"Rationing is already here," done by insurance companies, so why not "start rationing useless interventions right out of medical practice?" asks Newsweek's Sharon Begley in a September 2 "Web exclusive" entitled "Health-Care Rationing: Bring It On."
Begley made clear that her complaint is with how patients under the current health care structure can easily order up expensive tests (MRIs, CAT scans, etc.) that she argues are often times wasteful or unnecessarily adminstered (emphasis mine):
[L]et's figure out what treatments and diagnostic tests make a difference to people's health and longevity, and which are insanely overused to no good end. The latter is what we need to ration, restricting their use to the patients and conditions where they can make a difference or abandoning them altogether.
Begley continued with criticism that practically hinted that a government middleman would be better able to "ration" health care efficiently (emphasis mine):
Story Continues Below Ad ↓There is a raging debate about why CT and other scans are overused, and a new study in the open-access journal BMC Health Services Research provides some clues, at least in one European country where overuse is a problem much as it is in the U.S. For the study, Kristin Lysdahl and Bjørn Hofmann of the University of Oslo polled 374 radiologists for their views on the causes of the increasing use of radiological imaging. Their top five answers, in order: new radiological technology (my translation: "Ooh, a new toy, let's use it"); patients' increased demands for certain knowledge about their own health (to which I must add that patients seem to have no clue that CT scans do not necessarily tell a doctor anything they can't figure out by other means, or anything that will alter the course of treatment); physicians' lower tolerance for uncertainty (a.k.a. "Let's be sure we cover our backsides so we don't miss something and get sued"); expanded clinical indications for radiology; and increased availability of radiological equipment and personnel ("We have it, so let's use it"). Note that the list does not include "it improves patient care" as a reason for the increased use of CTs.
[...]
The list of overused medical treatments is as long as your arm, and in each case the consequences are felt not only in our collective wallet but in our health. Overuse of antibiotics? Not only does it breed resistant bacteria, but it can camouflage a deadly brain infection in children. How about giving patients beta-blockers in the hours right after a heart attack? Also useless, found a 2005 study, but commonly done. Spinal-fusion surgery? Arthroscopic surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee? Pointless, and pointless.
At the risk of being a broken record, as my mother used to say, we are already rationing, on the basis of ability to pay. How about we start rationing useless interventions right out of medical practice?
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Ask most any doctor and
September 2, 2009 - 16:52 ET by MidAmericaAsk most any doctor and they will tell you they order a long list of tests because if they miss something and didn't perform a test the lawyers will be all over them. So want to do fewer tests right away? The answer is tort reform. (you know, those pesky little medical parasites that are a componant of the democrat party. They are untouchable in any proposed 'reform'.
MA... Exactly right...and
September 2, 2009 - 17:00 ET by bigtimerMA...
Exactly right...and we know that the dems are not going to allow that to be in any bill....half of them are lawyers and they all are supported/backed by the trial lawyers...big time.
'Go Green...Recycle Congress'
Let's Cut Back on Sharon's Mammograms
September 2, 2009 - 17:17 ET by allanfHow does once every 10 years sound.
There are no government paid
September 2, 2009 - 17:34 ET by celatorThere are no government paid mammograms in the UK for women over 65. They must pay themselves or purchase private insurance. You know, they're old and , well, mammograms are expensive, and they take time, and and and and.
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
MA and bt..
September 2, 2009 - 17:24 ET by Gary HallIndeed, tort reform must be high on the agenda here.
Actually, Begley is actually onto something here - but she's stuck in political partisan non-thinking land. Take for instance, antibiotics. Indeed they are extremely over prescribed, and other than the immediate waste and cost), there is considerable risk of weakening one's immune system such that they are much more vulnerable to infection and the risk of allowing a bacteria, in the host body to develop resistance to the drug. Because of the long term over use of antibiotics, many bacteria have evolved such that many antibiotics have been rendered useless already. This is an ongoing battle.
And I have to side with the folks who are concerned about the commercials on TV -- "Ask your doctor if...." The problem here is that they do.. and the doctors have been all too pleased to comply with the patients wishes, often when it is not in their best interest. Besides, I'm quite tired of the lasting longer than 4-hour erection bit, and my dauhter looking at me and rolling her eyes.
But the solution to these issues is not to ration health care; rather, as the Democrats always say - it's to educate. Educate the doctors and the patients and the costs and abuses in health care will drop considerably. To the Democrats, this is about control. Always is.
