Friday, July 29, 2011

The NHS Rationing Crisis

Any liberal who, during the ObamaCare debate, extolled the virtues of a single payer system like the NHS has reason to be discomfited with the newest development in British public health care. In a bid to save money, hip replacements, cataract surgery and tonsillectomies are all being rationed by the NHS.

More specifically, according to The Independent:

* Hip and knee replacements only being allowed where patients are in severe pain. Overweight patients will be made to lose weight before being considered for an operation.

* Cataract operations being withheld from patients until their sight problems "substantially" affect their ability to work.

* Patients with varicose veins only being operated on if they are suffering "chronic continuous pain", ulceration or bleeding.

* Tonsillectomy (removing tonsils) only to be carried out in children if they have had seven bouts of tonsillitis in the previous year.

* Grommets to improve hearing in children only being inserted in "exceptional circumstances" and after monitoring for six months.

Some ObamaCare proponents hope and believe it's an intermediate step to imposing a single payer health care system on the United States.  To the extent that's true, the NHS disaster is a a valuable reminder that, after Republicans set about trying to fix the Obama economy, its top priority should be fixing the looming disaster that is ObamaCare.

By Carol Platt Liebau - an attorney, political commentator and guest radio talk show host based near Los Angeles. Author of Prude

Source:  TownHall

Related:  Uproar Over ObamaCare’s ‘Rationing Panels’ Intensifies 

*Age 78 will be the cutoff for many types of surgeries or procedures, no matter how healthy the person is otherwise, if ObamaCare is not repealed!

No comments: