Tories Promise to Give People Drugs they are Now Denied
As Obama seeks to limit medical care to care that is approved by comparative effectiveness research, the Brits are about to move in the opposite direction:
Last month, research found that up to 20,000 lives may have been shortened by decisions taken by the drugs rationing body, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence [NICE], in the past year.
Drugs which could be freely provided under the Tories’ policy include bevaxizumab for cancer of the kidney and bowel, which costs about £22,000 per course of treatment, and can extend life by up to two years, as well as lapatinib for advanced breast disease, which could extend the survival of 2,000 women with advanced breast cancer, at a cost of £19,000 per treatment.
Public health advocates generally want health care to be free at the point of service. However, they are loath to admit that when health care is free, rationing has to take another form. In Britain, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) makes rationing decisions about which treatments are cost-effective and whether resources should be spent to extend the lives of dying cancer patients.
In addition, politicians also have the incentive to direct scarce resources to where they will generate more votes (easy access to primary care) rather than on the very sick few in need of costly medical treatment.
Rationing health care requires someone (presumably the Government) to make decisions about who gets it and who doesn’t. The obvious place to start is: (1) Everyone who supported Obamacare gets free health care. (2) Everyone who opposed Obamacare gets to pay for it.
I don’t understand why the Brits aren’t more upset about their health care system.
It’s one thing if you don’t know that your health care is being rationed (for instance, before the days of internet research). It’s another if you can see that people with the same disease tend to live longer in places like the US where you (or your insurance) can buy expensive drugs.
To Juan O’Malley: You’ve already got your wish. The people who opposed Obamacare are generally the ones who will be paying to provide free coverage to Obamacare supporters.
To Bart: Sadly, I think you are right.
I can’t believe the Tories can ‘t win this upcoming election outright. How did they blow their lead.