(;~/gary
Hey Gary...excellent points
September 2, 2009 - 17:29 ET by bigtimerHey Gary...excellent points you make...especially about the danged drug commercials...I am sick to death of all of them....especially the ones you mentioned...let along those stupid songs for Viva Viagra.
Plus the list of what all symptoms you may show that may be harmful to you if taken after the big sell they made in the commerical..including the good old line...and may cause death.
'Go Green...Recycle Congress'
bt
September 2, 2009 - 17:34 ET by Gary Hall..but then again.. a heck of a way to go! oops!
(;~.
Elvis
September 2, 2009 - 17:57 ET by jdlybrandWhy do I get the feeling Elvis would shoot his TV if he were alive and saw the 'Viva Viagra' commercial?
"What a revoltin' development this is!"
Chester Riley
jdly... Lol...he had
September 2, 2009 - 17:59 ET by bigtimerjdly...
Lol...he had enough practice doing that...bet he would too.
'Go Green...Recycle Congress'
ironic
September 2, 2009 - 19:11 ET by Kekela WardI still find it odd that I have had friends killed fighting "the war on drugs" and yet we still have this wealth of drug commercials on TV.
Sam: "I hurt somebody's feelings once"
Let's examine what CT is
September 2, 2009 - 17:36 ET by jdhawkLet's examine what CT is and what it is used for and you be the judge as to whether you think it is waste of time and money:
CT imaging is:
Physicians often use the CT examination to:
Still think it is a waste of time? Yeah, as long as you aren't sick or injured it is. Do you think that it is being rationed? Then, why the study as to why it isn't?
I can't wait for people like Begely to decide the above issues instead of my doctor. Can you?
Obamacare will make you sick; it might even kill you. It's killing British citizens. Here is the link to the story, "Sentenced to death on the NHS:" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6127514/Sentenced-to-death-on-the-NHS.html. Here is a key sentence in that article: "The warning comes just a week after a report by the Patients Association estimated that up to one million patients had received poor or cruel care on the NHS." One million patients in a country of 60 million citizens!
Write, call, or e-mail your elected representatives and tell them you want them to vote no on HR3200 or any of its derivatives. You want government the hell out of the 60+% of health care they already control.
Ask most any doctor and
September 2, 2009 - 18:14 ET by motherbeltAsk most any doctor and they will tell you they order a long list of
tests because if they miss something and didn't perform a test the
lawyers will be all over them.
MA, you don't think that lawsuits are going to be allowed in government-run health care, do you?
Government will set the standard for what tests are allowed, and there will be no recourse, because no one will be allowed to sue the government.
Pesky lawsuits over lack of testing....solved!
No problem, motherbelt
September 2, 2009 - 18:25 ET by JerReject the public option and remain with your private insurer. Keeps the lawyers and the doctors busy. Everybody wins.
Jer
Newsweek is Toast.
September 2, 2009 - 18:34 ET by farstar99It's worse than they thought.
My inside source is boxing up her office even now.
They're closing all of their New Jersey operations and laying off most of their management and staff outside of New York.
Death Panels
September 2, 2009 - 17:08 ET by Anneke9Arguing for death panels? It all comes down to this:
Camouflage conservative in Baghdad-by-the-Bay
I brought this up in
September 2, 2009 - 17:25 ET by motherbeltI brought this up in another thread: they talk about medicines and procedures that don't (in the President's words) "make people healthier.
After a certain age, there is little likelihood of making one "healthier." It is about battling back the ravages of aging, maximizing one's quality of life, and maintaining function for as long as possible.
Should older people be denied things that don't make them healthier, or have little chance of prolonging life, if those treatments would make their lives better, more active, and more fulfilling?
Easy answer. * who
September 2, 2009 - 17:37 ET by celatorEasy answer.
* who decides what's useless? Obama.
* what criteria do you use? Obama
* whose "studies" do you believe or disbelieve? one study? two studies? more? how do you know what studies are legitimate, valid? Obama decides
* who decides whether you live, die or live in pain? Obama
Any other questions?
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
Tort reform
September 2, 2009 - 17:18 ET by shooterTort reform is an ABSOLUTE MUST!
But the fact they don't want to go there is proof this whole issue is nothing but a big Kabuki dance about power over the population and political payback.
