In an article he wrote for the Wall Street Journal, Howard Dean admits that Obamacare does have what Sarah Palin and the rest of us have said all along: death panels.
Dean's concern, however, doesn't seem to be with their existence...rather, his concern appears to be that these panels will limit the fees doctors can set and collect.
This paragraph from Dean I found telling and extremely disturbing:
One major problem is the so-called Independent Payment Advisory Board. The IPAB is essentially a health-care rationing body. By setting doctor reimbursement rates for Medicare and determining which procedures and drugs will be covered and at what price, the IPAB will be able to stop certain treatments its members do not favor by simply setting rates to levels where no doctor or hospital will perform them.
Dean, as all bureaucrats do, focuses on healthcare costs and whether or not Obamacare will cut said costs...
What about the fact that bureaucrats, the ones on the Independent Payment Advisory Board, will be making decisions about OUR health care?
Dean states that the IPAB will be able to stop certain treatments its members do not favor...what treatments? chemo for elderly patients? hip replacement surgery for the same elderly person? Is there a particular age that this IPAB will be able to draw a line and say 'no more health care for this individual due to advancing age'?
What about people that do not live up to these IPAB's standards? Such as a child or older individual that has Down's Syndrome? Will these people be "allowed" treatment?
What about people that are over the 'weight limit' that Michelle Obama has been pushing all these years? Will those people be given treatment or will the IPAB determine that all health care be withheld until they lose weight and meet the government standards?
Don't laugh. Australia is deporting a man for being "too heavy". Happened this week. His weight? 20 stones 6 pounds, or 296 pounds.
Who are the people that will serve on these IPAB's? Will they be from the IRS? Will they be appointed by Obama?
Will bureaucrats or celebrities or union bosses or - let's say anyone that donated to Obama's campaign - be given preferential treatment under these IPAB's?
Who oversees these Independent Payment Advisory Boards? The IRS?
Dean also says that the law will move America closer to universal health coverage—something many progressives have sought for years.
Never mind that universal health coverage does not work. If progressives want it, THEY WANT IT!
This debacle that is being foisted on the American people needs to be stopped. The representatives that got elected to Congress as Republicans had better start acting like conservatives and start making decisions based on what is important to their constituents and not from what will benefit them.
It is and never should be up to bureaucrats to determine which medical treatment is right for you or your family. It is and never should be up to bureaucrats to determine when to stop a medical treatment for you or your family.
IT IS AND NEVER SHOULD BE UP TO BUREAUCRATS TO DETERMINE ANYTHING ABOUT HOW OR WHICH MEDICAL TREATMENT, PROGRAM, SURGERY, OUTPATIENT TREATMENT SHOULD BE UNDERTAKEN FOR YOU OR YOUR FAMILY.
It is between you, your doctor and your family to make these decisions.
DR
