Rationed Care is in the Recovery Bill

[sahuaro]

Wow! Thanks, Justin for posting the MSN piece.

I do think that you are right, though, about these possibilities appearing in future proposed legislation.

I have already encountered what happens when "treatment" becomes a computerized program, in dealing with a HMO in which I had to tell the technician on the other end of the phone to get his head out of the computer and listen to what I was telling him about the patient! After a major letter campaign, including contacting the head of the major organization that was the patient's employer, I was able to obtain the care for the patient that truly was appropriate--and I still resigned from the provider panel. My fear is that we will have fewer opportunities to protest if this happens with nationalized health care.

[Justin]

Sahuaro,

No problem! This topic is very interesting to me and I've been trying to keep up-to-date and read everything I can regarding this. I'm trying to stay optimistic, as insurance companies now dictate patient care and patients pretty much have to mortgage their houses to afford healthcare in the US. If you find any other good articles, please continue to post them here.

I hope you are well.

Originally Posted by sahuaro

Wow! Thanks, Justin for posting the MSN piece.

I do think that you are right, though, about these possibilities appearing in future proposed legislation.

I have already encountered what happens when "treatment" becomes a computerized program, in dealing with a HMO in which I had to tell the technician on the other end of the phone to get his head out of the computer and listen to what I was telling him about the patient! After a major letter campaign, including contacting the head of the major organization that was the patient's employer, I was able to obtain the care for the patient that truly was appropriate--and I still resigned from the provider panel. My fear is that we will have fewer opportunities to protest if this happens with nationalized health care.

[sahuaro]

Looks like the preliminary steps were in fact included in the bill:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/16/he...gewanted=print