What They Aren't Getting

I know the majority of people do not want Obamacare. I know that it's a bad idea for our country, and our individual health. But I think I need to clarify a point that I've heard people making regarding the "death panels". Even opponents of Obamacare say that the issue of death panels is really a non-issue, because they already exist in some form now. That assertion is correct - in our current system, health insurance companies look at situations and decide whether to cover treatments or not - so in certain instances, they could be making a life or death decision for someone. BUT, what no one seems to point out is that in the current system, if one's insurance company convenes a "death panel", they are only deciding whether to approve or deny payment for a procedure/treatment. They are not denying the patient access to the treatment altogether. They don't have the power to do that. If my insurance company said they wouldn't pay for something that I think I needed, I have the freedom in the current system to use my own money and go get the treatment on my own. Yes, I will have to pay for it, but if it really is important to me, then that's a choice I'll be willing to make.

Now fast forward to Obamacare death panels. Government run health care is just that - health care managed and run by the government - not just the payment side, but care in general. Under Obamacare, most private health care would be put out of business. In the fully-implemented plan, private health care practices would be illegal. So if you need a particular treatment, and a death panel is convened and they decide against it, you have no other recourse. To use your own money and seek treatment on your own would be illegal. The Obamacare death panels are not deciding whether or not to pay for something, but rather whether you will receive the treatment at all.

That should concern everyone. There may already be "death panels", but they do not do the same thing as they would under Obamacare at all. So please point that out to anyone who brings this up.