It's really creepy when you write about something and then read where it may be implemented somewhere else.
Just yesterday, I posted on John Edwards' proposed mandatory preventive care component to universal health care. I asked how one would enforce mandatory preventive care? Would there be health care police to enforce the law? Dana had a similar post (great minds think alike!).
Now comes this story about proposals in Great Britain to not care for persons with unhealthy lifestyles.
Patients who refuse to change their unhealthy lifestyles should not be treated by the NHS, the Conservatives said today.
In a bid to ease spiralling levels of obesity and other health concerns, a Tory panel said certain treatments should be denied to patients who refuse to co-operate with health professionals and live healthier lifestyles.
And those who do manage to improve their general health by losing weight and quitting smoking, for example, would receive "Health Miles" cards.
Points earned could then be used to pay for health-related products such as gym membership and fresh vegetables.
The aim is a shift in the NHS towards preventing disease and ill-health rather than having to treat it.
The proposal was one of a raft of measures suggested in a review of public services, ordered by David Cameron.
The 200-page study, entitled Restoring Pride in Our Public Services, was carried out by the Conservative public services improvement policy group's review co-chaired by former health secretary Stephen Dorrell and leading educationalist Baroness Perry.
"It is inconsistent with the concept of the responsible citizen to imagine that it is realistic for citizens, having paid their taxes, to expect that the state will underwrite the health implications of any lifestyle decision they choose to make," the report states.
Why is it inconsistent? Don't fat people pay taxes, too? Or is this just another way of society supporting certain behaviors and punishing others? I'm all for people getting fit and not eating so much junk, but what does it say about your health care system when you stop treating patients?
The truth is that this is exactly what will happen under nationalized health care in this country, as well. I've written before about the rationing of health care (including dental care) in Great Britain, Canada, and other countries with socialized medicine. There's simply no way to control costs without determining that some are more worthy of living than others. That's not something we want to think about very much, but when the government starts paying for your health care, they get to decide which doctor you see, which hospital you go to, what prescription medications you can have, and which procedures you get. Going after the fat people or the smokers today may not bother you, but at some point, everybody will discover the limits of socialized medicine.
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