“Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan” – Betsy McCaughney
In a Bloomberg commentary, Betsy McCaughey writes “Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan.”
“Republican Senators are questioning whether President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill contains the right mix of tax breaks and cash infusions to jump-start the economy.” Betsy McCaughey recommends that no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions without discussion, and that Senators should vote against them because they are dangerous to our health.
“The bill’s health rules will affect ‘every individual in the United States’…Your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors.” But Ms. McCaughey says the bill goes farther.
She states that the federal government will mandate what treatment is appropriate and cost effective, and doctors will give up autonomy.
New Penalties
“Hospitals and doctors that are not ‘meaningful users’ of the new system will face penalties.” Will these penalties deter a doctor from doing what he thinks best? Tom Daschle, in his 2008 book “Critical: what We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis”, has suggested that the goal is to slow the development and use of new medications and technologies because they are driving up costs, and says that Americans expect too much from their healthcare system.
Daschle says that health-care reform “will not be pain-free”. Seniors will be impacted and services will be rationed as cost-effectiveness becomes a priority. President Obama has called for more scrutiny. Healthcare should be treated as a growth industry, and not just a cost problem.
Is she right? Is she wrong? What are your thoughts?