In addition to being fiscally unsustainable, the health-care-reform plan emerging from Democrats in Congress raises disturbing questions for our nation's seniors. If President Obama pushes through proposed "reforms," seniors could very well face rationed care as the result of a raid on the coffers of a Medicare program that's already nearly bankrupt.
One particular provision in the Democratic bill has seniors worried, and rightly so. A new "Center for Health Outcomes Research and Evaluation" could ration access to medicines and treatments based on the government's assessment of the value of a human life and the "cost-effectiveness" of treatment.
This became abundantly clear when Senator Mike Enzi (R., Wyo.) introduced an amendment designed to ensure that the new center could not put a value on life-saving treatment by using "quality of life" and "cost-effectiveness" measures "for the denial of Medicare benefits to patients against their wishes." Because Democrats rejected the amendment in a party-line vote, the proposed new entity would be able to impose restrictions on access to treatment, as is common in European countries with socialized medicine. Elderly, disabled, and medically dependent patients would be at greatest risk of being denied necessary care.
From the National Review.
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