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Effectiveness Research At Work
In recent decades the American Cancer Society had been recommending that women get mammograms annually after age 40, but a government task force has now said that women only need to get them after age 50, and then only every two years.
The new guidelines were issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which is a government panel of doctors, scientists, and medical experts along the lines of the comparative effectiveness board pushed by President Obama as a way to improve health care quality and contain costs. But the new mammogram advice is dividing doctors and triggering pushback from the American Cancer Society, and ultimately causing more confusion among women. This is just a sign of things to come if Democrats get their way and begin to issue more findings on a wider range of medical treatments. And it can only be made worse if future lawmakers decide to require government programs, or policies offered through the government-run exchange, to adopt the panel's recommendations. While the advice would be non-binding according to current legislation, many policy makers have argued for giving more power to such a board, including Obama's first choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Daschle.
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SoCon| 11.17.09 @ 3:53PM
Sounds like a "Death Panel" to me. Obama lies, women die.
Bob| 11.17.09 @ 4:09PM
Philip, I knew there would be an ideologue who would bring this issue to the forefront. First of all, this "government panel" has existed for decades and it does not contain politicians. These are primarily academics. Secondly, their findings (which you probably didn't read), simply states the cost/benefit of medical procedures. The relationship of this to effectiveness board is meaningless as the real issue is not with government, but with insurance companies (i.e., the private sector) who are now free to change what they reimburse. This effectiveness research had affected private insurance companies for decades.
Also, your logic is misguided. If you accept age 40 as the threshold, why not accept age 30. After all, there might be some women who take a mammogram at earlier ages where these things might be caught. Once you set an age threshold, you are rationing, whether that is 30, 40 or 50.
The study indicates that between the ages of 40-49, they will find cancer in one of 1900 women to take the test. There is significant false positives and many unneeded biopsies. Where do you draw the financial line?
Your point of view is NOT conservative, it is liberal. Under your slippery slope logic, you would argue that even if they found 1 person out of millions who had cancer, it should be done.
The conservative solution is to give people that information and let them buy insurance that either covers, or doesn't cover things like this. Let people take personal responsibility. Even with a government solutions, people would still be able to pay for this themselves.
The only reason you made this post was to be anti-Obama. I usually agree with your health debate posts, but this is plainly wrong headed.
SoCon| 11.17.09 @ 6:23PM
The only ideologue here is you, dumbass HuffPo Bob the 'RINO'.
CAROL| 11.17.09 @ 4:29PM
Where was this panel 20 years ago when guidelines were age 40 and/or breast cancer history? Why now? Awfully coincidental in relation to health reform bills. My friend just lost her 48 yr old daughter to breast cancer so guess I don't believe in the new age 50 guidelines!
Pete| 11.17.09 @ 4:36PM
Academics? You mean like the "Global Warming" scientists? Oh I see, all is well then.
The conservative point of view is that anyone should be able to purchase whatever healthcare service they wish for whatever reason they choose at the market price for the service. No government panel should interfere with that mechanism in any way, and no one else should have to pay for someone else's choice. You assume too much that you cannot know when you say: "Even with a government solutions, people would still be able to pay for this themselves." My guess would be that no doctor would want to provide that service (if they even decided to go through the time and cost involved to become a doctor just to have some government puke tell him how much he can make and how to practice) if the gubmint wouldn't compensate him fairly because of their panel's findings.
Bruce| 11.17.09 @ 5:48PM
If Obamacare had been in existence 15 years ago I would not be here to write this. I had an emergency triple bypass at age 49, with no history (family or otherwise) that would clue a "panel" as to a need. Had my personal plan not allowed quality care from my cardiologist I likely would not have been allowed to have this surgery. Last year I was treated prostate cancer at age 63. Again - Obamacare's panel would likely not have approved expensive but better IGRT radiological treatments even though my doctors concluded that was the best treatment for me at the time.
Forcing qualified experts and patients to accept less expensive and often less efficacious treatments just so Big Brother has the bucks to treat illegal aliens for free is ridiculous - not to mention what business a citizens health care is of the government in the first place.
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