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January 28, 2008
British Doctors: Withhold Treatment From the Unhealthy
Obviously, socialized medicine could never function as efficiently medical care in a free economy, because when you set the price of a highly valued commodity like healthcare at zero, demand will quickly reach infinity. Since supply is far from infinite, rationing must be imposed. In Britain, it is already getting ugly:
Doctors are calling for NHS treatment to be withheld from patients who are too old or who lead unhealthy lives.
Smokers, heavy drinkers, the obese and the elderly should be barred from receiving some operations, according to doctors, with most saying the health service cannot afford to provide free care to everyone. […]
About one in 10 hospitals already deny some surgery to obese patients and smokers, with restrictions most common in hospitals battling debt.
Supposedly half the British population will by "dangerously overweight" by 2050, which should at least keep the wait down to a few years for emergency surgery if all these people are denied medical care.
The Government has stepped up to the plate by offering to pay fat people to diet and exercise. Just as they once thought the supply of healthcare is infinite, bureaucrats now believe there is no bottom to taxpayers' pockets.
One in three doctors surveyed think that old people shouldn't be given treatment if they are going to die soon anyway. Half think that smokers shouldn't get heart bypass surgery. Ninety-four percent think alcoholics should not be given liver transplants, which is almost exactly the percentage of alcoholics who stop drinking after receiving one.
Giving an indication of how depraved the medical profession has become under socialism, only one in five doesn't think taxpayers should have to finance "social" abortions. Limited resources are to be focused on ending life, not prolonging it.
On tips from Kevin and V the K.
Posted by Van Helsing at January 28, 2008 7:10 AM
Comments
The movie Logans Run had the right idea - set a maximum age then its off to Carousel! Old geezers getting zapped with lasers would be pretty entertaining. Soylent Green would be a less painful way to go and would help reduce global warming in 2 ways. Dead people would emit no CO2. And,If we were cannibals then the farmland could be used to grow biofuels!
One good way to ration healthcare would be a game show. If you win, you get the operation - if not - youre SOOL (Shit Out Of Luck)
Posted by: Anonymous at January 28, 2008 7:26 AM
Why not just set it up so that those who want government-provided health care can opt-in and have 50% of their income and wealth confiscated to pay for it. Those who wanted private insurance would have a lightly regulated market and no health tax. However, one would have to live with the consequences of their choice, which would mean if you opt out and don't secure adequate insurance, you would not be entitled to treatment.
Unfortunately, this system would limit the power of left-wing politicians and bureaucrats, so of course they would never embrace it.
Posted by: V the K at January 28, 2008 7:47 AM
Give 'em a refund of all the money they pay into the system, then, so they can finance their own healthcare.
I read about this yesterday and most, if not all, of the commenters for the Telegraph story were outraged, as they should be.
Posted by: Pam at January 28, 2008 7:48 AM
Great idea, VK, but you are right in that the bureaucrats would have to give up much of the power they wield, and so would give a big thumbs-down.
Posted by: Pam at January 28, 2008 7:52 AM
V the K: Obviously that would make too much sense. Shape up and conform. "Resistance is futile...you will be assimilated"
Remember when Bush wanted to let American invest something like 5% of their Social Security "contributions"? The left went stark, raving mad. Hell, I would opt out of SS if given the opportunity even with all I have contributed (I'm in my 50's).
Posted by: baldeagle390 at January 28, 2008 8:50 AM
Maybe the Brits should ENCOURAGE smoking.
NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE:In our study, lifetime costs for smokers can be calculated as $72,700 among men and $94,700 among women, and lifetime costs among nonsmokers can be calculated as $83,400 and $111,000, respectively. This amounts to lifetime costs for nonsmokers that are higher by 15 percent among men and 18 percent among women.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/337/15/1052?
journalcode=nejm&HITS=10&hits=10&FIRSTINDEX=0&fulltext=
%22The+Health+Care+Costs+of+Smoking%22&searchid=
1017357980243_25300&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=
0&resourcetype=HWCIT
Posted by: baldeagle390 at January 28, 2008 9:04 AM
Smokers cost less over a lifetime because they die sooner - while non-smokers tend to become old decrepit geezers who consumer huge amount of healthcare keeping them alive.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 28, 2008 9:30 AM
baldeagle, on top of that, smokers pay almost the entire NHS budget through taxes on tobacco and cigarettes, or at least the vast majority of it.
Posted by: Archonix at January 28, 2008 9:55 AM
Good thing Winston Churchill is dead, because if he wasn't they would kick him out of the healthcare system.
Posted by: Kim at January 28, 2008 5:12 PM
It is about to get much worse by the looks of it
Check out www.stopunum.com
Posted by: StopUnumSupport at January 28, 2008 5:19 PM
hmmm...I wonder if homosexual activity is included with the smokers the drinkers and the obese if they wanted to exclude people who are engaging in risky behavior, perhaps they'll include people who play football or any sports or perhaps the person who goes on a vacation skiing (and breaks a leg or an arm) because they might risk unnecessary injury.
Posted by: Ludwig Van Beethoven at January 28, 2008 7:56 PM
Hillary does not want you to read this.
All my friends in the UK are trying to get here. No joke. Kids and all.
And no, I don't mean Canada. US.
Granted, many of them are Military associates, and thus for are a bit more on the conservative side of the equasion. They see the doom of the UK as very near.
Posted by: Oiao at January 28, 2008 11:39 PM
