Fear Not the Ration

From Economist:"

"In it Jon Kyl, a Republican senator from Arizona, sings the praises of comparative effectiveness research (CER) in health care, but then invokes the specter of "rationing" to dismiss it as a possible means of cost cutting. "Rationing" is a scary term that conjures up images of petrol and food shortages, and government-controlled distribution of goods during the second world war."

TW: Krugman and the Economist are spot on. Rationing is being used as a bloody shirt to oppose health care reform, it is a CANARD. Inherently health care must be subjected to some form of rationing otherwise you face infinite costs. Comparative effectiveness research is a promising means by which to ration care based upon scientific analysis of costs and benefits. The Republicans are waving the bloody shirt of "government imposed rationing" in opposing CER. As Krugman points out they would prefer the other form of rationing (limiting coverage).

But since our society has decided older folks (Medicare), vets (VA benefits) and folks who walk into emergency rooms ("free" if slow) will get care regardless of cost, opposing CER also pushes us towards "infinite cost". As we have posited previously health care is not like a new car waving the bloody shirt of "free markets and government interference" whilst providing no legitimate alternatives just pushes us further down the path of fiscal calamity.

From Paul Krugman at NYT:
"I know it’s a tough competition, but this just might be the most hypocritical thing I’ve seen in the past year:

On Monday, Sens. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Pat Roberts (R-KS) introduced the “Preserving Access to Targeted, Individualized, and Effective New Treatments and Services (PATIENTS) Act of 2009,” a new bill prohibiting Medicare or Medicaid from using “comparative effectiveness research to deny coverage.”

How bad is it? Let me count the ways.
1. Politicians who rail against wasteful government spending are taking action to prevent the government from reining in … wasteful spending.
2. Politicians who warn that the burden of entitlements is killing the federal budget are stepping in to block … the single most painless route to reducing the growth of entitlements.
3. They’re doing it in the name of avoiding “rationing of health care” … but they’re specifically addressing taxpayer-funded care. If you want to go out and buy a medically useless treatment, Medicare won’t stop you.
4. These same politicians are, of course, opposed to efforts to expand coverage. In other words, it’s evil for government to “ration care” by only paying for things that work; it is, however, perfectly OK, indeed virtuous, to ration care by refusing to pay for any care at all."