Today’s post on the scariness of Dr Berwick’s appointment to lead CMS brought an email response from my Dad. His words are at least a single voice from real-world people, and it seems possible that his opinion may be a representative one at that.
Dad is not a doctor, but he likes doctors.
Hi John,
I just read your blog and I am proud of you. It isn’t because you are so smart that I’m proud, it is because you have shown common sense in your writings. Gramps liked to ask the question “What can you get for free”? The answer was always nothing because nothing was for free. Gramps didn’t have a lot of formal education, but he read a lot and he had acquired wisdom from living as long as he had.
Dr Berwick has done a lot of good in his life, but he is a socialist and his words are frightening. He has actually said that a good healthcare system will necessarily include a redistribution of wealth. He believes we will ration care; the only question is will we do it with our eyes wide open. His job will be to squeeze the billions needed for ObamaCare out of Medicare and Medicaid. Doctors are already refusing seniors and the poor because they can’t afford to provide the care. They were smart to give him a recess appointment because he would not have been able to withstand the scrutiny of a confirmation hearing from both democrats and republicans.
Finally, it is okay to worry because the future is here. He is appointed and the Healthcare law that we know so little about has been passed and the bureaucrats are writing the regulations behind closed doors as we speak. Your Mom has had such good care these last few years from a cadre of doctors who have managed her significant ailments. I fear that in the eyes of some distant Washington bureaucrat that her life may not be worth the cost. I truly fear it. All the years at a health care company and the benefits I worked so hard to earn will go down the drain as this administration tosses all that aside to squeeze out the dollars they need to bring care to many of the less fortunate. I would cheer their providing subsidized care for those truly unable to get care if they didn’t do it on the backs of those of us who earned what we have.
Love,
Dad
JMM