Why We Must Ration Health Caregraphics8.nytimes...
Why We Must Ration Health Care
Made popular 1408 days ago in Society & Religion
nytimes.com — You have advanced kidney cancer. It will kill you, probably in the next year or two. A drug called Sutent slows the spread of the cancer and may give you an extra six months, but at a cost of $54,000. Is a few more months worth that much?

If you can afford it, you probably would pay that much, or more, to live longer, even if your quality of life wasn't going to be good. But suppose it's not you with the cancer but a stranger covered by your health-insurance fund. If the insurer provides this man - and everyone else like him - with Sutent, your premiums will increase. Do you still think the drug is a good value? Suppose the treatment cost a million dollars. Would it be worth it then? Ten million? Is there any limit to how much you would want your insurer to pay for a drug that adds six months to someone's life? If there is any point at which you say, "No, an extra six months isn't worth that much," then you think that health care should be rationed.

In the current U.S. debate over health care reform, 'rationing' has become a dirty word.

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Posted by Bigger
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Should Health Care be rationed?
Yes, cost / benefit analysis
32%
No, at any cost to preserve life as long as possible
68%
This is not a scientific survey, click here to learn more. Results may not total 100% due to rounding and voting descrepencies.
User Comments
focus
Posted 1408 days ago
0 up votes, 0 down votes
It will be rationed if Obama gets what he wants.
LiberalSC
Posted 1408 days ago
0 up votes, 0 down votes
It is already rationed. If you can afford health care, you get it. If you can't, you don't.
james2044
Posted 1408 days ago
0 up votes, 0 down votes
The insurance companies are attacked for talking about what the democrats are planning to do. Medicare is being cut to fund National Health Care. Rationed Health Care will be here the day the democrats vote it in.
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