____________________________________________________
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert A. Heinlein
Think what a wonderful world
September 2, 2009 - 17:20 ET by 10ksnookerIf healthcare for liberals were rationed, what a beautiful world we could build.
HERE IS AN IDEA...
September 2, 2009 - 19:31 ET by danybhoyWe could start by sending the Newsweak issues not sold to Cuba at the end of the week, to be rationed a butt-wipe. Think about it, the Cubans need butt-wipe, we don't need or need Newsweak, it's a win win. Everyone wins.
"...How blind can you be, don't you see...
...that the gambler lost all he does not have..."
Nightwish
Let's hear it for rationing!
September 2, 2009 - 17:21 ET by katainkentI say we start with the lawyers.
___________________________________________
We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. ~Thomas Jefferson
While listening to Hannity
September 2, 2009 - 17:27 ET by msh1973While listening to Hannity on the way home a woman from England called in (she now lives in the U.S.); she went back home to be with her mother who was to have surgery...after waiting 18 months! She went on to say that several different agencies within England have tried to make the system work, but it keeps failing.
Sentenced to death on the NHS
September 2, 2009 - 17:30 ET by katainkentthought this was a timely article (that was blaring in the fire engine boldfaced red type at drudge :D)
___________________________________________
We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. ~Thomas Jefferson
WOW! No citizen's right to
September 2, 2009 - 17:44 ET by celatorWOW!
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
Wow is right...I heard
September 2, 2009 - 17:49 ET by bigtimerWow is right...I heard about this as well, on the Wa. Journal and/or radio too.
...you can be sure the so-called 'progressives' want the same thing here in the good ol' USA...more and more people are waking up and realizing this all across the land.
'Go Green...Recycle Congress'
Treatment rationing and
September 2, 2009 - 17:43 ET by celatorTreatment rationing and looooong waits for treatment occur because resources are purposefully limited by the government. That's the name of that game. Gotta cut those costs, you know.
Let's hope that Mzzzz Begley doesn't require an MRI (as an example) in Canada. She's going to have a long wait. See here:
http://www.longwoods...
People like Begley are dangerous to the health of a nation's citizens.
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
physicians' lower
September 2, 2009 - 18:05 ET by Wonder95Gee, why would they be afraid of that? Could it be because of lawyers like John Edwards who made his money unnecessarily suing doctors like crazy for malpractice? Of course they want to cover their backsides.
Bring on a LOWER STANDARD OF LIVING
September 2, 2009 - 20:07 ET by ekslibFolks who leave their full-time jobs, to become volunteers for Obama, don't have to worry about losing their health insurance.
They can travel from town to town (on ACORN buses) in order to intimidate dissenting citizens.
Folks who want to do part-time or contract work from home, can give up their full-time jobs, with no fear of losing health coverage.
Muggers, car thieves, scam artists and robbers will appreciate the portability and security of their new health insurance, too.
American productivity will slip and we'll have a lower standard of living, but "bring it on." [/sarcasm]
You know that there are
September 2, 2009 - 20:25 ET by mandrakeYou know that there are several countries have had universal health care for some years and people still work 40 hour weeks (except France of course) When I was younger I use to work 60 hr/week even though I had free health coverage, why? cause I wanted a new car and house!
It seems that at least a few of
September 2, 2009 - 21:04 ET by ekslibObama's followers are looking for handouts and "easy-way-outs."
Like the woman who thought Obama would take care of her house payments and keep her car running if she supported him.
Here's what got me thinking along these lines.
One of the TV ads for health care reform shows a woman who makes jewelry at home and can't afford health care insurance. She says she'd love to have health care insurance, yet she doesn't mention any attempts to get a job with a regular paycheck and benefits. We are left to believe that she chooses to stay at home because she wants to. Are other hard-working Americans obligated to subsidize her business?
In which countries with socialized governments have people consistently had careers of 40-hour work weeks, with 2-week vacations?
The elderly often "bounce back" from serious illness and injury.
September 2, 2009 - 20:28 ET by ekslibMy mother was hospitalized a number of times during the last ten years of her life.
Each time, we worried that she would die or spend the rest of her life in bed. She recovered from every challenge except for her last one.
She died when she was in her 90's after being bedridden for a month.
In her last years, she enjoyed visiting with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and we enjoyed our time with her.
Health care, illegal immigration and you the taxpayer?
