Now that ObamaCare© is the law of the land, what kinds of changes can we look forward to? For enlightenment, we turn our sights eastward, across the Atlantic to that leading light of nationalized health care, Britain's Much Vaunted National Health System©.
■ The Ambulance Dance
Pretty much by definition, a state-run and financed health care delivery system is going to mean rationing; one form is the controversial practice of "boarding;" that is, keeping patients outside the actual facility so that they're not counted as actual, you know, "patients." Once they hit the door, the meter starts running.
In its rush to reach the bottom of the health care barrel, the MVNHS© is now paying ambulance drivers "£38 [about $57 US] for every casualty that ambulance staff "keep out of Accident and Emergency" (A&E) departments after a 999 call has been made."
But we daren't call them "death panels."
[Hat Tip: Bob Vineyard]
■ Reconstructing Patsy
What's the difference between Pamela Anderson and Farah Fawcett? Well, one has had numerous "enhancement" procedures on a purely voluntary basis, while one suffered from cancer. A reasonable person would agree that there's no reason for health insurance, whether from an insurance carrier or the government, to pay for the former; after all, there was no pressing medical need for the former Bay Watch actress to further inflate her swimsuit.
On the other hand, few reasonable folks would begrudge a cancer survivor the funds and facilities to reconstruct what nature wrought in the wake of a devastating illness, particularly one with no known behavioral cause.
And yet, that's exactly what the MVNHS© has done:
"Mother-of-four Patsy Parsons had a large section of her left breast removed when she was diagnosed [with breast cancer] two years ago and was told she was entitled to have it rebuilt free of charge."
But it's the government, so they can change their minds, and one has precious few (if any) alternatives. In this case, the local hospital, under the control of government bureaucrats, has deemed her case "'low priority, routine' cosmetic surgery."
But of course.
■ The Ambulance Dance
Pretty much by definition, a state-run and financed health care delivery system is going to mean rationing; one form is the controversial practice of "boarding;" that is, keeping patients outside the actual facility so that they're not counted as actual, you know, "patients." Once they hit the door, the meter starts running.
In its rush to reach the bottom of the health care barrel, the MVNHS© is now paying ambulance drivers "£38 [about $57 US] for every casualty that ambulance staff "keep out of Accident and Emergency" (A&E) departments after a 999 call has been made."
But we daren't call them "death panels."
[Hat Tip: Bob Vineyard]
■ Reconstructing Patsy
What's the difference between Pamela Anderson and Farah Fawcett? Well, one has had numerous "enhancement" procedures on a purely voluntary basis, while one suffered from cancer. A reasonable person would agree that there's no reason for health insurance, whether from an insurance carrier or the government, to pay for the former; after all, there was no pressing medical need for the former Bay Watch actress to further inflate her swimsuit.
On the other hand, few reasonable folks would begrudge a cancer survivor the funds and facilities to reconstruct what nature wrought in the wake of a devastating illness, particularly one with no known behavioral cause.
And yet, that's exactly what the MVNHS© has done:
"Mother-of-four Patsy Parsons had a large section of her left breast removed when she was diagnosed [with breast cancer] two years ago and was told she was entitled to have it rebuilt free of charge."
But it's the government, so they can change their minds, and one has precious few (if any) alternatives. In this case, the local hospital, under the control of government bureaucrats, has deemed her case "'low priority, routine' cosmetic surgery."
But of course.
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