Let Rationing begin

"Death panels"

No Country for old . . .people A few years ago Richard Lamm (D), then the Governor of Colorado, suggested that the old have a duty to die and leave our resources to the young. Well his wish may come true.

Health care loophole would allow coverage limits

WASHINGTON – A loophole in the Senate health care bill would let insurers place annual dollar limits on medical care for people struggling with costly illnesses such as cancer, prompting a rebuke from patient advocates.

The legislation that originally passed the Senate health committee last summer would have banned such limits, but a tweak to that provision weakened it in the bill now moving toward a Senate vote.

As currently written, the Senate Democratic health care bill would permit insurance companies to place annual limits on the dollar value of medical care, as long as those limits are not "unreasonable." The bill does not define what level of limits would be allowable, delegating that task to administration officials.

Adding to the puzzle, the new language was quietly tucked away in a clause in the bill still captioned "No lifetime or annual limits."

The 2,074-page bill would carry out President Barack Obama's plan to revamp the health care system, expanding coverage to millions now uninsured and trying to slow budget-busting cost increases. A tentative deal among Senate Democrats to back away from creating a new government program to compete with private insurers appears to have overcome a major obstacle to the bill's passage.

Officials of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network said they were taken by surprise when the earlier ban on annual coverage limits was undercut, adding that they have not been able to get a satisfactory explanation.

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I hate the men who would prolong their lives
By foods and drinks and charms of magic art
Perverting nature's course to keep off death
They ought, when they no longer serve the land
To quit this life, and clear the way for youth.
-Euripides 500 B.C.

(CNN) -- It's been a confusing week for women.

On Monday, it started with breast cancer.

A federal advisory board made a controversial recommendation that women begin routine mammograms at age 50, rather than at 40. The United States Preventive Services Task Force came under heavy criticism for its position and triggered confusion and political accusations of health care rationing.

Then, the week ended with cervical cancer.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued guidelines advising that women should receive their first cervical cancer screening, or Pap test, at the age of 21.

The group, a nonprofit organization of women's health care physicians, also recommended that patients younger than 30 be screened every two years, instead of annually, and that healthy women 30 or older be given a Pap test once every three years.

This recommendation has been far less controversial, receiving broader support from the medical community and patient advocates.

Screening for cervical cancer, compared with breast cancer, is a completely different issue, several medical experts said.

"There's no link between us and the [task force] recommendations," said Greg Phillips, a spokesman for the ob/gyn group. "And it's a different animal. Cervical cancer is very slow-growing versus some breast cancers."

Phillips described the timing of the two guidelines by the two unrelated entities as "pure unfortunate coincidence." His group's review of the data on Pap tests and cervical cancer "has been in the works since fall 2007," he said.

Kliphnote: All this to save money, so more people can have health care. Many that may not be American citizens. And many that don't or have never worked.

I believe in health care for all Americans, and no rationing for anyone.

PS. I'm still waiting for my tax cut.