How are your kidneys?

"House and Senate Democrat leaders, and President Obama, argue that they can "pay for" health insurance "reform" by cutting $500 billion from Medicare spending over the next decade—largely through arbitrary reimbursement cuts,— without reducing the quality of care delivered to beneficiaries.

Yet, in January, 2011, Medicare will implement a new payment system for patients receiving dialysis for end stage kidney disease that will severely ration care to this vulnerable (and largely minority) population based on equally arbitrary payment reductions. These patients will be the unfortunate canary in the Medicare coal mine: "reform" legislation will expose millions of Medicare patients to rationing and reduced quality of care." Read the whole story at Medical Progress Today.

But bring out the violins for illegal aliens who need dialysis back in Mexico! NYT story. If you read far enough, you'll see Mexico's present (lower costs, but private pay) is our future.

What government health care looks like in the USA

A pediatric ophthalmologist writes:

"I have taken care of Medicaid patients for 35 years while representing the only pediatric ophthalmology group left in Atlanta, Georgia that accepts Medicaid. For example, in the past 6 months I have cared for three young children on Medicaid who had corneal ulcers. This is a potentially blinding situation because if the cornea perforates from the infection, almost surely blindness will occur. In all three cases the antibiotic needed for the eradication of the infection was not on the approved Medicaid list.

Each time I was told to fax Medicaid for the approval forms, which I did. Within 48 hours the form came back to me which was sent in immediately via fax, and I was told that I would have my answer in 10 days. Of course by then each child would have been blind in the eye.

Each time the request came back denied. All three times I personally provided the antibiotic for each patient which was not on the Medicaid approved list. Get the point -- rationing of care."

That's what you have when you wait for the government to act on a physician's request--blind children.

Read more of his experience at, ObamaCare and me.

And for us older folks he writes

"Twenty years ago, ophthalmologists were paid $1800 for a cataract surgery and today $500. This is a 73% decrease in our fees. I do not know of many jobs in America that have seen this sort of lowering of fees.

But there is more to the story than just the lower fees. When I came to Atlanta, there was a well known ophthalmologist that charged $2500 for a cataract surgery as he felt he was the best. He had a terrific reputation and in fact I had my mother's bilateral cataracts operated on by him with a wonderful result. She is now 94 and has 20/20 vision in both eyes. People would pay his $2500 fee.

However, then the government came in and said that any doctor that does Medicare work cannot accept more than the going rate (now $500) or he or she would be severely fined. This put an end to his charging $2500. The government said it was illegal to accept more than the government-allowed rate."

He says we're being lied to about the poor and uninsured, and he should know. A top neurosurgeon in his hospital has left the field at age 52--49% of children under the age of 16 in the state of Georgia are on Medicaid, so he felt he just could not stand working with the bureaucracy anymore. It wasn't treating the poor--it was dealing with the government.

"We are being lied to about the uninsured. They are getting care. I operate at least 2 illegal immigrants each month who pay me nothing, and the children's hospital at which I operate charges them nothing also.This is true not only on Atlanta, but of every community in America.

The bottom line is that I urge all of you to contact your congresswomen and congressmen and senators to defeat this bill. I promise you that you will not like rationing of your own health."

Read the entire article (and "anonymous" can go there and argue with his life experience).

Who decided we have a health care crisis?

Follow the money. I'd place my bet on the pharmaceutical companies, with the Democratic party not far behind. No one in the United States is denied ACCESS to medical care, even if they don't have insurance. About 13-15% of the population (included in the census are all the people who aren't supposed to be here, and that's millions) don't have private, employer or government health insurance. There are two substantial groups within that figure--young adults who are eligible for insurance through their employer but choose to spend the money (payroll deduction and co-pay) on something else and people who are eligible for government programs that cover health, but just don't bother to do it, or are not mentally capable of figuring out a rather complex, bureaucratic system bound in red tape. Both my children when they were young adults and first living on their own were employed, but did not opt for health insurance; both were in auto accidents which were not their fault, and fortunately the other driver had the basic coverage (required in Ohio). But in the ER, no one told them they wouldn't be treated when they couldn't produce a card. For several years we bought temporary health insurance for them because we believed we would be financially wiped out if they had a life threatening accident or illness.

If we have a crisis, which we don't, it is one brought on by behavior--smoking, drinking, drugs, over-eating, not exercising and not honoring the marriage bed. If Americans cleaned up those problems on their own volition, not only would poverty drop to unprecedented lows (very few children who have married parents are poor), but we could drastically reduce all kinds of diseases, especially diabetes, cancer and heart disease. The AIDS/HIV "epidemic" was brought on by the promiscuous behavior of our wealthiest and best educated demographic--so we know more information and more nanny state lectures aren't going to help until people take personal responsibility.

But it's much easier for the Obama Administration (Republicans do it only slightly less aggressively) to take over yet another segment of the economy by playing the crisis card.

Let me tell you about a crisis we will have--rationed care. Yesterday my husband had his regular dental check up--goes twice a year. His dentist noticed something in his throat and suggested he see his internist. No rush--next check up (in the fall) would be fine he said. Then he called today and said, No, maybe you should get that checked sooner. After checking his calendar my husband had free time the week of July 20th--about a month from now. So he called his doctor and made an appointment for the time he was free. Done deal. Not a year from now. Not two years, when whatever it is has a chance to grow into something serious or disappear on its own.

Now THAT is the coming health care crisis. Time is money. And it is also good health.

Obama's war on health care

Or War on America, I'm beginning to think. One more sector of the economy falling into the trenches without a fight. I hope to have a doctor write from his perspective as a guest blogger. (Note: JB--hurry!) But just on a personal note, I learned today that a friend is now battling his fourth type of cancer--not a metastasis, but all four different. Obamacare, or to-the-bone care, will never help those dear people. It will be triage, wait and ration care. There will be no debate; it will be flown through Congress, past Fancy Nancy faster than you can say botox, much faster than Air Force One flying past the Statue of Liberty. You just have to hope that he doesn't decide that each American can only have one cancer and that no one over 70 should get anything so there is enough rationed care to go around. Good luck, Democrat Baby Boomers who voted for this mess! Think of it this way, with only 2% of our fuel needs currently met by alternatives like wind and solar, you would have frozen to death anyway. The heating up green movement can dovetail nicely with the healthcare meltdown.

"A recent study by the Lewin Group estimates that almost 120 million Americans could be forced from employer-based coverage into government-run insurance by the kind of two-step strategy the Democrats envision. Americans with stable job-based insurance do not know this is what Democrats have in store for them, and they will not be happy about it. Last year the Kaiser Family Foundation found that well over 80 percent of insured Americans rated their health insurance as excellent or good." Stop ObamaCare.

How ObamaCare will Affect Your Doctor