If you aren’t paying attention, perhaps now you will. For decades organizations such as the American Cancer Society have recommended early baseline mammography for women starting at age 40. In addition for decades feminists have advocated that women learn more about their bodies; encouraging women to learn breast self-exam techniques.
Any woman my age should remember the early book “Our Bodies, Ourselves,” which was the first comprehensive book which advocated women learning about their bodies. These groups (Feminists) and organizations (such as The American Cancer Society) care about the well-being of the woman, unlike the US Preventative Services Task Force.
The focus of this governmental agency centers on using a cost analysis, weighing treatment or procedure cost against benefit and outcome. Welcome to rationing, the government decides who can get which procedures and whether these procedures and treatments are cost effective.
Recently released new standards recommended by the government and IF government health care passes will become mandatory. These new standards advocated by the government are mammograms are not needed until age 50. Instead of yearly mammograms, which can detect early signs of breast cancer, now become bi-annually. Sure the cancer may have spread in this two year time period but think of the cost savings (sarcasm.)
Included in the new standards are recommendations that self-exam no longer be taught to women. Now you may be wondering, this doesn’t cost the government anything so why this change in policy? The government believes that should a woman find a suspicious growth and it turns out to be nothing after consulting with their family physician, the woman will experience needless worry so why perform self-exams. Sometimes you just can’t make this stuff up.. that is their reasoning.
If you are over the age of 70, mammograms are no longer necessary. So what that early detection can lead to positive results in treatment. Using the cost analysis which is a focal point of the government run health care, your life isn’t worth anything at this point, so just take the painkiller.
And who provides the “evidence” that a procedure or test isn’t going to help? The Preventative Services Task Force, in conjunction with the Comparative Effectiveness Research Committee will be the the ones to determine whether you take a painkiller or get the mammogram at age 40.
Make no mistake this is the rationing which “Tea Partiers” were ridiculed and called fear mongers over throughout the summer. Oh yea, the admin denies but we are seeing the future, getting a glimpses in to how government run health care doesn’t work. works. Well, they LIE.
Now some with health care insurance may be thinking they will be safe, their current policy covers mammograms and other wellness procedures; but IF this bill passes their plans will drop this coverage, since they will only be held to the coverage mandated by the federal government.
This is a scary scenario, if your eyes were not previously open, perhaps now they are. Rationing comes in many forms, this is only one example of how health care as we know it will taken from our hands and passed to a bureaucratic nightmare which sadly some of us may not live through. How old are you.. how much is your life worth to the government… are you willing to trust some pencil pusher bureaucrat in decisions of whether you receive treatment or tests? And lets not forget the 37 or 46 million (depending on the day of the week and which numbers the White House wants to use) of uninsured which they claim will be covered, doctors will be overwhelmed… that is IF they continue to practice, how can you conceive that rationing will not happen? Heck, we may as add in the 17 million illegal immigrants the admin will seek to give amnesty to next year. Rationing will happen on a grand scale… think not getting a mammogram at 40 is bad, just wait.
Can anyone name me one program that the government runs well? A program that servers the people it is designed to serve, within budget and without fraud ?
Write your Senators.. let them know that you see the writing on the wall and are not happy with what you see. The life you save, may be your own. I will be adding another letter that addresses the issue of rationing within the next day or so, as always feel free to any or parts of the above letters to send you Senators.
UPDATE:
A brief six months ago the government was warning that women were risking their life if they didn’t utilize early mammogram procedures. Now suddenly that warning was wrong? Human and Health Services Secretary Sebelius made a statement today that this group “does not determine what services are covered,” which is a blatant LIE. Under the legislation passed in the House and currently awaiting debate in the Senate, governmental groups like the Preventative Services Task Force are given elevated position in being the sole authority in designating which procedures are covered and which are not. There is a reason the United States leads the world in cancer survival rates because of the “vigorous and aggressive” testing that is done through early screening. Welcome to Obamacare where rationing and double talk are the norms.
