From Newt Gingrich: “President Obama said something at his White House healthcare event last week that offers a disturbing hint of our future under his vision of health reform. He suggested one way to save costs is not to spend on procedures that “evidence shows [are] not necessarily going to improve care” for the sick and the dying. “Maybe you’re better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller,” the President said. Maybe. But the question is, who decides? Who decides if those extra dollars will or will not be spent on your care or the care of someone you love? Under the plan advocated by President Obama and his allies, that someone will be a government bureaucrat. And even if that bureaucrat has the best of intentions, and even if he does his job well – especially if he does his job well – his main concern won’t be you or your loved one. His only concern, if he’s doing his job right, will be for the government’s bottom line. It’s his choice, not yours. Surgery costs too much. Make do with the painkiller.”
But, wait! you say … we still have the option of keeping our private health insurance if we want it, right?
“The private insurance market [will] gradually disappear. And if you think this is an irrational fear, listen to Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a supporter of the public option. Rep. Schakowsky proudly says that private insurers “have every reason to be frightened” by a government plan, because it is a “strategy for getting [to a single-payer system], and I believe we will.”
The President and the democrats seem to have made their choice – the question is, though, if you’ll be able to make a choice when the time comes or if it will be made for you.