Federal Health Care Grab in Stimulus Bill

Pain, Suffering, and Early Death

According to Betsy McCaughey at Bloomberg, provisions have been tucked into the Obama stimulus package that would, in effect, take the ability of making medical decisions away from doctors and grant them to the federal government.

The health care provisions of the Obama stimulus package would create a national database that would track every person's medical records, including drugs they are taking and treatments they are receiving. This, so far, is actually a good thing. It would be useful for doctors and other health care providers to have, at their finger tips, medical information for the patients under their care. It is a reform supported by people from across the political spectrum, including Newt Gingrich and Hillary Clinton.

Unfortunately, the health care provisions of the Obama stimulus package go further. "One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and 'guide' your doctor's decisions." Betsy McCaughey goes on to note, "Hospitals and doctors that are not 'meaningful users' of the new system will face penalties. 'Meaningful user' isn't defined in the bill. That will be left to the HHS secretary, who will be empowered to impose "more stringent measures of meaningful use over time'"

One does not have the gift of prophecy to see where this is headed. Doctors would have to consult federally approved guidelines to determine what is an appropriate treatment for a patient and not rely on his or her best medical judgment. If one has an atypical condition or needs an experimental treatment, one may be out of luck.

People have been rightly incensed about stories of insurance companies and HMOs refusing to pay for or authorize treatments that patients thought were covered, treatments that sometimes mean the difference between life and death. Personal injury lawyers have gotten rich suing insurance companies and HMOs on the behalf of patients who have been denied needed health treatments.