Posted on 04/10/2011 9:11:27 PM PDT by The Magical Mischief Tour
Crossville, Tenn. - A Cumberland County family blames the state's healthcare system for the death of their son.
Frank and Ann Zingheim's 48-year-old son, Scott, committed suicide on March 31st.
On Sunday, his obituary appeared in The Tennessean, with a tribute to his life, and also a message for state lawmakers.
"No one listens, no one listens," said Frank Zingheim. "There are major cuts being made in Nashville right now."
Scott Zingheim was diagnosed as a Paranoid Schizophrenic when he was 15-years-old. His parents say he was in and out of hospitals for most of his life, until one program was finally able to make a difference.
Through TennCare, Scott was able to take part in PACT, or the Program of Assertive Community treatment. The Zingheims say it changed his life and taught him how to cope with his mental illness.
"For the first time in years, he was hospital free," said Frank. "He didn't go to the hospital because they monitored and took care of it."
But in 2005, cuts to TennCare made Scott ineligible for the PACT program.
(Excerpt) Read more at newschannel5.com ...
Unfortunately for us at the time we had a DEM Liberal governor who passed away a couple days ago, Al Gore, and Hillary pushing it through. Add to that the underhanded tactics Blue Cross Blue Shield used as well used against doctors to get them to sign on. BC/BS did that in return for the majority of the enrolled. They gave the doctors a choice. Sign on or loose all BC/BS business and at that time BC/BS was the major carrier for corporations. They were also running full page scaremongering adds about Medicaid.
Medicaid wasn't perfect by any means but there was a coordinated effort in the state offices to deliberately make it fail to push this through.
Moochers. Leeches on society.
“diagnosed as a Paranoid Schizophrenic”
It’s obvious he wasn’t alone when he died. It had to have
been the other guys fault.
“No one listens, no one listens,” said Frank Zingheim, the
human digital delay man. Of course no wants to listen to
someone who says everything over and over again. I guess
that comes with a Schizophrenic son.
“Since when is it my responsibility to pay for your child’s healthcare?”
Since when is it MY responsibility to pay for any of your little special interests whether that be your healthcare, arts, home, food, or any other damn thing?????
They wanted him to be “double dipping”? I assume he was on disability due to his mental illness, but would think he had the better of the two, theoretically.
I’m sorry for their loss - and that’s a young age to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, so they’ve had a long, hard course with that disease.
(I’ve seen “Medicare/Medicaid” but that just means the doc writes off the copays and deductibles and helped with medication costs, at least before Part D. )
However, if the son was 48, how old are the parents? They’re on Medicare, too, most likely. Isn’t that the goal - Medicare for all?
Actually, the government is not supposed to take care of anyone. Government’s job is to prevent or at least punish those who would infringe on our rights to life, liberty and property.
We in society and, more directly, in our communities, may decide to care for those who can’t care for themselves. This is voluntary self sacrifice, or should be. However,it’s not the legitimate job of government guns, courts, and prisons to force sacrifice.
Looks like he had health care...such as it is, MEDICARE is RATIONED health care, even if you have all the different parts of Medicare.
Sounds like the parents wanted the government to be totally responsible for their child. It is very sad that he committed such a selfish act and left pain for his parents.
Tenncare is about to bankrupt TN, and when Deathcare kicks in, it will escalate it rapidly. Then no one but the wealthy will have decent health care as the docs will start to quit.
Does Tennessee have a “Durable power of attorney for healthcare?”
Yea. But actualy except for mental health services a spouse can normally sign for permission for treatment for the other if their spouse is unable to sign themselves. Mental health services have some very restrictive laws.
I generally agree but I don't think most people anticipate caring for their children until they are close to 50.
Gail he was 48 and likely had worked and gotten SSDI and Medicare at some point. {To get SSDI you either have to had worked or be over 50, plus disabled, and your spouse worked but deceased} You might want to read post 31 to understand it better. Their hands were likely tied by the state in even helping him. Mental health laws in Tennessee are not the same as physical health.
Ok the reality of this. Which would be cheaper? Getting him help and keeping him functional outside an institution the state would still be paying for or locking him up as a ward of the state which up till the early 1970's is exactly what was done in cases like his?
Anyone living in East Tennessee and is 50 years old knew what Eastern State was. It wasn't a college or university. It was a state operated mental institute now called Lakeshore. Oh there was one far worse called Cedar Crest located on what was the old Poor Farm {current prisoner intake center} in Knox County. I once worked for a nursing home on the same property which that horrid abandoned building sat. We used it as a storage building. It was closed as an institute in the late 1950's I was told. There were shackles on the concrete walls. It was state ran also. It would send a chill up your spine too.
This man had a legitimate claim for what was originally a Medicaid covered issue. Had Medicaid stayed Medicaid under the original Medicaid rules he would have gotten the needed help. Had the mental health laws not tied his obviously now elderly parents hands they could have gotten him help also. Involuntary committals ended in Tennessee decades ago. Even if they did get him in the institute can not hold him as long as he says he does not want to harm himself or someone else. He should have never with his history been cut.
For those who have never dealt with Tenncare it has virtually no over-site nor accountability. Not even te lawmakers can help you with a complaint even though it's state funds. How right is that? The disabled since day one has been the ones they have tried to boot out of Tenncare so they can fund Universal Health Care for illegals and welfare babies.
In a very real sense what they were saying was true. 40 years ago he would have went to either Lakeshore or Green Valley in Greene County for the rest of his natural life as a ward of the state paid for by Medicaid or state funds. That ladies and gentlemen is a lot of money.
Also fortunate he didn’t take a lot of people with him.
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