Be careful in asking for a ‘One Payer’ system like they have in the Canada or the UK. You never know what you have to give up to get it.
Even Forbes — hardly a strident right-wing voice — carried a recent column warning about the impact of single-payer health care. Here are some key ideas from the piece:
Of course, governments cannot overrule the laws of supply and demand. Declaring something free does not make it abundant. Quite the opposite. Single-payer systems create unlimited demand for finite goods and services. This causes massive backlogs and leaves patients stuck waiting for medical care.
Canadian patients face a median wait of close to seven months for treatment from a specialist following referral by a general practitioner, according to a study from the Fraser Institute. There’s wide variance by province. The median wait for specialist treatment after referral by a general practitioner in the province of Prince Edward Island is over a year—64.7 weeks. — Forbes
For all of its flaws (and every system has them) one of the very real differences between the American medical system and the Government-run systems in Canada and the UK is exemplified in Trump’s Right-To-Try legislation.
In our system, it doesn’t matter how faint your chances of survival are, so long as you have a doctor willing to try a procedure, and a patient willing to pay for it, you can chase down pretty nearly any procedure to extend your life.
But in Canada and the UK, you first need to convice the guy who is picking up the tab that you really should get that procedure.
American hospitals see a steady stream of Canadians who are denied access to relatively simple therapeutic treatments because they are not on the list of covered expenses. Some of these treatments have been proven to save lives. So they set up a fund-raiser and visit one of America’s prestigious hospitals.
Remember the tragic Charlie Gard story?
The parents had everything lined up so they could take him to a doctor in America who was willing to treat him. The funding was all sorted out.
But the British government over-ruled the will of the parents and did not permit them to take him to a hospital outside of the UK. Their small child’s condition worsened as the battle dragged on in the courts. It proved to be a death sentence for little Charlie Gard.
- Trump’s Fights For Baby Charlie’s Life That The Pope Initially Passed On
- Breaking: UK Court Allows American Doctor To Examine Charlie Gard
- WTF? Charlie Gard’s Parents Learn That Lawyer Assigned To Them Leads Charity Called ‘Compassion In Dying’
Now, another baby in the UK has the same condition. This time, it’s a little girl named Indi Gregory.
Like Charlie, her life hangs in the balance in a case that is now before the courts.
Medical experts claim it would be ‘kinder to let her die’.
Maybe that’s easy to say when it’s someone else’s kid. But mom and dad want to see their baby girl’s life saved, if possible.
Indi Gregory faces having life-saving treatment denied after doctors said it would be kinder to let her die. The six-month-old is battling mitochondrial disease – the same condition that affected baby Charlie Gard. Her parents Claire Staniforth, 35, and Dean Gregory, 37, say she is a happy baby who “deserves a chance at life”. The couple, who are engaged, have spent months at their daughter’s bedside at the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham.
Hospital bosses are expected to tell a judge it is in Indi’s “best interests” not to be given treatment to “sustain her life” if her condition worsens. Indi’s grandfather Michael Gregory, 75, from Nottingham, told the Mirror it should be up to his son and Claire to decide what happens to Indi.
“It is a very difficult situation,” he said. “It is one of those where you are caught between two almost impossible choices. But in my opinion, the courts shouldn’t decide these matters. It should be the parents. Being her parents, and being there all the time with her, they will know in their own minds. It should be Dean and Claire’s decision – not mine, and not the judges’. I just hope there is a happy ending.”
In a recent Facebook post, Claire said she wished she could swap places with her tiny daughter. “My strongest little human (fighter) Indi,” she wrote. “Come on beautiful girl. My heart bleeds green for a cure for mitochondrial disease (rare). I miss not being able to do all the normal things us mums would be doing right now. I wish I could swap places, take on her fight and give her my life. Why us! Why Indi! Why me! We just want her home. I will love you forever .. because all of me loves all of you.” — Mirror
Sure, American hospitals expect the user to pay the costs of the services given — but the trade-off is they don’t have fight in court to convince some judge that their kid’s life is worth spending tax dollars to save.
Those of you who pray — please remember Indi Gregory and her family.
Psalms of War: Prayers That Literally Kick Ass is a collection, from the book of Psalms, regarding how David rolled in prayer. I bet you haven’t heard these read, prayed, or sung in church against our formidable enemies — and therein lies the Church’s problem. We’re not using the spiritual weapons God gave us to waylay the powers of darkness. It might be time to dust them off and offer ‘em up if you’re truly concerned about the state of Christ’s Church and of our nation.
Also included in this book, Psalms of War, are reproductions of the author’s original art from his Biblical Badass Series of oil paintings.
This is a great gift for the prayer warriors. Real. Raw. Relevant.
