Political Quotes

“last Wednesday marked the 1-year anniversary of the deeply flawed health care bill. The worst aspect of that bill is that it will lead to health care rationing by the Federal Government. That is the delay and denial of care in order to control costs. The words ``ration,'' ``withhold coverage'' and ``delay access to care'' of course are not found anywhere in the bill. But new Federal rules that aim to reduce health care costs will inevitably result in delayed or denied tests, treatments, and procedures deemed too expensive and in less innovation in the development of drugs, devices, and treatments. Many of the decisions will be based on information provided by a new entity called the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, sometimes referred to as the PCORI. That will conduct comparative effectiveness research. Comparative effectiveness research weighs the effectiveness of two or more health care services or treatments. The goal is to provide patients and doctors with better information regarding the risks and benefits of, for example, a drug versus a surgery for a particular situation. The problem is not with the merits of the research but whether the research should be used by the government to determine treatments and services covered by one's insurance. The health care law actually empowers the Secretary of Health and Human Services to do just that, to use this comparative effectiveness research when making coverage determinations.…”