Does the country need a uniform health insurance plan? How about euthanasia planning? Stanley Reimer, 51, apparently threw his seriously ill wife four stories to her death because her medical expenses exceeded his ability to pay. He is charged with second-degree murder. Pleadings in Jackson County Circneeuit Court, allege that Reimer walked his wife to the balcony, kissed her and then threw her over the rail to her death. Criste Reimer, 47, was discovered dead outside the apartment building, near Country Club Plaza shopping district in Kansas City, Mo. Stanley Reimer is in jail on $250,000 bond. The probable cause affidavit indicated that Reimer could not pay for his wife's treatment for neurological problems and uterine cancer. Reimer apparently admitted to investigators, "She didn't jump." Criste Reimer could barely walk. It is unlikely that she could have climbed over the balcony railing, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Criste Reimer had been ill for years according to Jackson County Probate Court records. Criste weighed just 75 pounds and was partly blind. The Reimers had no health insurance. Her medical bills were approximately $700 to $800 per week. In April Reimer petitioned the Probate Court to allow him to sell personal property in Wheeler County, Texas, for $20,000. Criste's assets were listed at approximately $6,700, with monthly income of $725.
Is this an example of why we need legal euthanasia or an example of domestic violence?
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24 comments:
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Never right to take a life!
I read the headline and was ready to launch into a tirade about how all men are pigs. But after reading the story, I felt genuine sypathy for this man. Perhaps a first, but none the less real.
Either national health insurance or legal euthanasia would have prevented this incident.
Legal Pub, offer to defend him if you can. Attention should be brought to this issue.
Shell
As a man of the cloth, I can not advocate taking any one's life. Euthanasia or not, it is an athiest way of dealing with things. Let me share a story to illustrate:
A Florida atheist decided to sue because of alleged discrimination inflicted on atheists by the celebrations afforded to Christians and Jews with all their holidays while atheists had no holiday to celebrate.
After listening to the long passionate presentation by the lawyer, the wise Judge dismissed the case. The athiest's lawyer objected and demanded an explanation since Christians have Christmas, Easter, Jews have Passover, Yom Kppur and Hanukkah...yet atheists have no such holidays.
The judge explained, "Obviously your client is confused about celebrating his own atheists holiday!The athiest holiday comes every year on April 1st and is called April Fools Day. Psalm 14:1, Psalm 53:1 states: "The fool says in his heart, there is no God." So, if an athiest says there is no God, then by scripture he is a fool, thus April 1st is his holiday!"
By my story, you see my view. Let God decide when it is time for someone to die. Otherwise, you need to celebrate April 1st each year.
Rev. J.J.
After such a sobering story (Not good on a Friday) I thought I would brighten readers day by sharing some headlines from 2006 given to me by my uncle:
ACTUAL HEADLINES OF 2006:
Crack Found on Governor's Daughter
Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers (Taking things a bit far!)
Is There a Ring of Debris
around Uranus?
Panda Mating Fails;
Veterinarian Takes Over
War Dims Hope for Peace
If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly,
It May Last Awhile
You think?!
Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
(Who would have thought! )
Enfield ( London ) Couple Slain;
Police Suspect Homicide
They may be on to something!
Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
You mean there's something stronger than duct tape?!]
Man Struck By Lightning:
Faces Battery Charge
He probably IS the battery charger
New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
Weren't they fat enough?!
Astronaut Takes Blame for
Gas in Spacecraft
That's what he gets for eating those beans!
Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
Taste like chicken?
Local High School Dropouts
Cut in Half
Chainsaw Massacre all over again
Hospitals are Sued by
7 Foot Doctors
Boy, are they tall!
And the winner is....
Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
Did I read that sign right?
Does the country need a uniform health insurance plan? How about euthanasia planning?
I would love to see our country have a comprehensive national health care program. Euthanasia planning? -Who plans it? The spouse? Doesn't the patient have a say? I feel for this guy, he clearly sn-a-pp-ed, but throwing her off a building? What a way to go . . .
What a sad affair. And I don’t have an answer except to agree with J.J. I like what he said.
As for national health insurance? HELL NO!
Look, the government “Fs” up damn near everything it touches. It takes 80 cents on the dollar just to administer a program much less provide the actual services (not really, but government is just damn inefficient).
We The People should only have government do what only government can:
Police, defense, national-scope road service, etc.
Giving your money to the government for health insurance is a sure way to solicit lazy people imbued with a sense of entitlement and getting little done.
Want health insurance for you and yours? Compete in the marketplace!
Gather marketable skills, experience, education, follow the law, etc. Become competitive and beat out the other guy for the better job with the better benefits. Jobs looking for better people provide better benefits as part of the compensation package.
I for one am singularly unimpressed with government services. And perhaps most importantly:
Why the heck should a law-breaking, illegal-immigrant, unemployed, social-leech have access to similar health care as a law-abiding, highly-skilled, highly-educated, contributory citizen? They shouldn’t!
Access to health care should be stratified based upon social contribution. Just like access to good schools, good neighborhoods, good jobs, good houses, good cars, good summer homes, good investment portfolios, etc.
None is guaranteed. This is America.
The only guarantee you get is the ability to compete to get it. Having it is not your right…only the real possibility of positioning yourself to compete for it.
And we’re taught early on how to get it. Get goods grades, study hard, be respectful to your teachers, follow the law, don’t get arrested, position yourself for access to competitive universities, be polite, join the Army, etc.
No, I’ve got a problem with “equal access to benefits as a sense of entitlement rather than based upon competitive social success”.
If the options are:
1. Sit on the couch, eat bon-bons, smoke dope, and get health insurance; or
2. Work hard, try hard, and you might get health insurance.
Which do you think people will pick?
People will always take the something for nothing route. And the overall strength of society suffers.
The team gets stronger when the players get stronger. And players get stronger when you reward individual hard work and personal success… not collective inaction and mediocrity.
Just my two cents and typical digression.
L.S.
Euthanasia would be determined in a form similar to a living will where you designate your intent while you are of sound mind and body and designate some one to help make the decision.
L.S., good points. National Insurance may not be the answer. On the other hand, I hate to see decent people not be able to afford health care.
NOpe, it is still killing.
J.J.
I understand that there are unpalatable consequences….good people not being able to afford it. I hate that too…but not as much as bad people getting the same as the good! They should not.
You have to motivate people some way. Why the heck do you think I took a piss-poor-paying government job with my level of education? Could the benefits have something to do with it? Damn right! If there was anything close to the provided benefit package in the private sector, I would leave in a heartbeat.
If the government wants to give me the same benefit package as others (without working for them) then I’d just leave. I stay as my family needs (among other things) the highly competitive medical insurance. It is an asset I have acquired by education and resume building. And I was motivated to develop myself in this manner because if I did not, I would not have these things. I like things….things are cool.
Why would anybody (speaking of the masses) go to great lengths to excel personally if they get the same access to the same things if they just sit on the couch? The answer is, “they won’t”. At least not in the large numbers necessary for a successful society.
There are no guarantees in life, nobody owes you anything…but a fair chance and notice of what the rules are. Play by the rules….you might win. Don’t play by the rules and you will lose.
And J.J. is right on this one. This was a wrongful killing.
L.S.
What about a couple that work hard all their life only to have their life savings eaten away and then exceeded because a spouse has catastrophic hospital bills because of a stroke?
How is this fair?
Jill
It’s not.
But who said life is fair? It’s not.
L.S.
I hope for his sake he was having a bad hair day...
he looks scary.
Fair is implied in our system. Everyone gets a fair shot to win the game.
Can't win the game if you get sacked with a huge medical bill beyond insurance.
Only way out then is crime! That surely should not be the desired route?
Larry
Life is tough, Larry get a helmut!
Seriously, sucks to be saddled with debt but then again, it makes for guys like me who repossess cars and foreclose on houses, all with a big smile on my face.
Repo Man
Well crime is not the answer. And surly you’re not saying that, because life was not fair to him, I somehow should be responsible for paying for him? How’s that fair?
Debt is part of life. Plan for it. Pray not to have it. But it’s there, waiting to get us all. And it does.
And whoever led you to believe life was fair…lied to you. And, I’m sorry to say, but you’re gullible if you believe it.
Fair shot? Yes. Guarantee? No.
Hell, I could go to work tomorrow and get killed in a car wreck. Is that fair to me, my wife, or my kid? No, it’s not. But that’s life.
Life is not fair.
L.S.
