Another I Told You So
One of my long-held big beefs with Obama (and Clinton before him and Democrats in general) is this slippery slope of national healthcare.I have explained this to a number of people and I have never understood the reaction of some of them. You see, the Obamabots that I have expressed this to fail to comprehend my salient points and the slippery slope.
I have long contended that if you are "pro-choice" you can't be for a national healthcare system. Why? Simple. If you believe that you have the right to determine what happens to your own body, you can't reasonably agree to cede that right to some nameless, faceless bureaucrat or computer program running the probabilities and making the decisions.
And yet, that is exactly what has happened!
In the god-awful pork sandwich that is masquerading as "stimulus", that which Obama is trumpeting we must pass or NEVER RECOVER, is a smoking gun of a trojan horse. (Emphasis mine)
The bill’s health rules will affect “every individual in the United States”(445, 454, 479). Your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors.
BUT...
But the bill goes further. One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective.
So, it won't be you or the doctor or the specialist or even the insurance company making the determination on your care. I hope all you pro-choice Obama supporters are happy. Welcome to the nanny state!
The idea driving all of this:
The goal, Daschle’s book explained, is to slow the development and use of new medications and technologies because they are driving up costs. He praises Europeans for being more willing to accept “hopeless diagnoses” and “forgo experimental treatments,” and he chastises Americans for expecting too much from the health-care system.
So, sucks to be you! We will treat with leaches and band-aids. If that don't fix you, suck it, Charlie! It has been decided that you are no longer cost-effective and shall be allowed to die. Say "Thank you."
Another of my long-held arguments was that this sort of bureacracy with regard to healthcare would make some people more "equal" than others. Old people, nearing the end of their lifespan, would not be priorities. Smokers, those who cling to unapproved lifestyles, would fall into this same category. And from there, it is a slippery slope to homosexuals, the overweight, those with high-stress jobs, etc.
Turns out, I wasn't too far off the mark:
Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt.
...
The stimulus bill would change that and apply a cost- effectiveness standard set by the Federal Council (464).
The Federal Council is modeled after a U.K. board discussed in Daschle’s book. This board approves or rejects treatments using a formula that divides the cost of the treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit. Treatments for younger patients are more often approved than treatments for diseases that affect the elderly, such as osteoporosis.
In 2006, a U.K. health board decreed that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before they could get a costly new drug to save the other eye. It took almost three years of public protests before the board reversed its decision.
So, sorry Grandma, you are toast! The good news is that you will soon be joined in your final reward by your smoking homosexual grandson. Enjoy eternity!
So much for Obama's much-vaunted National Healthcare. It is exactly what I feared: a way to deprive us of the right to make the choice as it relates to our own health. Today, if I don't like the treatment my doctor is prescribing, I am free to explore other possibilities. But, if this item is signed into law, that will no longer be my right. Or yours.
Ah, the Obamanation!
