http://www.dickmorris.com/blog/2009/06/06/here-comes-health-care-rationing/

And right there, in plain print, is the beginning of medical care rationing. Now that the cameras have been put away and the media is no longer watching, their secret emerges: They are going to cut medical costs by cutting medical care. Right now, they cite four targets. They plan to:

 

1. Cut diagnostic imaging tests like MRIs and CAT scans.

 

2. Reduce the use of antibiotics.

 

3. Perform fewer Caesarean sections.

 

4. Cut care for management of chronic back pain

 

These decisions will not be medical but financial. They will not be based on a doctor’s opinion of what his or her patient needs, but a bureaucrat’s and an accountant s opinion of what the new health care system can afford.

Doesnt sound good......

"These decisions will not be medical but financial."

 

Isn't that what happens today? Isn't that why someone who comes down with a serious condition (ie expense to treat) is cut loose by their carrier?

 

What am I missing here?

Managed care has been around for a long time now.

"And you will not be able to bypass their rulings and pay for this care yourself. The rules laid down must be followed and private payments will not be permitted to override them."

 

What in God's name are we heading into? Surely this can't be correct.

I clicked on the link but I don't see where Dick Morris is getting his info.

 

Anyone?

The President spoke to the AMA today.

 

Link to the speech:

 

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/06/obamas-speech-to-the-ama.php?ref=fpa

"And you will not be able to bypass their rulings and pay for this care yourself. The rules laid down must be followed and private payments will not be permitted to override them."

 

What in God's name are we heading into? Surely this can't be correct.

 

From what I have read and heard, that is exactly how it is in Canada. They can't even pay for a service they have been denied. That's why they come here.

From what I have read and heard, that is exactly how it is in Canada. They can't even pay for a service they have been denied. That's why they come here.

 

Bingo. I have actually met several Canadians over the past several years, on various trips to Canada and have discussed their healthcare system with several of them (believe it or not). For the most part, the system is not highly thought of. The people I spoke with DO admit that everybody has theoretical access to care, but the reality is that waiting periods are extensive to gain access to specialized care and highly specialized procedures (PET/CAT scans, etc) are difficult to have approval granted in their current system.

 

So many love to criticize and condemn our current system, but as you stated, people still flock to the U.S. from around the globe in order to gain access to our healthcare system. Tells you something, eh? No, our system isn't perfect. But, I'd rather address the problems in the current system before just scrapping it and basically starting over.

The President spoke to the AMA today.

 

Link to the speech:

 

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/06/obamas-speech-to-the-ama.php?ref=fpa

From the moment I took office as President, the central challenge we have confronted as a nation has been the need to lift ourselves out of the worst recession since World War II. In recent months, we have taken a series of extraordinary steps, not just to repair the immediate damage to our economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting and sustained growth. We are creating new jobs. We are unfreezing our credit markets. And we are stemming the loss of homes and the decline of home values.

 

You could have fooled me. Last I checked we are still spirally down. Didn't GM just declare bankruptcy. Progress, I tell you.

 

Today, we are spending over $2 trillion a year on health care - almost 50 percent more per person than the next most costly nation. And yet, for all this spending, more of our citizens are uninsured; the quality of our care is often lower; and we aren't any healthier. In fact, citizens in some countries that spend less than we do are actually living longer than we do.

 

Now, there is some word twisting, at it's best. Yeah, citizens in some countries that spend less than we do live longer than some of us. One or two of them, maybe. The rest die waiting for treatment. Did you know that in Britain you can be denied treatment for some illnesses after a certain age when the government decides it's a waste of time to treat you?

 

It is unsustainable for Americans like Laura Klitzka, a young mother I met in Wisconsin last week, who has learned that the breast cancer she thought she'd beaten had spread to her bones; who is now being forced to spend time worrying about how to cover the $50,000 in medical debts she has already accumulated, when all she wants to do is spend time with her two children and focus on getting well. These are not worries a woman like Laura should have to face in a nation as wealthy as ours.

 

I'm sorry, but anybody I know who has had cancer or any other serious injury or illness, still had to go back to work to continue getting insurance instead of spending time with their families and concentrating on getting well. Insurance does not last forever, I don't care how much you paid for it before you got sick. NOTHING IS FREE!!!!! Why can't anybody see this?

 

I had a friend who needed and received a liver transplant without health insurance in 2001. I say had, because he passed away from a stroke brought on by pneumonia less than 2 weeks ago. He and his wife have been making payments all this time. They both worked (he was a home repair contractor, she a document processor for, oddly enough, insurance companies), paid what they could, and somehow they raised a son in this time.

The President spoke to the AMA today.

 

Link to the speech:

 

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/06/obamas-speech-to-the-ama.php?ref=fpa

 

Our costly health care system is unsustainable for doctors like Michael Kahn in New Hampshire, who, as he puts it, spends 20 percent of each day supervising a staff explaining insurance problems to patients, completing authorization forms, and writing appeal letters; a routine that he calls disruptive and distracting, giving him less time to do what he became a doctor to do and actually care for his patients.

 

Most doctors I know spend more time on Medicare issues than anything else. Does our President, really think that a government bureaucracy will perform better and be easier to manage than dealing with a private company? Can anybody, besides a CPA, understand the tax code? Ever read the Patriot Act?

 

I could go on and on, he obviously did.

Most doctors I know spend more time on Medicare issues than anything else. Does our President, really think that a government buracracy will perform better and be easier to manage than dealing with a private company? Can anybody, besides a CPA, understand the tax code? Ever read the Patriot Act?

 

I could go on and on, he obviously did.

 

There was a study in 2008 that said most doctors wanted a national healthcare program.

There was a study in 2008 that said most doctors wanted a national healthcare program.

Got a link?

 

I work for several doctors and hospitals. They all complain about the staffs needed to meet and administer Medicare requirements and obtaining payments.

 

BTW, I'm not against regulation to a certain extent, and I could go for a system that allowed me to supplement my situation, but I am absolutely against a purely governement controlled health system.

Got a link.

 

I work for several doctors and hospitals. They all complain about the staffs needed to meet and administer Medicare requirements and obtaining payments.

 

BTW, I'm not against regulation to a certain extent, and I could go for a system that allowed me to supplement my situation, but I am absolutely against a purely governement controlled health system.

 

I haven't seen "purely" being proposed.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN3143203520080331?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&rpc=22&sp=true

I haven't seen "purely" being proposed.

Not saying there is, but as I have indicated in previous threads, I'm not waiting for the boat to sail before I try to sink it.