Be careful what you ask for, especially from politicians!

So, anyone ever watch science fiction (Star Trek, Logan's Run, etc.) that talks about how the elderly are devalued by society and end up being put to death? No? Well, that's the idea our Congress is looking at now in providing universal health care. Don't believe me? This is a quote from Professor Stuart Altman of Brandeis University, speaking in the Senate Finance Committee hearings on health-care reform. He stated...

quote:
"Remember, our population is aging. And with the very, very elderly, the costs go down, so that percentage should be falling, and it’s not. Second, the cost of care is growing by so much, so at the same percentage, it’s worth a lot more. So let’s go back to the issue of comparative effectiveness, which we’re supporting. That’s where that can have a big impact. It’s not only there, but that’s where the waste is. That’s where people are using technologies that really either don’t work at all or keep people alive for for very limited [time] and [at] very high cost.

Hospice is one option, but we do need take account of the cost — you know, I hate to say it, the cost-benefit of some of the things we do. And either we can do it directly, or we can do it by bundling the payments and let the delivery system deal with it. So it’s a combination of the delivery system dealing with it, or, and/or providing more information for people to make the right decisions, both for themselves and for the care."

Don't quite understand what he's saying? Huh, it's quite simple. He's saying that we should be spending less money and resources on the elderly but instead we do the opposite and that we need to look at the cost benefit of this practice, which only leads to the conclusion that it isn't cost effectively to care for the sickest in society. Duh! Knew that, we do it because it is the right thing to do, not because it is cost beneficial. In other words, he's saying that people over an as yet undetermined age are simply too old to bother with saving. Making the right decisions for themselves means life and death decisions. You need dialysis but you can't get it because you are too old, or you need that transplant, but you are too old so a younger person will get bumped ahead of you on the list. This leaves the elderly with what options? Go into hospice care or go home and die or what? Are we moving to assisted suicide now? Is the Logan's Run scenario the next logical leap for these people (Progressives). If so, I want no part in it.