Mine are questions, not answers.
I have no problem with an honest discussion of quality of life versus being allowed to die with as little suffering as possible. But, to have care denied when not only wanted but needed to continue to live and be denied because it is too expensive is wrong. If by denying the care, no improvement on the time remaining or quality of life is possible, then and only then shoud a panel assist in the decision making process.
The real problem is that the government has involved itself in the insurance business by way of taxing us to pay for future care. Now that care has become so expensive, the government is seeking ways to shirk that responsibility.
There are many ways to reduce the cost of medicare as well as the outflow of money in SS without compromising the care that has been paid for in advance.
Originally Posted by The2Dogs
See, I disagree with that part. Yes, it'd be great if we could give everyone the care they needed. However, the cost of life saving care can just simply be too expensive. This has always been the case. Simply put, you don't have a right to whatever healthcare it takes to save you, no matter the cost.
Insurance companies cut people all the time for using their insurance too much or the insurance company simply denies the claim and waits for them to die.
Look at HIV medication. There are some great drugs out there now that can give HIV positive patients a regular lifespan. However, like South Park points out, it's basically injecting money into yourself. That stuff is expensive.
It's a harsh truth, but we simply can't afford to keep everyone alive no matter the cost.
The scare over these death panels is really just propaganda over what has to be done in order to keep costs under control. Otherwise, more people than just those few eating up all the money are going to suffer in the long run.
THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY.
Now for what you said in the rest of that post, I agree with the numbers mostly.... have you done the numbers on obamafuckingcare? our rates increase 200%. That's 200% for anyone that missed it. Look it up, I'm not your mommy.
Originally Posted by LovingKayla
Meh, for every study someone says it will increase costs, there's another study saying it'll decrease costs. No one actually knows what's going to happen and the results are what we're going to see over the next few years.
However, we do know that the current system isn't working and the policy of "do nothing" isn't going to fix it.