Unless you live under a rock, there is no doubt that you have heard reports of the contentious new medical guidelines concerning women’s health. The US Preventive Services Task Force report was first, telling women they no longer need to begin mammograms at 40. Instead, the government-funded agency recommends waiting another decade before getting the test performed at age 50. Additionally, the task force told doctors they should stop teaching their patients to perform routine breast self-examinations. These new guidelines ignited a firestorm of controversy and debate across the country, which task force members said surprised them.
Really? They release these guidelines a mere two weeks after breast cancer awareness month is over and amid the country’s health care reform debate and they are surprised that people are upset? Surprise is not the only response. Many people are downright suspicious of the group’s motives. This elite panel is appointed and paid by the government, who just happens to be plotting a takeover of our nation’s health care system. How convenient it would be if this new system could save a bundle of money on diagnostic testing.
Adding fuel to the fire, just days after the USPSTF’s recommendations were released, another panel of physicians published new guidelines regarding pap smears. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists now says most women don’t need to begin cervical cancer screening until they are 21 and can have bi-annual pap smears instead of yearly checks. After their 30th birthday, most women only need to have pap smears once every three years, according to the new recommendations.
While less controversial than the breast cancer guidelines, the timing and nature of all these new recommendations is at the very least suspect and stinks of government collusion. The American people will likely never know how “independent” these panels truly were, but it could well be a sign of what’s to come when socialized medicine is forced upon us.
It seems that the proverbial grass is always greener on the other side, and I admit our health care system needs work, but before we jump on the socialized medicine bandwagon, we need to look at how it’s working, or not working, in other countries.
In Canada, every citizen gets “free” basic healthcare, but someone has to pay for this free care, and as it will be in America if socialized medicine comes to pass, taxpayers bear the cost. In Quebec, for instance, the average four-person family pays nearly $5,000 per year in public health insurance. This system has led to doctor shortages and extreme wait times to which Americans are not accustomed. The average wait time for surgery is 18.3 weeks there, which is a 97-percent increase over a14-year period. Canadians also have a lower quality of care and often the wealthy travel to the United States for the treatment they need because they either can’t get it or they fear dying on a long wait list.
But for all the problems with the Canadian system, the British may have it even worse:
- Inspectors there found that nearly all hospitals are failing to meet hygiene and cleanliness standards set by the government to prevent superbug outbreaks. Only five out of 51 hospitals passed their hygiene tests last year.
- An appalling 42 percent of hospitals turned away pregnant women who were in labor at least once last year. The second largest hospital in England, with 9,470 births last year was shut 28 times.
- Dental care is so bad that some people resort to pulling their own teeth with tools they have at home. A 76-year-old woman did so after 12 dentists refused to treat her, stating they were not accepting new patients with government insurance, and a 67-year old great grandmother has used pliers to pull her own teeth six times. The resourceful woman used beer as an anesthetic.
- Patients with the rare lung disease pulmonary hypertension have been condemned to die because the government has decided the medicines used to treat the most severe cases of the disease are too expensive. Only the cheapest drug will remain available.
- The government supports the decision of several British hospitals to ban smokers and obese patients from receiving certain treatments.
Anyone who says this can’t happen in America is wrong. Concern over the government’s health care reform initiative is already causing more and more doctors to start concierge medical practices, which charge patients a premium to be seen, but offer extra services. Yearly premiums range from $1500 to $25,000. Many of these concierge practices no longer take traditional insurance.
The government can’t afford to pay for health care for everyone in America. The costs will have to be managed and that will mean making decisions on who will receive which treatments and medications. Supporters of the public option should get used to the idea of having a price on their lives, because in managed care the bottom line for the masses will always be paramount to the well being of one.