Debt is what it is all about. Everyday I track down dead beats and make them pay or I take their things.
I don't care how you incurred the debt. So don't give me a song and dance of your child or your wife in spinal rehab. Either pay or run and hide. Either way, I will track you down.
And like L.S. said life is not fair so don't give me any excuses.
And like I said before, life is tough so wear a helmut. It may keep you from hurting your head when I tackle you trying to run away from your debts...
Repo man
LS,
I understand your concerns regarding univeral health insurance. But would you be willing to accept some sort of program to help the needy have some sort of medical care. We are no longer living in the era of the 60's and 70's. I see some elderly (WWII vets) having to decide between food or their stroke medicine. I see people who fall through the cracks because they are hard working and not slackers so they aren't eligible for help. Our present system rewards those who choose to stay home and breed, watch Jerry Springer and call Social Services to raise their kids. What do we do about insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and other swhom I believe are abusing the average blue collar worker? This is the richest country in the world, why can't we take care of our own? Trust me, my parents had to leave a communist country and had to start from square one all over again. So I distrust most socialist ideas, however this situation is just no longer acceptable to the good hard-working diminishing middle class. So what do we do?
I do agree that we should help our own. And I do agree that we should, if reasonably possible, provide cheaper more accessible medical care. But I stop well short of “socialized medicine equally to all”.
As long as some manner of return/reward is incorporated…I would tend to agree.
You’ve got 43 pages of criminal history in your 24 year life? No, sucks to be you. Go without.
You’ve done nothing in 50 years to give back to the society you wish to carry the burden of your illness and you want…neigh demand…entitled to…a handout? Hell no!
Your 45 years old, never reported income to the IRS and have a paid for 2007 Escalade? And you want what? Not!
I don’t have the slightest problem with the general principal of:
Let people know what you want, offer them the chance of compliance, and see what they do….that my dear “life should be fair” crowd….is fair.
But I have a REAL PROBLEM with allowing those who are….at the end of the day….nothing but social leaches, to have the benefits of a society they have disrespected and attacked. They want help from the body they are a cancer in?
You’ve lived your life clean, followed the law, paid your bills, worked hard, sweated, attempted to educate yourself, served in the military, given, contributed,…OK, you need help and we do need to find a way to do it.
My sense of it…of those such as myself who are strongly against this socialized medicine idea….is that the opposition is based upon two major problems that could be solved with dialogue:
1. Got to find a way to keep government out of it as much as possible…they are an expensive participant and just not that efficient. Remember, do only that which only they can do;
2. The idea of “equal benefits to unequal contributors” is just offensive (and it should be, unless one is advocating the communist/socialist model) and will have to be addressed.
For myself, I don’t see this as a hard loss….there is ground to be made here. I would propose that access to national medical insurance be civilly tied (no property interest here!) to compliance with law….I’d use it as a significant motivator for socially desirable behavior.
Any PC arrest for any felony crime will forfeit any national health insurance benefit for 10 years. Higher crimes will rate higher punishments….up to life. DUI would be 5 years….you get the picture.
If you could convince me that people will have to pay…not necessarily money….but with socially acceptable behavior….then I would be much more willing to agree.
It might just end up being cheaper than cops at keeping people from being dirtbags!
It could be done. But I doubt it. My sense of it is that the majority of those advocating it just want a handout and are not of the personality/political type that believes “no worky, no eaty”.
And those such as myself…who are against it…firmly….with all that we hold on faith…believe in the “no worky, no eaty” concept.
L.S.
Ms. Calabaza, excellent points. L.S. your argument works in many cases, but does not seem consistent with our norms when we deal with the innocent person faced with catestrophic events or the elderly who are no longer capable of making the big dollars to pay for continuing health care.
In general, I too am against giving dirtbags who do not even try to work the same benefits as a hard working person.On the other hand, in some circumstances the system is broken. That would be in case of catastrophic injury and in the case of the elderly who want to stay out of nursing homes.
The more input on this topic, the better.
NO input needed. The guy took the chance to ax his wife and he did...
May get some sympathy, but to me it is homicide.
May Criste Reimer's poor soul rest in peace!
I think it is just another example of a man being cheap!
Hillary P.
Not all men are so cheap as to terminate their wifes life because of medical bills. Could be out of mercy...
STanley! What were you thinking?
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