The coming disaster in healthcare.....

Worries over how the new world of personal healthcare in the USA is one that is being pondered in certain circles. Arguments that government will be able to ferret out inefficiencies and be able to properly ration healthcare is what Democrats are asserting these days.

Democratic blogger Ezra Klein appears to be positioning Dem health care reforms as a way to cut costs, on the grounds that a reformed system will be able to make "hard choices" and "rational" coverage decisions, by which Klein seems to mean "not providing" treatments that are unproven or too expensive--when "a person's life, or health, is not worth the price." Matthew Yglesias' recent post seems to be saying the same thing, though clarity isn't its strong suit. (He must have left it on Journolist.)

Isn't it an epic mistake to try to sell Democratic health care reform on this basis? Possible sales pitch: "Our plan will deny you unnecessary treatments!" Or maybe just "Republicans say 'yes.' Democrats say 'no'!" Is that really why the middle class will sign on to a revolutionary multi-trillion dollar shift in spending--so the government can decide their life or health "is not worth the price"? I mean, how could it lose?

How governments can make rational decisions over the value of any healthcare procedure unfortunately completely eludes me. How will they know all the moving parts inherent in any procedure overtime since all healthcare will be binary in nature -you will either have access to it or you will not.

Furthermore, the idea that a government will be able to deny healthcare to its citizens in any form is silly. Since its not their money, why do they have to be rational? The government will be subject to lobbying by drug companies, healthcare providers, trial lawyers and a raft of other interest groups that will ask for their piece of the pie. The pie will only get bigger and bigger and less and less rational over time.

And in socialized medicine Britain, one of the very models that the US communist Democrats want to emulate since it is so very successful, we find this...

A woman died in labour in a hospital lavatory after her induction was delayed because of a lack of specialist staff, an inquest was told yesterday.

Sarah Underhill, a policewoman aged 37, was in her 36th week of pregnancy when she was admitted to hospital suffering from pre-eclampsia.

Here. An its pregnancy and broken bones that the British healthcare system is suppose to handle so very well.

We will all be forced to endure government run, insect infested hospitals in the very near future that will be staffed by principally foreign born providers since working int he industry will become much less attractive to bright young people. I will laugh at all the mess that this will create as people will be dying horrible deaths that were unnecessary.