Death Panels and Obamacare
Prior to the passage of what is commonly called Obamacare, there were people who knew their history, who were warning of death panels. People who knew that there would have to be limitations and curtailment of services, if there was to be a one party payer system. Since people were not actually allowed to read the bill before it was passed into law, the claims of death panels were dismissed by many. The term was taken to mean an extreme, fringe conspiracy concept, coming from fringe conspiracy theorists.
The death panels will actually be simple standard protocols on the front lines. Healthcare providers will not need to seek the determination of a board of people dedicated to the task of metering out services. The Board has provided a point system for healthcare providers to rate their patients by asking generalized statistical questions.
Points are awarded in various categories. If you are outside of that covered area, you will be sent home with some advice, maybe some treatment, but not called back for the expensive tests that could better target the proper treatment for your particular situation and you will never even know. If you fall into the bell curve of expedience, you will receive the required tests and procedures that, according to some statistical data, will be appropriate. Appropriate for whom, you ask? Appropriate for the general healthcare fund to pay for. There will be some room for subjective commentary. Such things as the will to live, the level of family support that would lead one to believe you can beat the disease and the understanding of process and progress. All things considered, I think this will frustrate smart doctors, who would like to think outside of the confines of the strict parameters that appear to be in some regulations.
Fewer people will provide care. Fewer people will be able to pay for care. Fewer people will receive care. There will be fewer people. I know of at least one doctor who has left the practice after carefully examining Obamacare.
It stands to reason that in the 20,ooo plus pages of regulations that have come to be since the law
passed, the many lawyers needed just to confirm compliance for companies has already caused some companies to lay off workers. The exorbitant price of compliance requires reallocation of funds. In order to stay in business, companies have to make sure they can compensate for the regulatory compliance costs they will incur.
There are many new taxes that accompany the law as well. The new taxes may have put some companies out of business already. A very important part of running a business is projecting costs. When small businesses look ahead at the new taxes with the help of their lawyers and accountants there are some significant considerations to be made. Businesses are working people too. The goal is to make a profit. This is a good thing; providing a beneficial service or goods to willing consumers is mutually beneficial. If they cannot make a profit, then business is doomed. The consumer then has to find another source of that service or of those goods.
The decline in business profit, in turn, reduces the amount of transactions available. Those transactions are the very life blood of any economy. Fewer mutually beneficial transactions deplete the general economy. The fall of the nation is not too far behind. The reduction in the actual population and the reduction of mutually beneficial transactions will be death to the USA.