by Bruce Ziebarth

Created on: August 07, 2009

Health care has been a political football for many years. Under Clinton's presidentcy it was used to try and pass health care reform. We ended up with Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs). Want to get rid of smoking? Cite the cost to the health care system and you can pass laws to limit smokers. Do not like salty foods? Cite the cost of health care as an issue and you can pass laws. The last one is happening now. All of these are examples to ration health care. The current health care bill not only rations health care for senior citizens but does so much more.

Insurance choice will be limited. President Obama has stated that Americans will not lose their choice of insurance carriers. However, the section that is meant to provide every American insurance actually limits choice. Each American will be required to keep insurance. If you lose insurance, even for one day, then you will be forced onto government insurance.

For example, you change jobs and your new job offers health insurance. You will need to go on Cobra for a short period of time. This will not be allowed. You will be forced to enroll in the government's insurance program. You will not be allowed back off. That sure looks like choice to me.

Euthanasia should not be tolerated. Few people are going to use the term Euthanasia. However, one provision sure resembles Euthanasia. Senior citizens (there has been no definition given to senior citizens as of yet) would be required to attend "death counseling" every five years. This counseling teaches them how to legally refuse food, decided when life is no longer "viable", and decide when they should die.

I recently attended a security conference where one social worker was angered by the possibility of college students being allowed to carry weapons. One of her statements was that "depressed college students might use the weapon to kill themselves". Her statement is also relevant to death counseling for senior citizens. Unlike a gun, death counseling does not just have the potential to kill people, it is meant to kill people.

If those two provisions are not enough for you, there is more. What procedures Americans are allowed will be controlled by the government. A government panel will review your medical and family history before you get a procedure. They are tasked with deciding if you will receive enough quality of life to warrant the expense.

You would assume that the review group would be made up of doctors. That would make sense. After all, would not doctors be best qualified to decided if a procedure is needed? Well, the bill does not require this group to be doctors. So this creates a group of non-medical people being able to decide what procedures you get. Is this not one of the current problems people have with our current system.

Do you enjoy control over your bank account? Well, this bill would end that also. IF you owe money to the government to pay for your medical care then the government can directly debit the money from your bank account. The provision does not allow private insurance companies to do this, only the government.

The current health care bill would require senior citizens to undergo death counseling, limit the availability of expense, new, or experimental treatments, and put everyone's health at the mercy of the government. Is rationing health care for seniors on the horizon? If this health care bill passes, seniors will not be the only ones getting their health care rationed. We all will be subject to the whims of our government for our personal health and the health of our families.

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