Rationing Health Care Boards In America

The President is making the case that Nationalized Health Care of the type found in Europe is both cheaper and better than what we have in America. European countries such as England spend about 8% of there gross domestic product on health care while, covering every single resident. The eight percent of GDP figure is commonly cited and that is about half of what the United States spends. So How does England do it? The Wall Street Journal Reports this is the Board Of England founded 10 years ago as a body that would ensure that the government run National Health Care System used the best practices in medicine. But something different happened. What NICE has become is a rationing board. As Health Care costs have exploded in England as in most developed countries, NICE has become the heavy that reduces spending by limiting the treatments that 61 million citizens are allowed to receive through the National Health Services. The Journal article details a few examples of health care denied in England but most Americans get. There are real consequences: The "Concord Study" published in 2008 that the cancer survival rate in England are among the worst in Europe. Five-year survival rate among U.S. cancer patients are significantly higher than Europe : 84% vs. 73% for breast cancer, 92% vs. 57% for prostate cancer. While, there is more than one reason for this difference, surely one is medical innovation and the greater U.S. willingness to reimburse for it. One reason used by those who favor National Health Care is that sometimes insurance companies won't cover treatments people feel they should receive. A government rationing board, we will have in America if Obama's plans proceed it is likely to be more harsh.