And another good development

[catsittingstill]

Obama has made it possible for gay partners to get hospital visitation rights, using the same method that once desegregated hospitals--the rules that regulate hospitals that receive Medicare and Medicaid payments.

Not really equality for gays, but a nice, if long-delayed, first step.

Comments

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

And as ebonypearlpoints out (http://ebonypearl.livejournal.com/725672.html?style=mine#cutid1), it also affects all sorts of OTHER folks who might be physically or emotionally distant from genetic family members.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

absolutely

Republicans are trying to spin it as government control of who can see you in the hospital.

Those of us who have some contact with reality can see it's government forcing hospitals to finally allow YOU to control who can visit you in the hospital.

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

And as ebonypearlpoints out (http://ebonypearl.livejournal.com/725672.html?style=mine#cutid1), it also affects all sorts of OTHER folks who might be physically or emotionally distant from genetic family members.

At least, as long as the patient is conscious and able to express their wishes. I haven't seen any coverage of provision for simple documentation to equate "person to contact in case of an emergency" with "this person can visit me any time and make medical decisions if I am unconscious".

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

You are quite right; such documentation would have to be the sort of thing one could fill out when one is well--like a power of attorney or something.

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

I was hoping for something even simpler, like the space you can sign on the back side of the drivers' license to agree to be an organ donor.

Power of Attorney has a lot of emotional loading, since it's been mostly mentioned as part of 'preparation for one's terminal illness'.

[kittyguitar.livejournal.com]

I know that during the three months my father spent in the hospital at what turned out to be then end of his life, many of the visits that cheered him most were from old friends and less-than-immediate family. I'm sure there may have been nurses who were a bit inconvenienced by the visit from my mother's sister's little grandson. But for my child-loving dad (long a contender for the World's Best Uncle award) whose own grandchildren had just moved three provinces over at pretty much the same time he got sick, that visit raised his spirits more than anything else had in weeks.

The idea that those who are confined to the hospital should have final say over who they do and do not want to have visit ought to be a no-brainer. (Unless, of course, these friends and loved ones are behaving in a genuinely disruptive manner and distressing other patients.)

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

I completely agree.

[judifilksign.livejournal.com]

Will it prevent parents who want to block partners from unconscious patients?

Most hospitals that I know of are pleased to have someone visit; it helps speed recovery. Gayness doesn't come into it at all, unless specifically requested by family.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

I think it allows the patient to specify who may visit. I get the impression this is an advance directive sort of thing--you specify it before anything bad happens and if something bad does happen anywhere in the country, you're covered.

But I'm not sure of the details.

In the case of the Florida hospital that started it all, as far as I know parents were making no effort to block a spouse and the couple's children from her dying partner's bedside--that was 100% the decision of the hospital staff.