Say, About Those Ocare Death Panels…

What are “death panels”? It boils down to government bureaucrats making choices on health care, particularly for the elderly and infirm. These are the kinds of things we see in England, where these panels decide that a walking cane is a better use of funds than medication and/or joint replacement surgery. Rather than leaving the decisions in the hands of the patients and medical professionals (something Leftists yammer on about when it comes to leaving the decision for an abortion to a woman and the doctor she had previously never met at the abortion clinic, and government getting out of the way) , “death panels” make the decisions, usually just to save lots of money. Which is strange, because in most other cases Liberals have no problem spending oodles of taxpayer money

(Breitbart) But Obamacare’s shoddy implementation doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of its great evil. Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber quite correctly attributed the passage of Obamcare to “lack of transparency” and the “stupidity of the American voter” – because it turns out that Obamacare will ration care, and that the most well-respected bodies in terms of health rationing have already recommended cutting off services.

The US Preventive Services Task Force is an independent body authorized by Congress to make “evidence-based recommendations about clinical preventive services such as screenings, counseling services, or preventive medications.” And since the onset of Obamacare discussions, the Task Force recommendations for treatment and screening have become less and less generous. In November 2009, the Task Force recommended that mammography for women every other year between the ages of 50 and 74. They admit that they have insufficient information to suggest that it would be fruitless to screen after 74, and they say that case-by-case screenings should take place before 50.

The Mayo Clinic, by contrast, recommends annual mammograms for women above age 40; so too does the American Cancer Society. As Dr. Sandhya Pruthi of the Mayo Clinic writes, “Findings from a large study in Sweden of women in their 40s who underwent screening mammograms showed a decrease in breast cancer deaths by 29 percent.”

Then there are colonoscopies: the Task Force recommends against routine colonoscopies for adults 76 to 85 years of age, and recommends against screening at all beyond age 85. The American Cancer Society and American College of Gastroenterology, by contrast, do not give an age limit for colonoscopies. Medicare, coincidentally, happens not to cover CT colonography but fully covers colonoscopies. A great way to cut costs: tell doctors not to give colonoscopies.

Sure seems like government is attempting to make the decisions that affect our health, does it not?

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5 Responses to “Say, About Those Ocare Death Panels…”

  1. Nighthawk says:

    This atrocity known as the ACA needs to go.

    Last year was a slap in the face when our company reworked our insurance. We saw deductibles for the first time. Our premiums almost doubled and co pays went up.

    As much as that was a slap in the face, this year is multiple swift kicks in the nuts. Major increases in premiums, higher co pays and TRIPLED deductibles and TRIPLED max out of pocket.

    All of this because what we had before was a “Cadillac” plan and to align our insurance more with the national average of what other companies offer.

    Tell me again how this administration is helping the middle class.

  2. Jeffery says:

    Whomever pays usually decides on paying. Will United Healthcare pay for a heart transplant for a 82 yr old with pulmonary fibrosis? I bet not. Is that a death panel? No. The 82 yr old can buy his own heart transplant.

    Will Blue Cross/Blue Shield pay for long-term life support for an anencephalic infant? Unlikely.

    So why should the US govt, acting as an insurer (but without making a profit and paying executives millions), pay for every procedure requested?

    The American Heart Assoc, The American Cancer Society, The American College of Gastroenterology do not pay for procedures. Insurers and patients do.

    Why not every year give each American a whole body CT scan, would only cost around $300 billion + the cost of further diagnostics on false positives and the long-term cost of radiation damage to healthy individuals. We would catch many early cancers, infections, aneurysms, etc. If you don’t support my recommendation you are condemning thousands of Americans a year to premature death and are, by your own definition, a member of a Death Panel!

  3. John says:

    Teach would you rather have the government make these decisions or would you prefer them being made by a for profit company. Which will have its profits go up. If a procedure isn’t done. ?
    In any case Sarah Palins warnings about grandma being killed are still laughable
    Hey can you post links yo the Palin drunken punch out the cops made for us ?

  4. gitarcarver says:

    In any case Sarah Palins warnings about grandma being killed are still laughable

    So john, you admit that decisions made by people other than the family and the patient can result in the deaths of people and yet you say that there are no such things as death panels.

    No one can argue with that logic simply because there is no logic to argue against.

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