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Rationing care, eventually necessary?

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2009-12-24 12:49 AM

Pulkit
Coppell, TX
Posts: 31

Uwe Reindhardt, a prominent scholar of health care economics, believes that rationing of care is a necessary component of health care reform. Christopher Beam of Slate paraphrases Dr. Reindhardt's words:

"Right now, we can save plenty of money in health care just by eliminating wasteful spending, he says. But eventually, we're going to have to start rationing in a more, well, rational way. We can either move to a system that takes into account the efficacy of the care or retain the current system, which basically rations care based on income level." (http://www.slate.com/id/2224790/pagenum/2)

One of the most signifiant reasons for the rising health care costs is due to expensive advancements in medical technology. We are a culture that wants it all, and wants it now. But perhaps, if we really want to be able to afford health care decades from now, we will have to move away from our desire to have it all. What do you guys think?

2010-02-27 03:44 PM

Schmidt
Colorado Springs, CO
Posts: 854

Rationing healthcare is occurring now as families realistically assess with their doctors the chances that a patient, their loved one, will recover. These families are the ones who have planned for and discussed in advance the heart wrenching end-of-life decisions that most every family will eventually have to face. Sustaining the life of a person an extra few months when the outcome is certain death only adds to the misery and frustration of the patient and the anguish of the surviving family members.

According to this CBS article, the Cost of Dying, "Every medical study ever conducted has concluded that 100 percent of all Americans will eventually die. This comes as no great surprise, but the amount of money being spent at the very end of people's lives probably will.

"Last year, Medicare paid $50 billion just for doctor and hospital bills during the last two months of patients' lives - that's more than the budget of the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Education.

"And it has been estimated that 20 to 30 percent of these medical expenditures may have had no meaningful impact. Most of the bills are paid for by the federal government with few or no questions asked.

"You might think this would be an obvious thing for Congress and the president to address as they try to reform health care. But what used to be a bipartisan issue has become a politically explosive one - a perfect example of the costs that threaten to bankrupt the country and how hard it's going to be to rein them in."

It is a topic that should indeed be addressed in Health Care Reform legislation, but won't thanks to Sarah Palin's fear mongering and falsehoods on "death panels" and members of Congress who have chosen this as another topic to politicize. We simply cannot have a civilized, professional national conversation on this issue without having partisan politics entering into the conversation. Way to go Sarah Palin...always your selfish political interests first.

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Rationing care, eventually necessary?

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