GUEST OPINION: JOSEPH WALKER

Obam.acare exaggerates need for reform,.

creates more problerns than it solves
Reforming our health Medicare or Medicaid Medicare costs by over aged are forced to pur-
care system is a top pri- eligible, but have elected $500 billion over 10 chase health insurance
ority of President Barack not to pursue enrollment years, probably cutting and forced to pay a high-
Obama: The rationale in those programs. funds for hip surgery, er rate than they would
for the "r~form"is to deal About 18 million unin- °cardiac treatments, can- otherwise in order to
with the "crisis" in health sured Americans who cer care and so forth. subsidize other risk
care. earn over $50,000 a year In Britain, the govern- groups.
Like the enormous choose not to buy health ment -run health system Anyone with cancer or
"stimulus" spending bill insurance primarily has a "NICE Board," chronic disease such as
(which nobody read), the because they are young, which has ruled against .heart or kidney disease,
Obama administration healthy and don't want the use of numerous may have to deal with
hopes to pass a trillion- the expense of health medications such as restrictions and denial of
dollar spending bill insurance. cancer treatments and care.
(unread) to reform Approximately lO-plus restricted access to drugs The elderly are consid-
health care. million non-legal inhab- for Alzheimer's and ered part of the "dispos-
The nonpartisan Con- itants would be covered many other conditions. able group" of individu-
gressional Budget Office under the Obama plan When the macular als who may not get dial-
has documented that the and paid for by taxpay- degeneration drug, ysis, hip replacement,
rosy projections by the ing Americans. Lucentis, was approved cancer treatment, or car-
Obama administration Cost containment and in the United States, the diac treatment.
for monetary savings denial of care is also a "NICE Board" in Britain Actually, there are no
with the health care bill concern. The bill skirts limited its use to 1 in 5 winners in this plan.
are totally wrong. the issue. It mandates eligible patients', with The currently proposed
The Obama adminis- "death with dignity" treatment only in one health care plan will
tration's portrayal of this counseling sessions for eye, letting the other eye eventually produce total
"universal health care" every "elderly" Ameri- go blind, because Lucen- government-run care,
bill as an urgent, neces- can, every five years. tis is "expensive." similar to Canadian and
sary process ignores Elderly is defined as any- Dr. Scott W. Atlas, at U.K.health care.
major problems. one 65 and older. Is this a the Hoover Institution at If you want to person-
One argument is that gimmick to substitute Stanford University, has ally pay for treatment,
46 million Americans are counseling for expensive studied mortality rates in you probably won't be
uninsured, creating a medical care, restricting countries with govern- allowed. This is implicit
"crisis." Estimates of access to dialysis, heart ment-run medicine, in the present Obama
those 46 million show surgery, or other proce- such as the proposed plan.
that 14 million are dures which might pro- Oqama plan. His studies Politics and the gov-
long their life, health and have shown that breast ernment bureaucrats
functional capability? cancer mortality rates in . will dictate your options
Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, Germany are 52 percent and your ability to get
brother of the president's higher than in the U.S. health care.
chief of staff, Rahm and 88 percent higher in If you are totally
Emanuel, holds two key the U.K.Also in the U.K., healthy and never get
positions in the adminis- colorectal cancer death sick, no worry, as long as
tration regarding health is 40 percent higher than you don't mind the
care. On multiple occa- in the U.S. mandatory cost imposed
sions he has advocated There is a marked on you.' Otherwise, the
restriction of treatment reduction in mammo- Obamacare mandatory
for those who are "non- grams, pap smears, PSA plan is not what you
productive" or "dis- evaluations, and colono- want.
abled"; in other words, scopies in those coun-
.those who' are impaired tries. - Dr. Joseph P. Walker of
or elderly (translation: Losers in Obama Care Fort Myers founded Retina
over 65). One Obama are apparent. Consultants of Southwest
goal is to reduce Young and middle- Florida in 1980.