The End of the Doctor-Patient Relationship
If food were free, would we all be eating steak? Certainly not in the past or today’s America, and likely not in the future. As alluring as the pipe dream of “utopia” may be, the human brain is simply not wired to accept passive compliance with mediocrity. Hypothetically, if all beef on earth were ground into hamburger, you can bet your bottom dollar that somewhere, somehow, someone would have figured out a way to take an entire tenderloin, eat part of it himself and sell the rest.
That scenario has now been fulfilled in our country. The ruling class of arrogant oligarchs today, having circumvented the Constitution and ignored the rule of law, routinely keep the tenderloin for themselves, while the provider class, struggling to buy low grade hamburger to feed their families, are forced to feed the the recipient class as well. This is precisely why collectivist societies inevitably evolve into tyrannies – the elite can only protect their perks by the use of force.
As Obamacare continues its piecemeal course toward full enactment, the emerging picture appears to be exactly what one should expect from the lessons of history. The elite and those in their productive years (approximately 18 to 55) will get the fillet, while the rest of us are getting only ground beef.
Obamacare is not about food, but the analogy is the same. While I can stay alive whether I eat fillet or ground beef, the ability to have access to one’s choice of expert medical care is necessary to survive. Those of us on the wrong end of the medical care spectrum can expect limited availability of lower quality care, arbitrary rationing, outright denial of treatment and premature death, delivered by nameless, faceless bureaucrats, who themselves are allowed access to the best care and coverage. To get a glimpse of government-run healthcare at its worst, we need look no further than VA Hospitals, where we now find secret waiting lists, unconscionable delays in medical appointments and treatment, and veterans who died or were seriously injured because of delays.
In a speech at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in Washington, D.C., Nobel Prize winning “economist” Paul Krugman made the following statement:
Eventually we do have a problem. That the population is getting older, health care costs are rising . . . tere is this question of how we’re going to pay for the programs. The year 2025, the year 2030, something is going to have to give . . . We’re going to need more revenue . . . Surely it will require some sort of middle class taxes as well. We won’t be able to pay for the kind of government the society will want without some increase in taxes . . . on the middle class, maybe a value added tax . . . And we’re also going to have to make decisions about health care, doc pay for health care that has no demonstrated medical benefits.
So the snarky version, which I shouldn’t even say because it will get me in trouble, is death panels and sales taxes is how we do this.
Physicians, like myself, who swore to uphold the Hippocratic Oath, now find that Obamacare places us in direct opposition with our duty to serve the needs of our patients above all else. Wrestling with this moral and ethical dilemma, physicians have only two choices . . . continue to provide quality, compassionate care based on our Hippocratic ideals and the best interests and health outcomes of our patients, or concede to the immoral agenda of a tyrannical government.
Obamacare mandates a centralized collection of personal and medical data on each person through electronic medical records. This is the next logical step for a tyrannical central government that already spies on its citizens and, on the whim of the executive branch, can rescind habeas corpus for anyone deemed a threat. The protections afforded us by the Fourth Amendment have been discarded by a government whose goal is to control every aspect of human life. Forfeit of those protections against our will should concern and anger every American.
With government in control of all medical decisions based on government criteria, physicians will soon become nothing more than data collectors for the national data bank. The Independent Payment Advisory Board will analyze every patient’s medical and personal records, and non-physician bureaucrats will make determinations about what care will be made available to a particular patient . . . or not . . . and ultimately, who lives and who dies. Under Obamacare, not only can you not keep your doctor and your insurance plan, but you will also lose the ability to decide where and from whom you receive care.
The argument that some doctors are against Obamacare solely to protect their income is largely false, as physician’s income is based on extensive education, training, experience, personal responsibility, skill, and complex, difficult decision making on an individual basis with each patient.
Freedom Forum Radio now presents for you a series of interviews with physicians from around the country discussing Obamacare, how it has affected their ability to practice medicine, and the changes this law has made to the doctor-patient relationship.
Dr. Dan’s first guest on this topic on Freedom Forum Radio is Jane Hughes, M.D. Dr. Hughes is an ophthalmologist practicing in San Antonio, Texas, who is involved in almost any organization that will help us save our private health care system. She is the Co-Founder of American Doctors 4 Truth , Co-Founder and President of the Texas Chapter of Docs 4 Patient Care, and a member of AAPS and Doc Squads.
In addition, Dr. Hughes was featured in the American Doctors 4 Truth television advertisement, The Whole Truth, created to counter the Democrat ad showing Paul Ryan throwing Granny over the Cliff.
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