Tragically, no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions slipped (into the stimulus bill) without discussion. These provisions reflect the handiwork of Tom Daschle, until recently the nominee to head the Health and Human Services Department. Full Story »
Posted by Subramanya Sastry
Revised February 28, 2009. Betsy McCaughey highlights provisions that she claims were snuck into the House version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Unfortunately she writes beyond her evidence in claiming that the language of the bill will foster the creation of a government bureaucracy that will one day interfere in the patient/physician relationship. Her concerns may be somewhat justified, however; unlike the nationalized healthcare systems that are universally rated as excellent, provisions that encourage heavy government monitoring of physician recommended treatment protocols could negatively impact healthcare and result in cost-benefit rationing. This is quite unlike the top-rated French system, which establishes a "firewall" between government and healthcare and which maximizes the autonomy of the physician/patient relationship.
Revised February 28, 2009. I abhor any approach to healthcare reform that will vest too much power in an overarching government bureacracy. We must be careful to avoid the worst that socialized medicine has to offer--specifically the Canadian and British systems. Why not emulate the best systems (as exemplified in France, Sweden, Denmark) rather than the worst.