60 years out, but they do exist...unless the government reduces the amount of SS / Medicare that it will "give" to future recipients.

It's kind of like how they can calculate out how much your total payments on your mortgage will be. You can change the variables and therefore the amount by say, prepaying, but it is a figure that can be calculated. [/size]

[Deleted]

March of Dimes
The economic and societal costs
Medical costs for a premature baby are much, much greater than they are for a healthy newborn. In 2005, preterm birth cost the United States at least $26.2 billion, or $51,600 for every infant born prematurely. The costs broke down as follows:

$16.9 billion (65 percent) for medical care
$1.9 billion (7 percent) for maternal delivery
$611 million (2 percent) for early intervention services
$1.1. billion (4 percent) for special education services
$5.7 billion (22 percent) for lost household and labor market productivity
The average first-year medical costs, including both inpatient and outpatient care, were about 10 times greater for preterm infants ($32,325) than for full-term infants ($3,325).

These estimates come from Preterm Birth: Causes, Consequences and Prevention, a report published by the Institute of Medicine (2006) and funded in part by the March of Dimes.

Who pays the bill?
You do. All health care payers — employers, health plans, federal and state Medicaid programs, and individuals — share the cost of caring for premature babies.


Henry... I bet American Cars beat Japan in the short term at least? You never know what's around the corner, and we are innovative and have the capacity to rise, these things always cycle... there will be a shifting and resettling as we open up global markets in a new way and tech changes, but it cycles... As long as we don't completely short infrastructure, education and R&D... we'll be fine... and by the way, we still have significant manufacturing in this country... it just doesn't take as many people to run it...

Expat... the only profit models for NICU do not result in improved care.... in fact they are an example of why profits do not best serve health... content.healthaffairs.org/content/29/11/2114.full

[Deleted]

Not 70-80% of cost for nicu and end of life specialties... If you can find information that suggests it, i'd like to read it... but specialists, especially in those two areas, are normally compensated very well..

[Deleted]

A fewof the infant health and mortality initiatives supported by our tax dollars:

MCH PROGRAMS
A myriad of public health programs have been created over the years to improve the health of disadvantaged mothers, infants, and children, and to reduce disparities in health status and health care access. A few of the major programs are listed below.

MCH Block Grant Program. Title V of the Social Security Act (1935) authorized the use of federal monies for MCH programs. The biggest change to the Title V program came in 1981, when seven MCH programs were consolidated into the MCH block grant. Administration of MCH programs, which support direct delivery of MCH services in the public health setting, devolved to the state level, while state and federal governments share the costs.

Medicaid. Created by Title XIX of Social Security Act in 1965, the objective of Medicaid is to support the provision of health services to low-income Americans. The federal and state governments jointly administer the program and share its costs. Medicaid is really a financing program rather than a service delivery program. States are mandated to cover pregnant women and children six years of age and younger living at up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, as well as all children up to age nineteen in families with incomes below the poverty level. Medicaid is by far the largest MCH program, funding prenatal and obstetrical care, the EPSDT program, and health services for children with special health care needs. Three out of four Medicaid recipients are women and children, though they consume only one-fourth of total Medicaid expenditures.

Community and Migrant Health Center Program. Created in 1965, the Community and Migrant Health Center Program provides basic primary care to medically underserved (largely rural) areas. It is funded by the federal government and administered at the community level. These centers place a high priority on reducing infant mortality and improving the health of mothers and children. One-third of individuals served by the program are children under age fifteen, and one in four are women of childbearing age.

The Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Created in 1972, WIC provides supplemental food and nutritional education to low-income pregnant women, nursing mothers, and children diagnosed as being at nutritional risk. It is funded by the federal government and administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Technically speaking, WIC is not a health care program, but evaluations have found WIC to be effective in reducing infant mortality, low birth weight, anemia, and other problems.

Head Start, Early Head Start, and Healthy Start. Project Head Start was created in 1965 to promote social and behavioral competence among preschool children from low-income families and to ensure that the children enter school with a similar foundation as their more economically advantaged peers. The program includes comprehensive health services, including preventive health services. Ten percent of Head Start enrollment is reserved for children with disabilities. Evaluations have shown reduced juvenile delinquency and increased school completion rates among children enrolled in the Head Start program. In 1994, Congress established the Early Head Start program for low-income families with infants and toddlers. Both programs are administered by the Head Start Bureau of the Department of Health and Human Services. The Healthy Start Initiative was created in 1991 to attack the causes of infant mortality and low birthweight using a broad range of community-based interventions in nearly one hundred communities across the United States. The Healthy Start Initiative is administered by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau.