"Fortunately for Cheney, the cost of his health care was covered by taxpayers"

[jsr]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2012/03/28/cheneys-million-dollar-heart-stirs-health-care-debate-who-lives-and-who-dies/

Cheney's Million Dollar Heart Stirs Health Care Debate: Who Lives and Who Dies?

Vice President Dick Cheney received a new heart at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va. The news raised eyebrows and questions about whether he was too old for the procedure. At age 71, Cheney was older than the average heart transplant patient; while there is no firm age limit for a heart transplant, most transplant surgeries are done on patients younger than 70 years old. ...

A heart transplant is considered a serious, life-saving surgery. In the procedure, a person’s damaged or diseased heart is replaced with a healthy heart from a deceased organ donor. Most heart transplants are done on patients who have end-stage heart failure which means that patient’s health is so severe that all treatments have failed. In Cheney’s case, he had suffered five separate heart attacks (the first at age 37) and had remained alive for the past two years or so with the use of a heart valve pump called a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD).

I’m pretty familiar with the heart valve procedure. My mom, who is younger than Cheney – I’ll add much, much younger in case she’s reading – underwent a heart valve replacement surgery recently. It’s a pretty intense procedure. And it, like a transplant and many other medical advances, isn’t cheap. In fact, the average initial cost of a heart transplant, with drugs and post-surgery care, including catheterizations and scans, can be close to a million dollars.

Fortunately for Cheney, the cost of his health care was covered by taxpayers. In addition to health insurance provided through the government for Cheney’s years of service, Cheney, like millions of other Americans was eligible for Medicare benefits when he turned 65. In most cases, if you are retired and have Medicare, as well as health plan coverage from a former employer, Medicare pays first. The group health plan coverage pays second (booklet downloads as a pdf). Either way, it’s tax dollars at work.

[riverwalker]

1. pushed his way to top of the waiting list

I wonder how many died waiting for a heart while that SOB bribed/forced his way to the top.