There is such a thing as "death panels"

[louis c]

They're called life-time caps.

If someone is very ill with a serious or terminal disease, such as cancer, what's the difference between an insurance policy that no longer provides coverage and a sentence of death?

[Raster]

1. There is such a thing as "death panels"...

...they are called "insurance companies."

[mr_lebowski]

4. And no insurance company will touch 93-yo people ... that's partly why there's Medicare ...

You know ... it's sad that happened, and I'm sorry for your loss. But at a certain point, one has to accept the inevitable. If this was a 55 year old, I'd be pretty incensed about your story. But at 93? I'm sorry, man ... it's reasonable at a certain point to say ... it's time.

If you think there's a private insurer in this world that's going to pay for the full ride ... over and over and over ... for a 93 y.o. to get admitted to hospital ... at least without something like the ACA FORCING THEM to (by making lifetime caps illegal) ... you're crazy. Left to their own devices, Insurance Co's are FAR worse than Medicare when it comes to cutting people off when things start getting really costly.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. More broadly, they're insurance companies.

[Hortensis]

5. Yes! Regarding problems with continually readmitting

patients, it might help to know that hospitals' highest profit margins are in the first and second days while most tests and consultations are done Then they drop. This means that in past (and perhaps in future) greedy hospitals would tend to discharge patients after those high-profit days but before they were ready, to clear the bed for new, higher-profit patients.

The ACA turns the screws on these institutions. It can't control commercial insurance payouts, but it can hospitals that abuse Medicare and Medicaid patients. And perhaps more--I'm not an expert. But for sure they are required to keep records on all patients and report violations of standards; and patterns of patients being readmitted too soon after discharge result in significant penalties, audits and even site inspections by regulatory agencies.

[NobodyHere]

6. Until there are medical resources for everyone

Some sort of death panel will be required