Seniors on Medicare: Did You Vote For This? The Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness

I hate duplicity and being handled by the people in Washington who are elected to serve us. Bloomberg News reported on February 9 that buried in the stimulus package is something that has nothing to do with stimulus in any way, shape or form. It contains a devastating health care provision called the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research. It is an idea that has been proposed by the now disgraced, former nominee for Health and Human Services, Tom Daschle.

One of the reasons Tom Daschle received the appointment for HHS is that he fancied himself to be an expert on health care, and has written extensively about it. His disturbing views are well known by health care protection hawks. One of his controversial proposals involves a different standard to measure what is acceptable medical procedure. The current test for approval of a Medicare covered procedure or treatment is whether it is “safe and effective.” Mr. Daschle wanted to add another criterion: “safe, effective, and cost effective.” And the Democratic minions in the House concurred, and included it in the stimulus package.

The stimulus package now contains provisions for the electronic monitoring of health care administered to every person in the United States. The excuse for this provision is that it will provide instant access to your health information anywhere you go, and any time you need it. But it also contains one more provision. It provides funding for the Federal Coordinating Council on Cost Effectiveness to make sure that your doctor is treating you in a way that the Federal government deems to be proper and cost effective. The goal is reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions.

If the doctors do not avail themselves of this “service” in a “meaningful way”, they will face penalties, including “stringent measures” to be implemented by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Folks, this is in the stimulus package. It is scary.

The language is kept intentionally vague, with implementation left to the governing agency. But Daschle clearly described how this system should work in his writings. He states that the goal of this new government bureaucracy is to slow the development of new medications and treatments for various diseases because it is driving up the cost of health care. He complains that Americans expect too much from our health care system, and that seniors in particular, need to understand the ravages of old age, and accept the inevitable. I am not making this up.

How will cost effective treatment be determined? The government will use a formula. Divide the cost of the treatment by the number of years the patient can expect to benefit from it. If it is above a certain level, the treatment will be denied.

While the reporting requirements apply to everyone, the immediate “pain” will be felt by those who are on Medicare who would be directly subject to this new way of thinking.

Hiding these kinds of provisions in a 600 page stimulus package is reprehensible, and portends a scary future for all of us. Is this the hope and change you voted for? Hopefully, by the time you read this, it will have been removed from the bill, but don’t bet the rent. UPDATE: IT'S IN THERE!!!!!