I told you that socialized medicine leads to rationing

Here is your link to how great socialized medicine worked out in England.

From the article:

Some of the most common operations — including hip replacements and cataract surgery — will be rationed as part of attempts to save billions of pounds, despite government promises that front-line services would be protected.

This isn't a surprise to anyone with a brain. The thing I'm most interested in reading more about is how they will determine who gets the rationed services.

That is actually pretty easy to figure out: Preferred people will get the rationed services. The very rich, families of high government officials, pop culture icons who support the party in power. In England the moslems will probably be preferred people just because the government wouldn't want to deal with riots if they weren't.

I can guess who the preferred people will be, but I'd like to see if the government has the guts to put that information out in black and white.

Here are some of the restrictions:

* Restrictions on some of the most basic and common operations, including hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery and orthodontic procedures.

* Plans to cut hundreds of thousands of pounds from budgets for the terminally ill, with dying cancer patients to be told to manage their own symptoms if their condition worsens at evenings or weekends.

* The closure of nursing homes for the elderly.

* A reduction in acute hospital beds, including those for the mentally ill, with targets to discourage GPs from sending patients to hospitals and reduce the number of people using accident and emergency departments.

* Tighter rationing of NHS funding for IVF treatment, and for surgery for obesity.

* Thousands of job losses at NHS hospitals, including 500 staff to go at a trust where cancer patients recently suffered delays in diagnosis and treatment because of staff shortages.

* Cost-cutting programmes in paediatric and maternity services, care of the elderly and services that provide respite breaks to long-term carers.

Again, no surprises, but it is nice to have things I've been saying (I among others) confirmed.

Socialized medicine leads to the government having more power. In this case they have the power to decide who gets what kind of health care.

I suspect that there is no private health insurance business in England to take up the slack even if anyone had the money to spend on it after they pay all the socialized medicine taxes. In fact, it may be illegal to have a private health insurance business in England.

All I have to add is that we will face this same thing in the United States of America very soon.

I will go out on a limb by suggesting that preferred people will include members of the SEIU, the New Black Panthers, outspoken homosexuals, the very rich, and families of government officials.

We are in for rough times. Get a physical and try to get any health issues you have taken care of as soon as possible. That is good advice any time but especially now. Another thing you can do is accept the fact that the older people in your life will probably have their health care rationed.

You wanted socialized medicine. Pretty soon you are probably going to have more of it than you really want.