Drug Rationing for Seniors Begins

The American Spectator ^ | February 24, 2014 | David Catron

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Buried beneath the avalanche of recent news reports about the latest Obamacare-mandated funding cuts to the Medicare Advantage (MA) program is a related but far more disturbing story — the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has taken a major step toward rationing medications to the elderly. Since passage of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, seniors enrolled in the Medicare prescription drug program have been guaranteed access to “all or substantially all” of the drugs in several classes of pharmaceuticals. President Obama’s health care bureaucrats, however, have proposed removing three of these classes from the “protected” list......

[SNIP]

.........Even some left-leaning media outlets are uncomfortable with the Obama administration’s rationing policy. In the Huffington Post, Professor Kenneth Thorpe of Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, recently pointed out that the CMS rule “will not only fail to rein in Medicare’s long-term spending growth, but will inflict severe and unnecessary harm on our nation's poor and elderly who are suffering from serious physical and behavioral illnesses.” Thorpe makes much the same point as does Feyman: “Restricting access to the medicines patients need to manage depression, avoid organ transplant rejection, and treat psychosis will drive healthcare utilization in far more costly ways.”

It’s a little disorienting to find such an objective view in a publication that normally repeats Obama administration talking points verbatim, but there it is. Presumably, this departure from partisanship is an indication of just how far CMS has over-reached this time. Most Americans regard health care rationing as repugnant and unnecessary, and we look on it with even less favor when it is imposed on the elderly. As Professor Thorpe writes, “That's a betrayal of Medicare’s promise of access to care for our most vulnerable, older Americans.” Well said.

[steve86]

Also, are they referring to only the brand-name versions of these drugs? If so, I can entirely understand excluding them. None of the Chicken Littles here would understand that.

[Veto!]

But I suspect that fifty percent of the drug sales going on today...are just wasted money.

I know you are correct. Seniors swill an astonishing number of pills for everything under the sun, even pills to help other pills. Seniors and everyone else.

[PenguinM]

I’m using Meluca ericifolia, thieves blend (proven to kill MRSA), and Melrose (a blend of other tea tree oils). Its the Young Living Oils blend. I didn’t use oregano because its a “hot” oil & my wound was very tender. Internally I took Inner Defense, which contains a blend of essential oils. I should say I’m not a doctor & don’t profess to be any type of medical professional. Everyone should do their own research & make their own decisions - just don’t blindly trust your doctor. Make informed decisions. I started looking into more natural ways of healthcare when my company switched to a high deductible plan. I decided to be in charge of my own health & do as much as possible to avoid doctors.

[4Liberty]

Reading a story like this, I am of two minds.

It’s true that socialism (govt. run) economies result in chaos & shortages

It’s also true that pharmaceutical companies are lobbying to keep taxpayer subsidies flowing to them for [often unneeded] prescriptions for the elderly and others. What Sarah Palin and Mark Levin call “Crony Capitalism.” The headline is a bit over the top; sounds like political boilerplate written by Pharm Industry lobbyists.

So Pepsi — I do agree with you. Many elderly are lonely and/or bored, and so just VISITING a doctor’s office or the nurse can be a morale booster, and enhance their well-being. It has nothing to do with the procedure or the medication the doctor prescribes. (Have you noticed who NICE to you they are at the medical center, often times nicer than your own family or friends?) ;)

But many elderly do in fact need the drugs they are prescribed for a serious medical condition. It is not just corrupt lobbying by the Pharms that’s the issue.

[Evil Slayer]

See http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3127092/posts