Dr.Who
Well-Known Member
The following are some excerpts from this article:
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnew...al-security-board-favors-healthcare-rationing
After nominating Donald Berwick as head of Medicare and Medicaid, President Obama has now nominated Henry Aaron as head of the Social Security Advisory Board, and they are both proponents of healthcare rationing. Berwick, who Obama appointed through executive measures, circumventing the conventional Senate confirmation, has stated, "The decision is not whether or now we will ration care…. The decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open. And right now, we are doing it blindly."
The Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a U.S. government agency established in 2010 by sections of Obama’s healthcare overhaul, has the explicit task of curtailing the rate of growth in Medicare expenditures
If ObamaCare is not repealed, the decrees of the IPAB’s 15 unelected members would effectively become law. In fact, once the board has made a ruling on a certain treatment plan, the decision must be overturned by statute under ObamaCare — meaning, a majority in both the House and Senate and a signature from the President.
Aaron concedes that the IPAB is flawed, but only because he believes the board’s largely unchecked powers are not unchecked enough. "I admit that the provisions governing the IPAB are less than optimal. For example, recommendations regarding payments to acute and long-term care hospitals, hospices and inpatient rehabilitation and psychiatric facilities are off-limits until 2020; and those to clinical laboratories are off-limits until 2016," Aaron wrote. "These politically motivated restrictions should be repealed as early as possible so the IPAB’s recommendations can comprehend the delivery system as a whole."
If Americans are serious about curbing medical costs, they’ll have to face up to a much tougher issue than merely cutting waste, says Brookings Institution economist Henry J. Aaron.
They’ll have to do what the British have done: ration some types of costly medical care — which means turning away patients from proven treatments. If Americans are serious about curbing medical costs, they’ll have to face up to a much tougher issue than merely cutting waste, says Brookings Institution economist Henry J. Aaron.
They’ll have to do what the British have done: ration some types of costly medical care — which means turning away patients from proven treatments.
The authors noted that many healthcare services in the United States were strictly rationed in Britain. "For example," the Post reported, "British doctors order half as many X-rays per capita as their American counterparts, and use half as much film per X-ray. They do one-tenth as much coronary artery bypass surgery. British hospitals have one-sixth as many CAT scanners and less than one-fifth as many intensive care unit (ICU) beds…. Half the patients with chronic kidney failure in Britain are left untreated — and die as a result."
Now I, Dr. Who, ask you, which hospital do you want to go to? The one that used half as many x-rays or the one that spends perhaps too much money on x-rays. Frankly, when it is my body I choose the wasteful one that saves my life. I am willing to pay more for it and it is my money anyway. Well, it is my money until we have a universal health plan. Then it is Obama money and he gets to decide where it gets spent.
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnew...al-security-board-favors-healthcare-rationing
After nominating Donald Berwick as head of Medicare and Medicaid, President Obama has now nominated Henry Aaron as head of the Social Security Advisory Board, and they are both proponents of healthcare rationing. Berwick, who Obama appointed through executive measures, circumventing the conventional Senate confirmation, has stated, "The decision is not whether or now we will ration care…. The decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open. And right now, we are doing it blindly."
The Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a U.S. government agency established in 2010 by sections of Obama’s healthcare overhaul, has the explicit task of curtailing the rate of growth in Medicare expenditures
If ObamaCare is not repealed, the decrees of the IPAB’s 15 unelected members would effectively become law. In fact, once the board has made a ruling on a certain treatment plan, the decision must be overturned by statute under ObamaCare — meaning, a majority in both the House and Senate and a signature from the President.
Aaron concedes that the IPAB is flawed, but only because he believes the board’s largely unchecked powers are not unchecked enough. "I admit that the provisions governing the IPAB are less than optimal. For example, recommendations regarding payments to acute and long-term care hospitals, hospices and inpatient rehabilitation and psychiatric facilities are off-limits until 2020; and those to clinical laboratories are off-limits until 2016," Aaron wrote. "These politically motivated restrictions should be repealed as early as possible so the IPAB’s recommendations can comprehend the delivery system as a whole."
If Americans are serious about curbing medical costs, they’ll have to face up to a much tougher issue than merely cutting waste, says Brookings Institution economist Henry J. Aaron.
They’ll have to do what the British have done: ration some types of costly medical care — which means turning away patients from proven treatments. If Americans are serious about curbing medical costs, they’ll have to face up to a much tougher issue than merely cutting waste, says Brookings Institution economist Henry J. Aaron.
They’ll have to do what the British have done: ration some types of costly medical care — which means turning away patients from proven treatments.
The authors noted that many healthcare services in the United States were strictly rationed in Britain. "For example," the Post reported, "British doctors order half as many X-rays per capita as their American counterparts, and use half as much film per X-ray. They do one-tenth as much coronary artery bypass surgery. British hospitals have one-sixth as many CAT scanners and less than one-fifth as many intensive care unit (ICU) beds…. Half the patients with chronic kidney failure in Britain are left untreated — and die as a result."
Now I, Dr. Who, ask you, which hospital do you want to go to? The one that used half as many x-rays or the one that spends perhaps too much money on x-rays. Frankly, when it is my body I choose the wasteful one that saves my life. I am willing to pay more for it and it is my money anyway. Well, it is my money until we have a universal health plan. Then it is Obama money and he gets to decide where it gets spent.
