Saturday, January 8, 2011

Remember when Government Health Care Rationing was a Bad Idea? Guess that only applied to Obama’s Reform.

Conservatives are quick to RATION health care if it saves them money, like in Arizona. In this new age of “save yourself first,” the call for rationing has expanded. I can’t deny parts of the request make sense, but still, something is wrong with our society if these are the only choices.

In this case, the Wisconsin Medical Society point blank came right out and said it.
WSJ: As the state prepares to plug a $1.2 billion Medicaid hole, it should look beyond cutting enrollment, payments and entire benefit programs to another option: rationing care, as Oregon does.
That’s what the Wisconsin Medical Society, the state’s doctor association, is proposing. Oregon ranks services and refuses to cover a fourth of them because of budget constraints.
Dr. Tim Bartholow, a senior vice president of the medical society; “We want as many people as possible to have access to some care, rather than let some have terrific access and other people have none,”
It makes sense, yet should leave anyone with any sense of humanity, icy cold.
The proposal, approved by the medical society board after the November election of Republican Gov. Scott Walker, will be offered to the Walker administration as an alternative to payment cuts for doctors, Bartholow said. It could also prevent or reduce the need for other reductions, he said, such as curbing eligibility and slashing programs such as dental care and prescription drugs.
But even this serious suggestion to keep people from losing all care is met with Republican indifference. In fact, their silence suggests they have other, more draconian solutions.
Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie didn’t respond to the medical society proposal when asked about it. He said Walker “continues to evaluate a number of options to balance the budget without raising taxes.”
Most states face Medicaid deficits even after 39 states cut provider payments and 20 states reduced benefits last year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Arizona recently eliminated coverage for some organ transplants, gaining national attention for cutting care for conditions that are often fatal. 
Wanna make a bet not as many health care “freeloaders” will be covered in a couple of years?

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