September 2, 2009 - 22:54 ET by BrittanicusGuess we all knew the special interest groups,
lead by the US Chamber of Commerce and a large majority of pro-illegal
worker organization, would try to upend the US Federal court order
from applying E-Verify in September? If I had my way I, as a citizen
would--BOYCOTT-- any company, store, factory, farm or
manufacturing plant that didn't display an E-Verify notice in their
working place? They certainly don't care one-iota for the American
worker jobless or not? Both illegal immigration and health care are
tied into the same knot and will have a hard time passing either.
Immigration reform will be the battle of the century and all those
politicians who sign up for it, are likely be signing up also for
unemployment benefits.
This piece of potential immigration reform
legislation, is not being fully
advanced to the public and veiled until after enactment? Legislators
have dug there immigration reform grave and must now suffer the
consequences. Except they are looking for an easy avenue, to get out of
the coffin they hammered in with their own nails. As with most
civilized countries we are predisposed to treatment for any illegal
alien in emergency hospitals. Except that these hospitals have become an
open-house for any minor ailment to very expensive problems like
dialysis?. In addition any public option, must have some stipulation in
the bill that rejects illegal immigrants from gaining access. The problem is
there is absolutely nothing in this health care bill containing any
text to--CLOSE LOOPHOLES--that would disallow millions of illegal
immigrants from participating?
Either way illegal Immigrants will get
full access to THE
PEOPLES health care,
if the Democrats pass a path to citizenship or better known as BLANKET
AMNESTY. The American people no longer believe in the propaganda that
spills from the national press, about the illegal immigrant travesty,
public health care from the mob in Washington? Perhaps we should look
towards the single payer system that has succeeded in Europe? Instead
of listening to the choking rhetoric from the special interest
organizations that have erupted on radio and television. As for myself,
I agree with a public option plan, but without the weight of paying for
illegal immigrants and families as well.
They can yell from the hills that there is only 13 million foreign
nationals and families occupying our soil, but that number has been
programmed into us for about 10 years. Most bloggers estimate at least
twenty million plus, with more appearing everyday and more on the way
if a path to citizenship is forced through the Congress? How
counterproductive can this be in passing health care treatment, when
the teeming numbers already here pay nothing in the emergency room?
Even the employers who hire them pay nothing, then slink away and leave
the debt for taxpayers to pick up or the hospital to absorb? Even if it
could be calculated the amount of money in government expenditures
over decades, given to support these invaders, it would pay for the
wars our politician subject us too? When are these pandering lawmakers
going to work for all Americans and protect their jobs. Which they
didn't establish in the original stimulus bills, but even then left a
gaping loophole for illegal foreign workers to take advantage of?
We must assure that all American workers are
gainfully employed, not individuals who have no right to be in our
nation? It
makes me sick to see veterans of Korea, Viet-Nam, the Gulf
war
walking the streets homeless, while illegal immigrants get
gratification from
employers and lawmakers. WE NO LONGER CAN SUPPORT ILLEGAL
IMMIGRANTS. OUR
COUNTRY IS NEAR BANKRUPTCY. DEMAND E-VERIFY TO CHECK THE IMMIGRATION
STATUS FOR
EVERY US WORKER, BY CONTACTING YOUR LAWMAKER
AT 202-224-3121. VOTERS SHOULD COMMAND NO MORE WEAKENING OF ANY LAWS
INCLUDING
1986 (IRCA) IMMIGRATION CONTROL & REFORM ACT. JOIN NUMBERSUSA,
JUDICIAL WATCH AND BE STUNNED HOW MILLIONS OF VOICES HAVE MADE AN
INCREDULOUS DIFFERENCE.
Insurance companies already
September 3, 2009 - 14:47 ET by toucheInsurance companies already ration care....wrong. This is a total invalid assertion. Insurance companies sell policies..ever heard of get what you pay for?? Of course liberals can not comprehend, they what everything for nothing...so I excuse them.
Insurance companies just tell their customer what they agreed to pay for..they do not ration care. The patient can still pay for what ever care they want too.
Government health care does not work that way. They say what you can and can not get period. If you want to get a procedure and they told you you can not get..guess what? start flying out of the country to get it. Hence all of the foreign business in health care preformed in the old USA...
This is a huge difference in rationing...
Also to the immigration point, no illegal has the health care provided to them in France, England or Germany...period.