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With Obamacare Patients Lose

Stanley Feld M.D.,FACP,MACE

President Obama, in his attempt to create a healthcare system that is more efficient, affordable and democratic does not attack the basic dysfunctions in the healthcare system.

Obamacare does nothing to disintermediate the healthcare insurance industry.

It does not provide incentives for consumers to be responsible for their health or their healthcare dollar.

 It creates another entitlement and increased consumer dependency on government rather than consumer independence.

 It does nothing to alleviate the practice of defensive medicine and the waste of $750 billion dollars for unnecessary tests that would be eliminated if effective Tort Reform were enacted.

President Obama and his advisors believe that defensive medicine accounts for only 2-3 billion dollars a year.

They conclude the cost is insignificant. They are ignoring reality proven by well-done studies. Their premise is incorrect. Ignoring the facts will continue the dysfunction in the healthcare system.

 I have stated repeatedly that I believe President Obama’s goal is complete government control of the healthcare system.

The rules in Obamacare will destroy the patient physician relationship and private healthcare.

The only system left will be the government’s Public Option through Health Insurance Exchanges. Everyone will be on Medicare or Medicaid.

Both Medicare and Medicaid are presently unsustainable. Expanding both will accelerate the demise of both Medicare and Medicaid. 

The resulting socialized Medicine will be an unsustainable disaster as it has become in England and Canada.

The public knows Obamacare will fail. They also know we need to do something. The public needs to hear about a viable alternative.

With Obamacare premiums will increase along with taxes. Access to care and rationing of treatment will occur.   

The path America is on is  “The Road To Serfdom” as described by Fredrick Hayak. Serfdom is occurring slowly but steadily. President Obama has told us in his own words how we will get there.

He sounds great because he is charming and seductive. His only problem is he is not truthful about his goal and its cost to society.

 

http://youtu.be/i2e-86eOIT0

Consumers will be the biggest losers.

The more than 250 million consumers who already have health insurance will see their healthcare insurance change, the cost increase, and the quality of care diminish.

 How will Americans feel when they hear about a brand new cure only to find out that their government’s controlled insurance won’t cover it? The decisions to cover care will be made by a non-elected committee that sends its recommendation to another not elected committee who then sends it to a third committee to decide on whether the treatment is affordable or valid for the age of the patient.

“Patients will have to get used to less access to real health care solutions, fewer approvals for the very latest, personalized, genetic-based cancer treatment or surgical technology that could save your life.”

Who loses? The consumer.

The Doctor Patient Medical Association released survey of doctors showing that 90% believe that Obamacare is on the wrong track.

The same survey revealed that 83% of practicing physicians are contemplating quitting the practice of medicine.  

The physicians remaining in practice will see more patients per hour and have care of their patients dictated to them by the government bureaucrats. Obamacare will turn personalized patient care into commodity care.

There will be no patient physician relationship. There will be rationing of care and decreased access to care. Patient’s will not have freedom of choice for care or treatment.

 A recent article in Britain’s Daily Mail described the use of the “Liverpool Pathway.  A British Professor claims the NHS kills off 130,000 elderly patients every year using the Liverpool Pathway.

The Liverpool Pathway is a set of rules that decide who should receive treatment and who should not receive treatment.

Professor Pullicino claimed that far too often elderly patients who could live longer are placed on the LCP and it had now become an ‘assisted death pathway rather than a care pathway.”

 Under Obamacare physicians will bear the brunt of explaining how come ever rising premiums are buying you fewer and fewer benefits.

 Consumers who can afford to pay physicians directly will not receive a tax break unless their medical care expenses are more than 10% of their gross income.

 The popular Health Savings Accounts will perish because of the barriers against them as written into the healthcare law.

 The Healthcare System’s savior “My Ideal Medical Savings Accounts” will vanish from consideration.

Obamacare also restricts physicians’ clinical judgment.  Sometimes physicians will sense a patient is really sick with a serious disease. An example is a disease called a fever of unknown origin. Many tests would have to be performed to make the diagnosis. The sooner the diagnosis is made the better the chance for patients to survive.

Physicians might fear the Independent Medicare Advisory Board would deny the workup and penalize the physician. It could be that the Independent Medicare Advisory Board members and the other committees did not factor in the difficulties in the diagnosis.

In time the diagnosis would become obvious but it might be too late to save the patients life.

We have already seen healthcare premiums soar under Obamacare. I have shown that Medicare premiums are schedule to escalate in 2014. Medicare and Medicaid is healthcare insurance.

Healthcare insurance will be less affordable not more affordable even though government subsides will be greater.  The budget deficit will grow increase.     

Access to care will decrease because of the increased number of patients. Physicians will have less time to spend with patients. A growing number of patients will have increased difficulty finding a physician.

There is a current physician shortage. The physician shortage will become compounded when some physicians stop practicing medicine. Other physicians will either restrict the healthcare insurance plans they accept or stop accepting healthcare insurance completely.

The delivery of healthcare is getting worse and more expensive not better and less expensive.

Obamacare is creating an escalating mess.

Patients are going to be the biggest losers on every level of interaction with the President Obama’s Healthcare Reform Act.

The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” are, mine and mine alone

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    Thanks for all your efforts explaining all that is soooo wrong with Obama and his ilk. I find you informative and entertaining please keep up the great work.

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