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capri0mniThis is a "chat" I posted to my Tumblr, today. And I'm posting it now, in response to This story segment from dialecticdreamer, and the ensuing discussion.
Disabled Person: I need a wheelchair.
Wheelchair Manufacturer: We won't sell you one unless Medicare will pay for it*
Disabled Person: I need a wheelchair.
Medicare: Can you walk 20 feet?
Disabled Person: It's 40 feet from my front door to my bedroom...
Medicare: Can you walk 20 feet?
Disabled Person: I can, but it's excruciatingly painful, my balance is terrible, and I risk falling at every step.
Medicare: Then No.
Disabled Person: Why not?
Medicare: We're running out of money. The Baby Boomers are getting old and sick. And the Gen X'ers and Millennials are not reproducing. Very sorry. Have a nice day.
800K Gen-X & Millennial "Dreamers": Hey! we're paying into Social Security!
Medicare: You don't count.
110K Refugee Applicants: We want to come into your country, and contribute to your economy, including helping to pay for Social Security. Please let us in?
Federal Government: No!
Disabled Person: I still need a wheelchair.
Medicare: Very sorry. Absolutely nothing we can do.
Disabled Person: ...
"Dreamers": ...
Refugees: ...
Medicare: Buh-bye! Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
*Footnote: Even if you are wealthy enough to purchase a wheelchair out-of-pocket, many suppliers still require proof of insurance. And even private insurers copy Medicare's policies when it comes medical equipment and mobility aids.
dialecticdreamer, and the ensuing discussion.Disabled Person: I need a wheelchair.
Wheelchair Manufacturer: We won't sell you one unless Medicare will pay for it*
Disabled Person: I need a wheelchair.
Medicare: Can you walk 20 feet?
Disabled Person: It's 40 feet from my front door to my bedroom...
Medicare: Can you walk 20 feet?
Disabled Person: I can, but it's excruciatingly painful, my balance is terrible, and I risk falling at every step.
Medicare: Then No.
Disabled Person: Why not?
Medicare: We're running out of money. The Baby Boomers are getting old and sick. And the Gen X'ers and Millennials are not reproducing. Very sorry. Have a nice day.
800K Gen-X & Millennial "Dreamers": Hey! we're paying into Social Security!
Medicare: You don't count.
110K Refugee Applicants: We want to come into your country, and contribute to your economy, including helping to pay for Social Security. Please let us in?
Federal Government: No!
Disabled Person: I still need a wheelchair.
Medicare: Very sorry. Absolutely nothing we can do.
Disabled Person: ...
"Dreamers": ...
Refugees: ...
Medicare: Buh-bye! Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
*Footnote: Even if you are wealthy enough to purchase a wheelchair out-of-pocket, many suppliers still require proof of insurance. And even private insurers copy Medicare's policies when it comes medical equipment and mobility aids.
Well...
Date: 2017-09-15 08:00 pm (UTC)This explains all the plans I have seen online for making wheelchairs out of bicycle parts. Because you can GET those.
Re: Well...
Date: 2017-09-15 08:43 pm (UTC)Greedy, hypocritical, ableist, racist authoritarians, however...
Not so much.
This explains all the plans I have seen online for making wheelchairs out of bicycle parts. Because you can GET those.
Also, you can get the parts without having to go through medical gatekeepers, who often seem professionally required to gaslight people about what their needs actually are.
(It also brings personal mobility to a poetically just full circle, since the crank-chain-gear mechanisms in bicycles was invented by Stephen Farffler -- a disabled watchmaker from 17th century Germany, who built a three-wheeled hand cycle for himself).
Re: Well...
Date: 2017-09-15 10:17 pm (UTC)Don't tell me, I can guess...
So able-bodied people were risking their necks on penny-farthings, or pushing their velocipedes along with their feet, until a disabled man sorted things out. That is excellent.
Re: Well...
Date: 2017-09-15 11:24 pm (UTC)Farffler invented his "Manumotive Carriage" in 1655.