Hi again,
The Senator went on to explain the original plan was for all health care to come under the control of the federal government. You go to your doctor, they diagnose your situation and come up with the appropriate treatment. At that point the treatment plan has to be cleared and authorized in advance for the federal government to pay for it. If it is approved, they then direct the doctor, hospital, whoever just exactly what the limits of the treatment will be and how much money they will be paid.
Now comes the rub. The main criteria is the "cost effective" treatment. Let's say for example you are 69 years old as I am and I need a knee or hip replacement. They go to the government and they have no problem understanding that is the proper treatment but they will deny the claim because I am old and it is not cost effective. Take a Tylenol and gut it out...
He went on to say that does not mean you could not still get the treatment. He said that Blue Cross may well pay for it however if the government deems it not cost effective, then the insurance company will not be allowed the business expense of what they paid out for your treatment. I suppose a third option would be to pay the $50,000 or so for the treatment yourself....but having paid the government insurance premiums, and blue cross supplemental premiums is just tough luck.
Realistically any treatment of a senior that would prolong life could easily be deemed not to be cost effective so they would be screwed. The senator went on to say this is exactly what they have in the UK by the way.
Now this is not just affecting the elderly. I have a grandson who has cerebral palsy and probably someday will be on government disability. Even if he is in his 30's any treatment that would prolong his life would be suspect, hell the motivation of the government would be to get him off the payroll.
At this point the cute blonde at Fox was coming unglued and asked again, "Is this in the current bill?" He said no but it had been in an earlier version, so this is where they are headed. He went on to say that he felt most Americans would not take kindly to that kind of medical plan, they want to be in charge of their own health care not some government flunkie. He was then told that he has a standing invitation to come back anytime and he committed to her that he would keep Fox appraised of the situation.
On a personal note, several things came to mind. At what point does the AARP get it's head out of it's ass and start going after the libs instead of being their lap dogs?
Once the study is done, when do the libs make their move? If it is done before the 2010 mid-term elections do they take a shot at it knowing full well that many will be fired by their constituients if they do? Do they wait until after the mid-term elections knowing full well they likely will not have a bullet-proof majority in congress?
Do they wait and hope that BO gets re-elected and then go full throttle?
I am a bit concerned by what Hannity said on his radio show this afternoon. The final bill has not been produced yet and Pelosi is asking the democrats to pledge to vote for a bill they have yet to see. He went on to say that likely the Republicans will not see it before the vote because she knows they will vote against it anyway. It would not surprise me if the damn socialized medicine package is back in there and they will spring it at the last minute. Can you say revolution????
Another option is to have another emergency and try to sneak it in at that time. As we all know the libs are good at crisis creation so my money would be that is what they will try once the study is done. They will point to the study results (which likely have already been written without anyone doing the research) and make it urgent, cannot wait another day etc. If it gets to that I will not call Senator Nelson, nor will I write him, I will show up at his front door screaming my head off for the world to see.
We really need to try to stay on top of this one. Big brother getting to damn big for his britches!
regards,
5412