Comments on: Tories Promise to Give People Drugs they are Now Denied

By: Larry C.

Larry C. — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:09:10 +0000

I can’t believe the Tories can ‘t win this upcoming election outright. How did they blow their lead.

By: Juan O'Malley

Juan O'Malley — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:41:23 +0000

To Bart: Sadly, I think you are right.

By: Bart Ingles

Bart Ingles — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:36:02 +0000

To Juan O’Malley: You’ve already got your wish. The people who opposed Obamacare are generally the ones who will be paying to provide free coverage to Obamacare supporters.

By: Virginia

Virginia — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:33:51 +0000

I don’t understand why the Brits aren’t more upset about their health care system.

It’s one thing if you don’t know that your health care is being rationed (for instance, before the days of internet research). It’s another if you can see that people with the same disease tend to live longer in places like the US where you (or your insurance) can buy expensive drugs.

By: Juan O'Malley

Juan O'Malley — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:14:41 +0000

Rationing health care requires someone (presumably the Government) to make decisions about who gets it and who doesn’t. The obvious place to start is: (1) Everyone who supported Obamacare gets free health care. (2) Everyone who opposed Obamacare gets to pay for it.

By: Devon Herrick

Devon Herrick — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:00:54 +0000

Public health advocates generally want health care to be free at the point of service. However, they are loath to admit that when health care is free, rationing has to take another form. In Britain, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) makes rationing decisions about which treatments are cost-effective and whether resources should be spent to extend the lives of dying cancer patients.

In addition, politicians also have the incentive to direct scarce resources to where they will generate more votes (easy access to primary care) rather than on the very sick few in need of costly medical treatment.