Monday, November 15, 2010

In Reply: Rationing healthcare based on effectiveness and necessity, or rationing based on one's ability to afford treatment?

In reply to: No More Mister Nice Blog: SO MUCH FOR "EXTREMISTS ON BOTH SIDES", and in particular Donalde's suggestion that discriminating between effective, necessary medical treatment and ineffective unnecessary treatment amounts to "rationing care" or vindicates Sarah Palin and her make-believe "death panels," using an article that instead suggests limiting the amount and quality of health care based on what one can afford (You know, the way it used to be, before heathcare reform.)
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My favorite part of Donalde's (with an extra "e," for his tactical elan) argument is his oft linked USATODAY.com editorial (reposted three or four times at his AmPow blog since it was first published in mid-October, and even more often via tweet) suggesting that the provisions of healthcare reform will clog the system and lead to overuse, because people will now be able to get medical care they previously could not afford.

The man who wrote the editorial (and Donalde, obviously) believe that this will necessitate rationing care, oblivious to the fact that care was being rationed before healthcare reform, based on who could/couldn't afford it. This is the kind of rationing and death panels folks like Donalde prefers. Survival of the financially fittest, and those who can't come up with the scratch are judged unworthy by the financial panel of death that is conservative healthcare.

Folks like Dr Douglas lack compassion. They're not against rationing of care; it's just a matter of who gets it, and who doesn't.
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Relevant Links:
American Power: Paul Krugman Was Against Death Panels Before He Was For Them

American Power: If You Oppose ObamaCare You're RAAAAACIST and UNEDUCATED!!

Twitter / @Donald Douglas: @singlepayer 'ObamaCare will clog America's medical system' http://is.gd/gOe6q

(There are almost certainly others, but I haven't the time to ferret them out.

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