Photo: Crazy Doctor by Dedde
Is This Any Way to Run a Country?
A blog reader drew this to my attention. The stimulus bill which is some 1100 pages long has a sneak attack on our health system. Shades of NAIS, the stimulus sets up a federally run data bank where all health information on every American will be stored. Where ever you go for health care, apparently all your records will be accessible for review.
And, the government will be involved in choosing the appropriate remedy for your ill. So much for patient/doctor confidentiality and freedom of health choice!
Without so much as a floor debate, we are headed headlong into socialized medicine. As someone who chooses to go with alternative health care providers, I am wondering if they will even be an option under the government controlled system. Since they want to outlaw raw milk, why wouldn’t they try to ban alternative treatments?
Check out this opinion editorial in Bloomberg News:
Stimulus Ruins Your Health says Health Policy Expert
Photo Credit: Crazy Doctor Photo by Davide Reppucci
3 Comments
Hi Kimberly,
I’m thankful that you wrote this post to get these things into the light. This is what my husband, Kent, said about it:
For something that will affect all of our lives so much, it’s surprising how little fanfare this portion of the stimulus package has received. Of course, Nancy Pelosi broke her promise to give the American public 48 hours to review the package before their vote, so nobody was really aware of it until after the approval. In fact, as it turned out, most of the senators didn’t even have a chance to read through the final draft before they voted.
This is just wrong on so many levels. What are the chances of the government running this program well? How much larger will the government become to run the program? How long before someone screws up and posts everyone’s health records on the internet? Why would anyone want the government deciding what’s in their best interest to stay healthy? How many products has the government already reviewed and approved for human use and consumption only to come back years later and change their mind? Cigarette anyone?
You’re welcome Kelly. I hope they have the power to retroactively jettison this portion of the stimulus. This doesn’t seem to be fair play!
Another ‘wonderful’ (pure sarcasm!) feature about this bill is the inevitable rationing. Senior citizens are slated for “end of life counseling”, meaning that those 60+ won’t get medical treatment. On the other hand, illegal immigrants will!!! What is fair or just about that? Every single poll shows that the majority of Americans do NOT want this health bill to pass, yet in their arrogance our lawmakers are going ahead. I predict that many/most of those who vote for this bill will be unemployed in 2010. I just hope we can undo a lot of this horror.
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