An excellent article in IBD this week bullet points the extra powers our legislators want to hand over to government control.
Among the powers given to governmental:
• Seniors must submit to “advance care planning consultation” (aka end-of-life discussions) every five years, or more often if there is “a significant change in the health condition of the individual, including diagnosis of a chronic, progressive, life-limiting disease, a life-threatening or terminal diagnosis or life-threatening injury” (Pages 425 and 429). Will these consultants advise seniors to hurry up and die because they are costing too much money?
• Government bureaucrats will conduct “Comparative Effectiveness Research” to decide the effectiveness of treatments and drugs. That is the exotic label for rationing and, as House Appropriations Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., admitted, drugs and treatments that are “found to be less effective and more expensive will no longer be prescribed” (Pages 502 and 520).
• Government bureaucrats (not the medical profession) shall determine national priorities for research (Page 505).
• Preference in awarding grants or contracts will be given to entities that have trained “the greatest percentage” of public-health workers in the government and that have trained large percentages of “under-represented minority groups” (Pages 909 and 910). Think Acorn!
If we need reform, this is NOT reform, but a slide towards socialism at its worst.
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Listen carefully:
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With the debate swirling in the USA about government “involvement” in health provisioning, let’s take a look back to the case I wrote about on July 17.
Bad news is that my father, living in Canada, does not have a simple knee problem and requires a new knee.
The New England Journal of Medicine reported in 2002 how long long it took for a knee replacement in the US, compared to the province of Ontario in Canada. 3 weeks was the the US wait, 8-10 weeks was the wait in Canada.
My father’s wait will be 14 weeks.
Don’t be fooled by those who say that government interference in health care won’t result in rationing and therefore long waits.
OK: time to look at some real analysis and potential fixes to the real problems .. in future posts.
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David Ignatius writes in tomorrow’s Washington Post about the future of America.
The rehab economy will also be more collectivist, with a greater public role in health care (not to mention in our banks and auto companies) and a corresponding diminution in private laissez faire. Income distribution will be more egalitarian, with more protection for the poor and more constraints on the rich. Conservatives will say these changes are making America socialistic.
You betcha, it does!
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When I lived in Australia I had to visit the doctor a few times… at one point I had to get a prescription renewed. I was used to paying $120 a month for this prescription, which in Canada includes a $10 “Dispensing Fee” which is basically what the pharmacist charges to put the pills in the bottle and print the sheet off his computer. (I’ve gone to the dentist and received two tylenol-3 for 60 cents… plus the $10 dispensing fee… so $10.60
I picked up my prescription at the Australian pharmacy – keep in mind I was a student and had the most BASIC of healthcare. No private healthcare, simply public.
$7.
I had to stop and ask the pharmacist at the Australian pharmacy “Why $7″
He told me “Sorry Sir, we need to make a profit so we have to mark up the medication. Sorry it’s so expensive.”
I have no clue how the identical medication would cost 17 times the price in Canada… maybe the government interference.
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This year I had the misfortune to get the flu… was worried that it might have been H1N1. I went to the emergency room in the suburbs of Toronto and prepared for a full day event.
Overall they put a ventolin mask on me and sent me home. 8 hours.
An emergency room is a huge event in Canada. Prepare to Camp out.
—–
Flash back to when I lived in Australia. I show up at the emergency room with stomach pains (it was my appendix). On the wall was a small arrow that could be moved to indicate the amount of time you would wait to see a doctor. It went from 0 minutes to 60 minutes. Currently it was set for 20. I was thrilled. I would NEVER expect 20 minutes in Canada at the emergency room. Even 60 minutes I’d be impressed in Canada.
And again, I was a student at the time on the most minimal of public health care systems.
Australia had an excellent combination of public health care which everyone had access to (including international students like me) and a private system (which many employers provided coverage for, or insurance could be purchased).
All of my Australian friends had private health care – which was truly amazing. But it seems like having a private system took a lot of the burden off the public health system. So when I went to the public system, the speed and service was great.
Canada has some good features, but have a look at some other places before concluding that our health care system would be a better option for the U.S.
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Here’s a good story. I love cycling. Unfortunately my knees don’t. I was having some problems so I went to see my local doctor who told me I’d have to see a specialist.
Unfortunately, our area didn’t have specialists. So what they told me would happen. They’d put me on a list for the specialist. Once there were enough names on the list, a specialist would come to our area. So I waited a half a year. No appointment. Eventually I moved out of the area.
During the wait period, I was told I should get an MRI on my knees. The hospital near my house spent years fundraising for a CT Scanner… years. And that’s what they bought. For me it is like saving up for years and years to buy a VCR when everyone is buying a DVD player.
So to get the MRI I had to wait for an ‘off-peak’ time to have it done.
Off-peak meant driving 120 miles to get to a hospital for my MRI appointment at 2 AM.
That’s Canadian health care for you.
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Here is an example of how the Canadian run healthcare system removes your choices.
A family member had a period in his life where he was struck with seizures … not certain if it was epilepsy. He had been taking medicines to help prevent the seizures, but some occasionally struck.
One particularly bad attack occurred a number of years ago. His convulsions took his breathing down to almost zero. His wife was fortunately with him, and grabbed a taxi to the closest emergency room. By the time he had arrived there, his breathing had stopped.
The emergency medical staff snapped to attention, and took extraordinary means to revive him.
I don’t know if you have dealt with someone after a seizure, but they are much disoriented. His wife, very relieved at the saving of his life, was planning to leave him at the hospital for observation.
However, local bureaucrat said that he was to leave immediately, stating, “Government guidelines do not allow us to give a bed to someone who has suffered an epileptic seizure.”
You might argue that you could be told the same by your US insurance company, but you have choices. You could pay for it yourself, argue with the insurer, etc. But in Canada, the hospital and all the doctors work, essentially, for the government. And they, not you, make the decision.
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This entry is very personal, so I’m going to leave out names and relations, but these are the facts and an example of what government run healthcare can mean.
A beautiful women turns 50 in Toronto. She has a husband, 2 children and a dog. Her son has just graduated from University and was married in 2007. Her daughter was just entering University.
Having worked almost her entire career at one company, she decided to take an early retirement, build a new home and relax.
Just prior to retiring, she visited her doctor in January 2007 and asked for a colonoscopy. Her concern: other family members had contracted colon cancers while still young. The government run medical system denied her request saying she is too young for a colonsoscopy and that colon canceers are not know to be hereditary. (Ah! government best practices saving taxpayer money!)
In December 2007, she saw her doctor for stomach pains and was admitted to the hospital for tests. The news was devastating: stage 4 colon cancer that had spread to her liver.
She faught on with her positive spirit that was like a ray of sunshine. Chemotherapy, radiation treatments. In February 2008, she suffered a set-back when her intestines developed a tear. She went into the hospital and passed away in late March 2008.
Too young, too old? When you have government setting best practices, making what are life and death decisions, and your choice is removed from the equation … the consequences can be fatal.
Government run healthcare can only control costs by controlling the supply of healthcare.
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