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"they don't have the power to ... execute you"
US govt hires for-profit killers to execute "enemies".
Stop paying taxes and go to federal prison for the rest of your life?
While I dislike big corporations, they don't have the power to imprison or execute you. Yet.
"they don't have the power to ... execute you"
US govt hires for-profit killers to execute "enemies".
Because the two principal ways of paying for medical care are more concerned with simply getting a bill paid, and moving on, than in actually making sure that the treatment being received is necessary and "affordable". Because the patient is NOT responsible for the bill; a third party, with deep pockets is; because we have put doctors on a pedestal in this country that somehow affords them demigod status; and what they get paid, is what they deserve; but MOST importantly, and by far the most expensive piece of our health care puzzle is what occurs during the final weeks/months of a person's life. THEN, in a desperate attempt to save a loved one's (or oneself's) life, we order EVERYTHING to be done to POSSIBLY, if not save, at least extend that life. That stuff is VERY expensive, and except for the most experimental, is covered by both insurance companies, and Medicare. Chemo, radiation, organ transplants - every type of surgery in the book; expensive drugs - expensive devices, and expensive docs - so expensive, that the majority of most people's health care expenses occur in the last 6 months of life.
Now, the individual that is having these "heroic" measures performed on them seldom benefits, but, ultimately, society does. Each person becomes a guinea pig of sorts, for what works, and what doesn't - so, ultimately, advances are made, and lives are extended. THAT data is then published, and spread worldwide -to help everyone.
There is no doubt in my mind that Obama gets this; though end of life counseling is certainly NOT a death panel; it could save gazillions of dollars if people could internalize EXACTLY how little chance they had of surviving whatever is was that was about to kill them, and that the stuff different people wanted to do to (for) them was going to make was little time they had left that much more miserable. If people would take that, and believe it, and choose NOT to do some of that stuff, we would all save money. Hoever, I know from (quite a bit) of experience, that even with that type of counseling; that basic instinct to survive is a VERY strong one, and, given a choice, most people want everything possible done, no matter how long the odds.
The correct question is why should that be a goal to be accomplished in a free society.
Why? I think one can live longer without a doctor than without food.
Again, what you're saying about health care was said about food for centuries: very scarce resource with high demand (and therefore with a high price).
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