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klaus
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Jul 8, 2010, 5:11 AM
Post #1 of 1
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The fears and criticisms about the recently enacted “Obamacare” bill are slowly revealing themselves to be founded in stark reality. All the talk about so-called “death panels” and rationing of medical care to older people and the withholding of care in cases where it is deemed economically detrimental now appears to be coming true, as US President Barack Obama appointed controversial Dr. Donald Berwick to the post of Director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Appointing this man to run America’s healthcare system will ensure that the trend toward Americans’ longevity will be reversed, as Berwick is a firm supporter of the British system of healthcare, where death panels actually do exist and individuals actually die as a result of medical decisions made by state bureaucrats. Dr. Berwick is enamored with the British National Health Service (NHS) and made his feelings known in a recent statement: "Cynics beware, I am romantic about the National Health Service; I love it." He goes on to say that the reason he loves the NHS is because it rations healthcare and thus ensures that everyone gets equal access to healthcare. In his opinion, healthcare should be rationed “with our eyes wide open.”
As in everything else, ensuring that everyone gets “equal access” results in certain unforeseen consequences. These can be quite unpleasant for some individuals.
Consider that under Britain’s NHS patients wait up to twice as long for care than patients do in the United States, even those who are uninsured. In many cases the British wait up to a year for an appointment with a specialist and longer for certain elective surgeries such as hip or knee replacement.
But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Accoding to the National Center for Policy Analysis the rates of mortality from most cancers are appallingly high. For instance, breast cancer mortality is 88% higher in Britain than in the US. Prostate cancer mortality in Britain is a shocking 604% higher than in the US and colorectal cancer mortality is 40% higher in England than in the US.
When it comes to innovations in healthcare, again the United States does far better than any other country on earth, despite the high cost of healthcare in America. Consider that the top five hospitals in the US are responsible for more life saving medical innovations than the combined total of all the hospitals in any other country on the planet.
Back to Dr. Berwick. President Obama appointed Berwick to the post of CMS Director using a recess appointment, which is normally done when Congress is recessed for an extended period of time. This appointment was made while Congress is in recess a mere 11 days. The reason Mr. Obama used the recess appointment for Dr. Berwick is obvious: He knows that Berwick would not survive a Senate confirmation hearing, given to good doctor’s countercyclical and controversial views on healthcare.
There’s no doubt that the US healthcare system is need of treatment, given its runaway costs and the fact that about 15% of Americans are not insured. Part of the problem with US healthcare today lies in the way Medicare and Medicaid are administered. Other parts of the problem involve insurance companies’ inability to compete across state lines and those pesky lawsuits brought on by those ravenous litigation lawyers that look upon malpractice awards as if they were lottery jackpots.
What the president is advocating to fix healthcare in America is radical surgery during which the patient could die. The American system of healthcare is responsible for the majority of medical innovations that have improved the lives of billions worldwide. The problems with socialist schemes designed to bring equality to all is that in most cases it doesn’t improve the lives of those in the lower half of the spectrum, but only serves to worsen the lives of those in the upper half. Turning American healthcare it into yet another union shop will hold grave consequences for older Americans (pun intended).
Klaus Rohrich is President and Creative Director of Taylor/Rohrich Associates Inc., a marketing and advertising firm that specializes in niche marketing retirement real estate developments
http://www.maturitymarketing.com.
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