ObamaCare’s latest whopper (Here come the Deathpanels)

NY Post ^ | Jan 1, 2014 | Betsy McCaughey

[Hardastarboard]

Obama’s nominee to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Dr. Donald Berwick, also insisted the federal government must step in between doctors and their patients to curb and redistribute the use of medical resources. Berwick said resources should be allocated based on “important subgroups.” These groups, rather than the individual patient in the doctor’s office, he said, should be the “unit of concern.”

I had to look twice to be sure this wasn't John's work. These people, in the words of George Will, are becoming "unsatirizable".

[Innovative]

Unfortunately, reality is becoming worse than any satire anyone can dream up.

[SunTzuWu]

Bookmark.

[Innovative]

I have seen some movies/TV shows with that premise — there is nothing to lose — and it may happen, though it will still be rare — but many people will just quietly die as a result of healthcare rationing.

There was a Star Trak episode, where on some planet, when people reached a certain age, like 65, they had to go into a “disintegrator”, no exception, so as not to become a burden on society.

That is where we are going — not the next step, but that is the direction. Suddenly social security and medicare, not to mention Obamacare would become solvent...

[lavaroise]

Fair share, for the common good...

Atlas Shrugged

[lavaroise]

Guess what libertarians, your pot is legal, but it is governent dispensed, and if you get sick they will blame your pot habits nd kill u.

[Chuckster]

I have always thought that, except for liability situations like operating a car on the public roadways or owning a facility that is open to the public, insurance - any insurance- is a bad idea. I do not understand why so many people don’t get the fact that the insurance companies make a profit because they work the odds. Just like a casino, they always win. They know that the odds are that you will pay in a lot more than they pay out.

In the case of health insurance, the consumer only wins if he develops a condition requiring expensive medical care over a long period of time. You call that winning?
The insurance company, OTOH, wins if you stay healthy and pay your premiums for a long time. The Doctor wins if he can keep you healthy enough to pay your premiums but sick enough to keep coming back for more tests and more prescriptions.

Catastrophic incident insurance with, say,a $10K deductible is a sensible precaution but the kind of “Health Care” being forced on us is no different than being forced to take your money to the casino where if you win you can look forward to subsidized suffering for as long as you can be milked for premiums or until you die. If you lose, you get to live a long and healthy life.

No health care insurance for me. I am playing the odds and putting my money away where I can decide how it gets spent. Of course, this course requires accepting personal responsibility for staying healthy and avoiding accidents. What a concept.

Here’s a thought: Offer your personal physician a retainer, like a lawyer. A few thousand $$ should do it. Then you know you will have a doctor who works for you and not the insurance company or the government. Someone is bound to say that no one could afford it except the rich, but consider; my premiums when last I had health insurance were $800 a month. It adds up fast if you are putting it away for yourself instead of sending off a check every month.

[SunkenCiv]

If you like your executioner, you can keep your executioner.

Of course, you’ll be keeping your assigned executioner whether you like them or not.

Thanks Innovative.

[Carry_Okie]

Berwick said resources should be allocated based on “important subgroups.”

Otherwise known as Democrats.

[Chode]

On Dec. 2, 2013, we learned from the Federal Register that the rules are now being written.

so it's still mutating...

[Osage Orange]

The Reaper Curve: Ezekiel Emanuel used the above chart in a Lancet article to illustrate the ages on which health spending should be focused. "Principles for Allocation of Scarce Medical Interventions" The Lancet, January 31, 2009

The "Reaper Curve"?? Interesting................

[dalereed]

What the hell is a youts?

[nascarnation]

It’s a Rush Limbaugh mis-pronunciation of youths
not sure when it started or what prompted it, although I’ve listened to Rush since the late 80s.

I bet some wise FReeper will know the back story on “youts”

[trisham]

A “youth”. “Youts” involves the influence of a regional accent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNZ1O2KTOOg

[snooter55]

ACA BFLR !

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

But the fundamental premise still holds. Our country is fiscally broke and we are spending hundreds of billions per year of fake money on medical care.

I reject your premise.
We are broke because of the federal government:

- Federal law states that ERs must treat everybody and their Mommas, so these folks use the ER as their primary care

- Illegal aliens get free access to U.S. healthcare

- 3rd party pays most of the healthcare bills; get gov't and employers out of healthcare, and insurance companies would stop paying for routine and most moderate care. Insurance should only be used for catastrophic or long-term illnesses.

Because of the federal government and their regulations, they have created the conditions which led to this nation being broke.

[steve86]

Best wishes to you and miracles happen.

[tbw2]

Under this standard, you have to see top tier doctors who only accept cash or concierge patients to get the best treatment. Or, for old whites, any treatment.

[nascarnation]

Thanks! God has sent some superb medical people my way.

[Innovative]

“We are broke because of the federal government: “

and the waste, fraud, and abuse it generates.