Is There a Bureaucrat in hthe House? (with audios)
One of the next major items on President Obama's agenda is to pass health care reform legislation.
In an interview published by the New York Times, Obama states: "The chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80 percent of the total health care bill out here." For them, he said, "I think that there is going to have to be a conversation that is guided by doctors, scientists, ethicists. And then there is going to have to be a very difficult democratic conversation that takes place. It is very difficult to imagine the country making those decisions just through the normal political channels."
Anytime a government bureaucrat, rather than your personal doctor, decides what treatment or drugs you can have, it ultimately leads to healthcare rationing, contends Rep. John Shadegg.
"It certainly raises the specter of people being given up on," he says.
The Arizona Republican spoke with Greg Corombos of Radio America/WND. The audio of the exchange is embedded here:
|
|
The research would be used "to determine those items, procedures and interventions that are found to be less effective, and in some cases more expensive, will no longer be prescribed."
Shadegg says it's a tool to take health care decisions away from individuals and their physicians.
"In the context of the stimulus bill and health care reform ... this kind of cost-effectiveness research would be used to have the government say what drugs can and cannot be used and what procedures can or cannot be used."
How will Democrats pitch the government-run health care rationing system?
"The buzz language right now is that the adminstration wants a public plan ... what they want is for every American to be able to to buy their health insurance from the government itself," explains Shadegg.
The congressman talks more about the Democrats' plan here:
|
|
"If you have a public plan, you will have essentially the government both playing in the game of offering health insurance, and setting the rules for the game," says Shadegg.
While Obama wants to put the government between you and your doctor, Republicans back an alternative form of healthcare reform.
Shadegg says: "Let's empower you as an individual to buy your own plan, which covers the doctors you want to go to, and I believe we can do that without any additional cost."