My two-cents worth on “health care”

I’ve had a lot of experience recently in the realm of health care USA-style. In July I was diagnosed with lung cancer, scheduled for surgery and within 72 hours had a successful lobectomy. In most countries of this world such a procedure is not an option and in the socialist and communist countries (where we’ve served the Lord as missionaries for the past 48 years) it would have been unavailable to me because of my age. Period.

The August 2009 edition of Whistleblower magazine featured an in-depth report on the proposed Obamacare program entitled: “Medical Murder.” If you were born in the 18-year window between 1946 and 1964 you’re a Baby Boomer and you have 80 million peers. Big Brother has decided that because your generation will overwhelm the Medicare system by the time you reach retirement, you have been selected as a target group for age-based medical rationing. Richard Lamm, former governor of Colorado said, “The elderly have a duty to die.” It’s unavoidable – there are simply not enough doctors, nurses and hospitals to meet the coming tsunami of demand.

Politicians ignore this reality. It sounds very humanitarian to extend “health care” to cover an additional 47 million Americas currently uninsured (an exaggerated and widely disputed figure). The technical proficiency and professional standards of our current medical system make it the envy of the world. Dilution is not the solution. Rationing care is not rational. Rather than pander to political ambitions by extending coverage to those who, at their present age, do not need it (and to others who have not sought it) let us aggressively pursue Tort Reform. Frivolous litigation is largely responsible for most of the increased cost of health care over the past 30 years. Many doctors and medical professionals have quit their practice due to skyrocketing costs of mal-practice insurance.

“Medical murder” sounds unthinkable to American ears. I know personally of its practice in the communist countries we worked in during the Cold War. A dear pastor friend of mine in Czechoslovakia was called to a clinic one morning for a routine medical checkup. By 2 P.M. he was dead. A voice that had faithfully sounded the Gospel in the midst of an atheistic culture was finally silenced. His end justified their means.

It could happen here. The Scripture says, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap.” Thirty-six years ago, when the Supreme Court passed Roe v Wade legalizing the murder of unborn children, I wrote these words: “I am convinced, the generation that [in their youth] introduced abortion on demand will be the first generation [in their senior years] to face mandatory euthanasia. The clock is ticking.” We’re almost there.

But what do I know; I’m just an octogenarian with half a heart, a semi-colon and three-quarters of a lung – but I’ve got enough common sense left to know that Obamacare is not the answer.

Bill Bathman, 8 Sept 09 – Mesa, Arizona

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