OT: The Obama Stimulus Package and the Future of U.S. Health Care

[Guest guest]

HI everyone,

 

I realize this may be off-topic from the point of view of most RFs. However,

most of us have friends and family who still live " the other way " , and this

likely affects them all. Please note that this article is penned by a former

lieutenant governor of New York, perhaps a reasonably credible source under

the circumstances.

 

Best to all,

Elchanan

_____

 

" Richard B. Boddie " < <rboddie

rboddie

Friday, February 20, 2009 2:35 PM

The Future of U.S. Health Care

 

 

The future of health care if the " stimulus " bill passes

 

[Obviously, it passed (not a single congressperson read it all) and this is

the future situation, before the next stimulus package, and then the next,

and then the inflation and a new currency called the " amero " . And none of

this takes into account the California con game on citizens who produce,

either. ~ RBB]

 

Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan: Betsy McCaughey Commentary by

Betsy McCaughey

 

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Republican Senators are questioning whether President

Barack Obama's stimulus bill contains the right mix of tax breaks and cash

infusions to jump-start the economy.

 

Tragically, no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions

slipped in without discussion. These provisions reflect the handiwork of

Tom Daschle, until recently the nominee to head the Health and Human

Services Department.

 

Senators should read these provisions and vote against them because they are

dangerous to your health. (Page numbers refer to H.R. 1 EH, pdf version).

 

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 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. The goal is to reduce costs and " guide " your doctor's decisions

(442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical

to what Daschle prescribed in his

2008 book, " Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis. "

According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and " learn to operate

less like solo practitioners. "

 

Keeping doctors informed of the newest medical findings is important, but

enforcing uniformity goes too far.

 

New Penalties

 

Hospitals and doctors that are not " meaningful users " of the new system will

face penalties. " Meaningful user " isn't defined in the bill. That will be

left to theHHS secretary, who will be empowered to impose " more stringent

measures of meaningful use over time " (511, 518, 540-541)

 

What penalties will deter your doctor from going beyond the electronically

delivered protocols when your condition is atypical or you need an

experimental treatment? The vagueness is intentional. In his book, Daschle

proposed an appointed body with vast powers to make the " tough " decisions

elected politicians won't make.

 

The stimulus bill does that, and calls it the Federal Coordinating Council

for Comparative Effectiveness Research (190-192). 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.

 

Elderly Hardest Hit

 

Daschle says health-care reform " will not be pain free. " Seniors should be

more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating

them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt.

 

Medicare now pays for treatments deemed safe and effective. 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.

 

Hidden Provisions

 

If the Obama administration's economic stimulus bill passes the Senate in

its current form, seniors in the U.S. will face similar rationing.

Defenders of the system say that individuals benefit in younger years and

sacrifice later.

 

The stimulus bill will affect every part of health care, from medical and

nursing education, to how patients are treated and how much hospitals get

paid. The bill allocates more funding for this bureaucracy than for the

Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force combined (90-92, 174-177, 181).

 

Hiding health legislation in a stimulus bill is intentional. Daschle

supported the Clinton administration's health-care overhaul in 1994, and

attributed its failure to debate and delay. A year ago, Daschle wrote that

the next president should act quickly before critics mount an opposition.

" If that means attaching a health-care plan to the federal budget, so be

it, " he said. " The issue is too important to be stalled by Senate

protocol. "

 

More Scrutiny Needed

 

On Friday, President Obama called it " inexcusable and irresponsible " for

senators to delay passing the stimulus bill. In truth, this bill needs more

scrutiny.

 

The health-care industry is the largest employer in the U.S. It produces

almost 17 percent of the nation's gross domestic product. Yet the bill

treats health care the way European governments do: as a cost problem

instead of a growth industry. Imagine limiting growth and innovation in the

electronics or auto industry during this downturn. This stimulus is

dangerous to your health and the economy.

 

(Betsy McCaughey is former lieutenant governor of New York and is an adjunct

senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. The opinions expressed are her own.)

 

 

To contact the writer of this column: Betsy McCaughey at

<Betsymross Betsymross

 

Last Updated: February 9, 2009 00:01 EST