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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (8669)	8/25/2009 12:44:18 PM
From: skinowski	7 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

Or perhaps it's only a "death panel" when Obamacare does it but not when Blue Cross does it? Yes, perhaps this is precisely the case. When rationing is done by a private company, you can switch to another insurer. However, when it comes from the government, it's likely to be an offer you can't refuse. In the first case, it's a market choice. In the second, it's a government dictate.

To: Lane3 who wrote (8669)	8/25/2009 1:35:08 PM
From: Brumar89	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

OBama defined it to the NYT as an independent panel "outside the normal political channels". No one should expect the government would ever give something the title "Deatn Panel". Britain calls theirs N.I.C.E. An independent panel of "bio-ethicists" that would deny certain treatments to certain classes of patients. ..... THE PRESIDENT: So that’s where I think you just get into some very difficult moral issues. But that’s also a huge driver of cost, right? I mean, 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. LEONHARDT: So how do you – how do we deal with it? THE PRESIDENT: Well, 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. And that’s part of why you have to have some independent group that can give you guidance. It’s not determinative, but I think has to be able to give you some guidance. ... nytimes.com