Do not tell me that this administration has no intention of rationing health care. Do not even breathe it. Former Senator Tom Daschle, who would today be head of Health and Human Services but for some tax problems–the man the NYT called the most influential adviser on Obamacere–extolled NICE, the NHS’s rationing board, as a model for us to follow.
Now, Donald Berwick, the Obama administration’s nominee to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is running into confirmation resistance because of his love affair with the NHS. From the story:
Sens. Pat Roberts (Kan.), Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and John Barrasso (Wyo.) joined forces on the Senate floor shortly after the last vote of the day and urged members to review Berwick’s record before voting on his confirmation. They accused Berwick of promoting health care rationing, especially for older people, and particularly criticized his endorsement of Great Britain’s National Healthcare System (NHS). “Dr. Berwick is a huge fan of … the NHS, a system that relies on rationing health care to hold down costs,” Roberts said. “Dr. Berwick has said, ‘I am a romantic about the NHS; I love it,’ and ‘the NHS is not just a national treasure, it is a global treasure.’”
Anyone who believes that should do research here under “NHS Meltdown,” and see the ongoing implosion of quality care and the imposition of explicit and implicit rationing. Yet, Berwick claims to want perfection from Medicare/Medicaid:
He has outlined his vision for health care as:
· No needless deaths;
· No needless pain or suffering;
· No helplessness in those served or serving;
· No unwanted waiting;
· No waste;
· No one left out.
Behind the platitudes, those stated goals and love for the NHS are mutually inconsistent. In NHS health care, there are long waits, women giving birth in elevators, injutrf people have been kept in ambulances for hours rather than brought into the ER to skew care statistics, cancer patients refused life-extending chemotherapy imposed by rationing boards, and skyrocketing hospital acquired infection, with ants and other vermin in some ORs. You have computer meltdowns resulting in 6 month waits for care, doubled spending for bureaucracy, a paucity of pain control specialists, too few emergency doctors, His idealistic vision of the NHS, in the clip embedded at the top, is way off the reality. And by the way, in the UK, elites like Berwick can opt out of the NHS via private insurance and health care–because it is better.
The White House seems to admit that rationing is in the cards. From Politico (my emphasis):
“The fact is, rationing is rampant in the system today, as insurers make arbitrary decisions about who can get the care they need. Don Berwick wants to see a system in which those decisions are transparent – and that the people who make them are held accountable…
That’s as clear an admission of an intent to ration as I think I have ever seen from this mendacious (about Obamacare) administration.
Berwick’s support of socialized medicine–with its “difficult choices” that are measured in the shortened lives and diminished health of victims being pushed out of the lifeboat by health care rationers, should doom his confirmation. More importantly, his selection for this important post by the president–in addition to his appointment of Cass Sunstein and reliance on Ezekiel Emanuel, both on the record as supporting quality of life health care–indicates clearly the direction in which the president wants to take American health care.
Rescind. Reform. Replace. Defund.
May 13th, 2010 | 4:22 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Vince Humphreys, Beaufort Tea Party and Pro-Life Healthcare , Wesley J. Smith. Wesley J. Smith said: Obamacare: Nominee to Head Medicare/Medicaid Loves UK’s Socialized NHS » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog http://shar.es/m40vG [...]
May 13th, 2010 | 9:24 pm
ObamaCare will prove to be problematic and create (most likely, like technological advances also) just as many problems as it may intend to address. It’s the nature of problems for which we have no pragmatic solutions, and in the eyes of many means that we really do not have a health care issue / problem.
However, to the extent that either side of the aisle has a theoretical interest in improving the health of its citizens and the health care provided, it is necessary to recognize two very fundamental issues:
1) The politicalization of the issue, or utilization of an ideological approach, will not result in an effective solution, because most human beings are not sufficiently self-motivated to pursue optimal health. It’s just not going to happen, and an ideological approach does not advance the health agenda.
2) Because of our (minimum of) two party governmental system, ANY approach formulated will be ineffective because it is a moderate, piecemeal, compromised approach to solving the problem. Imagine giving kids a vaccine which has been diluted, watered down, or adulterated with all sorts of ingredients not essential to attacking the disease.
Why do ANYTHING if it is not going to be effective? Why waste the time and the money pursuing goals through ineffective means?
This issue will NEVER be resolved by either side as long as people have freedom of choice. It’s the nature of human beings.
As Dirty Harry once said, “A man (or humankind) has to know his (or its) limitations.
May 14th, 2010 | 7:43 am
[...] Wesley Smith gives more details. [...]
May 14th, 2010 | 7:56 am
[...] care exchange. Wesley Smith, the inestimably wonderful source for bioethics fodder, is worried in light of the President’s recent pick for running Medicare: Berwick’s support of socialized medicine–with its “difficult choices” that are measured in [...]
May 14th, 2010 | 9:40 am
[...] Obamacare: Nominee to Head Medicare/Medicaid Loves UK's Socialized … Thai General Shot in the Head While Being Interviewed by The New …Only Experienced Astronauts Will Head to International Space …Welland's Pelino named Peterborough Petes head coach – Welland …Increased security demands force villagers to guard along Kanbauk …ImmigrationProf Blog: Customs and Border Protection Head Under …DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE by the Angry Nintendo NerdUsing your subconscious mind power to achieve success | Self Help …'Smallville': Season finale pits Clark vs. Zod, gets two couples …soldier of love- sade lyrics – ReviewStevie Wonder – Music Of My Mind (Japan SHM-CD) (2009) FLAC | Full … View the Contact Powered by Information [...]
May 14th, 2010 | 5:25 pm
Our NHS is fantastic and you know nothing! The uk-based, USA owned media hate the NHS but the general public love it.
Wesley J. Smith Reply:
May 14th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
All the major papers are US owned? The Guardian? The Telegraph? The Times? The Independent? The Daily Mail? Really? Or perhaps, you just refuse to see.
May 14th, 2010 | 5:27 pm
why do you guys tells such lies about the NHS. I suppose the true is you dont like the fact it makes your crap system look bad.
Wesley J. Smith Reply:
May 14th, 2010 at 6:37 pm
James: I only report here what the Telegraph, the Guardian, the Times, the Independent, and the Daily Mail report over the pond. If you don’t like what is being reported, take it up with them. Or perhaps, take your head out of the sand.
May 16th, 2010 | 9:32 pm
[...] a related, more recent post, I highlighted the sighing love for the NHS and NICE expressed by Dr. Scott Gotlieb, the president’s nominee to head the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This is the [...]
May 31st, 2010 | 9:23 pm
[...] I wrote here a few weeks ago about how Donald Berwick, the president’s appointee to run Medicare and Medicaid, is a big health care rationing advocate. Now, his boss, Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, has more than implicitly agreed with Berwick’s position. From the story: Berwick, a professor at Harvard Medical School, has repeatedly indicated his support for rationing and for the single-payer, government-run health care system of Great Britain…Berwick defended the program and rationing health care. “The decision is not whether or not we will ration care–the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open,” Berwick said in a June 2009 interview with Biotechnology Healthcare. [...]
June 2nd, 2010 | 11:01 am
[...] the GOP and conservatives to move the battle for repeal back to the front burner. Berwick is a self-avowed fan of the British single-payer model and their National Health Services (NHS) – a prime example of [...]
June 22nd, 2010 | 3:11 pm
[...] Medicare/Medicaid will not receive unanimous consent in the Senate. Berwick, SHSes will recall, supports socialized medicine and health care rationing–views that were supported by Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius. From the story: [...]
Links
Blogs
Find Us
Contact