Scaring Seniors

his/her brain. No rationing means no rationing. No pre-existing conditions means less stress for certain individuals interested in insurance.

Counseling for seniors at least 65 years of age have been offered for many years, meaningfully if the individual has any of a large number of terminal illnesses, of a kind that might involve living wills, for instance.

We may note that terminal illnesses are not necessarily those that mean death two days from now. For example, MS has no cure. A reasonable person (or a relative) might like to know a medical professional's view of the future and what mitigating options were available.

As Cyclist said in his post, rationing is inevitable when finite resources meet infinite demand. There is no way around this. The supporters of the bill can claim all they want to that there won't be rationing. They can put language in the bill in big bold letters stating that there can never be rationing, but the simple fact is that when a doctor can only serve x people in a given year and there are x+1 people who need the service, rationing in some form will necessarily result.

Perhaps the rationing will be economic. Only those who can pay will get the service.

Perhaps it will be by waiting list. You don't get service until it is your turn even if it is too late by then.

Perhaps it will be by random draw. Everybody gets a number an whoever's number is pulled out of the big lottery ball spinning device gets the service.

Perhaps it will be by rationing of quality. Sure everyone will get the service, but it may be provided by a Doctor with limited skill, training, or intelligence.

There are many forms rationing can take, but it is inevitable.

The question isn't whether there will be rationing, it is what type of rationing will we get.