Guest post on Obamacare

Reader Adrienne e-mailed me an article asking if I would post it.  Since I agree with it, I said sure.  So below is a guest post from Adrienne:

How Obama’s Healthcare Reform Will Hurt America

The healthcare reform proposed by President Obama and the Democratic Congress is causing more than just confusion in the nation; in fact, fear is uppermost in most people’s minds as they contemplate how the passing of this bill could adversely affect their lives, especially if they’re the ones who need (or whose families need) expensive and experimental medical treatments. Yes, there’s no doubt that Obama’s healthcare reform will hurt America, because:

·        The government decides the kind of healthcare that is appropriate for you: Rather than your doctor being able to decide what treatment is best for you, it’s the governments invisible eyes (the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology) that are now going to be monitoring all that’s going on in hospitals. So in effect, your treatment will be decided based on what the government thinks is appropriate and cost-effective. Your doctor will have less responsibility and autonomy in deciding the kind of healthcare that is suitable for your condition.

·        Doctors are likely to face penalties for trying experimental procedures: When there is no impetus to try out new forms of cure, the medical community stagnates and does not grow. We are left with tried and tested methods to battle diseases, some of which are not very effective. Besides this, the government has the right to penalize doctors who decided to go against procedures detailed as appropriate in the reform. With this kind of micro management and Big Brother peeping over their shoulders, it’s a wonder if doctors and hospitals will be able to do their job effectively.

·        The choice to seek experimental treatment is minimized: Patients who wish to try everything in and outside the book in order to stay alive are denied the opportunity to do so if the government decides that their condition is “hopeless” and that they are better off dead than being alive and wasting healthcare dollars. This cuts off all avenues of treatment, and subsequently, all avenues of hope. President Obama even went so far as to criticize his own grandmother’s hip replacement surgery which came close on the heels of her being diagnosed with a terminal disease. He called it “unnecessary” because she was going to die anyway. But living with a broken hip could mean being bed-ridden and in constant pain, a fact that the President seems to have forgotten.  

·        Healthcare is being treated as an industry rather than a social need: It’s true that millions of dollars are being spent for healthcare in America. But instead of focusing on a more preventive approach – like getting people to stop smoking, reduce their weight, and change to a more active and healthy lifestyle – Obama and Congress want to cut costs when people do fall sick and need treatment. They are focusing on reducing expenditure, but this in turn stifles growth in the industry. And when the medical profession does not advance, it is a sad day for mankind, because unfortunately for us, disease and illness are advancing rapidly.

By-line:

This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of nurse practitioner schools. Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: [email protected]

                                                              

Comments

[thebastidge]

One minor nitpick:

"Rather than your doctor being able to decide what treatment is best for you..."

Doctor's don't decide what is best for me. They advise me and I decide. This bowing to experts is part of the problem that is leading us to the crappy socialzed healthcare you're talking about.