Death Panels...the first step...

[billc]

Well, the death panels are moving into the first stage, the press is going to explain why they are needed, and then slowly advocate for them...they will of course be called "rationing," instead of death panels, but they will do the same thing...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/opinion/health-care-reform-beyond-obamacare.html?_r=2&

WE need death panels.

Well, maybe not death panels, exactly, but unless we start allocating health care resources more prudently — rationing, by its proper name — the exploding cost of Medicare will swamp the federal budget.
But in the pantheon of toxic issues — the famous “third rails” of American politics — none stands taller than overtly acknowledging that elderly Americans are not entitled to every conceivable medical procedure or pharmaceutical.

But...But...I thought obamacare was going to be free...and you could keep your doctor...and every disease would be cured with magic pixie dust...

Medicare reimbursement rates are already well below those of private providers.
Let’s not forget that with the elderly population growing rapidly, even if cost increases for each beneficiary can be contained, Medicare would still claim a rising share of the American economy.
Medicare needs to take a cue from Willie Sutton, who reportedly said he robbed banks because that’s where the money was. The big money in Medicare is not to be found in Mr. Ryan’s competition or Mr. Obama’s innovation, but in reducing the cost of treating people in the last year of life, which consumes more than a quarter of the program’s budget.

"Mr. Smith, please have a seat the Death Panel...er...Doctor will be with you in a moment...to tell you how to end things peacefully..."

"But Nurse, I just have a cold..."

 

[billc]

Knee panels...?

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Govern...e-Knee-Replacements-Less-Available-to-Seniors

According to a recent study by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the number of knee replacements paid for by Medicare has more than doubled over the past 20 years. In 2010, 243,802 Medicare recipients underwent knee replacements, up from 93,230 in 1991. According to the study, demand for the popular surgery, which costs approximately $15,000 per replacement, could reach $3.5 million annually by the year 2030.

Nevertheless, Peter Cram, a health-policy researcher at the University of Iowa-Carver College of Medicine, who contributed to the study, said, “Ultimately, there’s going to be [only] some number of these we can afford.” According to Cram, the decision on who gets knee replacement surgery and who is rejected will be a “really contentious debate.”
Studies of this nature will likely be used to support the “necessity” of the ObamaCare Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), the group of unelected officials who will be responsible for handing down the “rules” to physicians about who gets the knee surgery and who does not. The IPAB will, indeed, be in charge of “rationing” knee replacement surgery and other treatments and procedures, as well.
In addition, it is essential to understand the effects of the $716 billion that ObamaCare takes from Medicare to give to Medicaid. This money will be removed from Medicare in the form of payments to Medicare physicians and other providers, who, by the end of this decade, will end up being paid less than Medicaid providers. If ObamaCare is allowed to move forward, older Medicare recipients will be less likely to obtain the types of surgeries, such as knee replacements, and treatments they need because of both the IPAB rationing rules and the fact that more physicians will reject Medicare patients. This will leave a system where only wealthy seniors will be able to afford high-quality healthcare.

Soooo...the Death Panel will also be a Knee panel...

I guess a lot more seniors will be limping to their end of life "consultation."

 

[shesulsa]

This is surprising to see this article quoted by you ... it is very non-partisan when one reads the entire article. The opinion that life-extending treatment needs limiting seems to be that of Rattner's.

I remain disappointed that neither party dares to enter into the "spend a dollar to save a penny" methodologies currently used by federal and state assistance programs.

An example would be my dear friend's mother who passed in March. Type II diabetic since childhood (genetic), she spent countless hours in the hospital with several month-long stays in ICU, intubated. She had requested gastric bypass surgery which was deemed her only chance at relative longevity or of managing her diabetes. The approval process took years during which she required more surgeries and procedures than I can recall involving the need for kidney specialists. Surely the government spent FAR more on her diabetes-related complications than it would have on her surgery, and now she is gone.

Currently, my oldest son must take risperidone which is paid for by the state. This drug wreaks absolute havoc on the endocrine system. Metabolized by the liver, he is 80 pounds overweight and his liver enzymes are borderline dangerous as are his cholesterol levels. His blood pressure is borderline high and his blood sugar is borderline as well.

He is 22.

If the state would pay just $50 more per month for Invega - the same drug as risperidone but metabolized easily by the kidneys - he would drop the weight and his endocrine system could recover. He could avoid diabetes, stroke, heart attack, DVT and many other problems related to long-term risperidone usage, obesity and heart disease. The medications for these would exceed $200 additional dollars per month.

The death panels are already here, Bill Cihak. You cannot hang them on Obama, Romney, Libruls nor Teabaggers. It is a system designed to shed anyone who must work or who simply can't work. There are many hands that have shaped this monstrosity and they are red AND blue.

 

[billc]

And obama just took them national.

 

[shesulsa]

And obama just took them national.

Medicare has been national since its inception - which preceeds Obama. Read my post.

 

[WC_lun]

And obama just took them national.

No Bill, the "death panels" you seem to fear have been here for a very long time. In Shesula's case it is Medicare, so it is the gpvernment deciding which treatments they will pay for. In many cases it is private insurance companies dropping those that get sick or finding excuses not to pay. Obama just made it more difficult for the private insurance companies to deny life saving treatments. In exchange the insurance companies get more customers. If you are going to critisize the health care reform act, at least critisize it for legitimate things that could cause harm, instead of this nonsensical death panel stuff.