N.Y. Times columnist: Death panels will save ‘a lot of money’
Paul Krugman tells ‘Roundtable’ economists agree it’s ‘going to be major’
wnd …for complete article
Left-leaning New York Times economic columnist Paul Krugman says the so-called “death panels” established by President Obama’s trillion-dollar nationalized health-care plan will end up saving “a lot of money” for the government.
The comments from Krugman, who also writes on the New York Times blogs, came during a discussion of “Obamacare” on the ABC News Sunday program “This Week.”
“People on the right, they’re simultaneously screaming, ‘They’re going to send all the old people to death panels,’ and ‘It’s not going to save any money,'” he said.
Another panelist interjected, “Death panels would save money,” to which Krugman responded:
The advisory panel which has the ability to make more or less binding judgments on saying this particular expensive treatment actually doesn’t do any good medically and so we are not going to pay for it. That is actually going to save quite a lot of money. We don’t know how much yet. The CBO gives it very little credit but, but most, most of the health care economists I talk to think that’s going be a really, uh a really major cost saving.
The video has been posted on the Conservatives4Palin website, and it was Palin who was among the first to denounce the “death panel” concept in the Democrats’ government-run health care plan. That’s the idea that appointed government officials who under the plan will have access to medical records will determine if a treatment will be provided to a needy patient. Theoretically, that could be a death sentence for a patient denied a treatment.
WND columnist Jane Chastain wrote about the issue shortly before the congressional vote.
“This bill sets up an Independent Medicare Advisory Board, which is to recommend cuts for the sole purpose of limiting the amount of resources going to Medicare patients. Some have called it a ‘Death Panel,'” she wrote.
“You may think this is harsh, but if this bill passes, many seniors will die prematurely because the recommendations of these unelected bureaucrats will go into effect. Congress is not required to act on them!”
“Obama … wants Granny to believe that she will be able to receive that operation or treatment that could save or extend her life. Nothing could be further from the truth! There is a reverse incentive in this bill that actually penalizes Granny’s primary-care physician if he or she is in the top 10 percent of doctors who refer patients to specialists. This puts a wedge between Granny and the doctor she trusts to act in her best interest.”
Richard Poe, a New York Times best-selling author, documented in a previous report for WND how the government’s plan to cut health-care costs will, in effect, cut health care itself for some.
“The only question is whose” health care will be cut, Poe wrote. “The numbers make clear that most of these cuts will have to come at the expense of those who need health care the most – the elderly, the disabled and the gravely ill.”
He cited Obama’s acknowledgement that “older, sicker societies pay more on health care than younger, healthier ones.”
“He is right,” Poe wrote. “According to a 2006 study by the Department of Health and Human Services, five percent of the U.S. population accounts for nearly 50 percent of health care spending in America. Who are those five percent? Most are people over 65 years of age with serious, chronic illnesses.
“By contrast, the study notes, half of the U.S. population ‘spends little or nothing on health care… with annual medical spending below $664 per person.’ These, of course, are mostly healthy young people – people without serious, chronic illnesses,” Poe wrote.
“Obviously, Obama will not meet his cost-cutting targets by reducing care to healthy young people. They are already spending next to nothing. It is the old, the dying and the chronically ill whose health care he will cut. The numbers make this clear,” Poe said.
Some of the “old, the dying and the chronically ill” appear to be catching on. According to a report from Fox News, an estimated 60,000 members of AARP, which endorsed “Obamacare,” have turned in their cards and canceled their memberships in recent weeks.
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Wild Thing’s comment…….
LOL Go ahead Paul, save us some money and get sick.
But…but….Paul, Obama and the rest of our lawmakers neglected to deal themselves in on the socialized medicine bill,.
They don’t exist.
They don’t exist.
They don’t exist.
And besides, they’re going to save us a whole bunch of money!
There’s no abortion language …
There’s no abortion language …
There’s no abortion language …
But I will write an EO to overrule the abortion language.
The level of corruption that will arise from “Obamacare” will be jaw dropping.
….Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Amazing isn’t it! obama who is the biggest spender in presidential history wants to “save” money by denying health care to certain groups, the aged, disabled and chronically ill. There will be “death panels” of bureaucrats that will work to put barriers in the doctor-patient relationship. obamacare is the end of a very good medical system.
I am glad to see AARP losing membership. It is nothing more than a leftist insurance selling PAC.
During the time Sarah Palin came out and labeled them as Death Panels obama and Ilk claimed that that was not true. no such thing. Well lookie lookie, suddenly everybodies talking about how the Death Panels will help save money.
Get rid of all the Seniors, look at all the money they will have for spreading Wealth, Social Security, retirement accounts.
The sad thing is, there are far too many people who haven’t a clue about what this is all about. Until their grand parents are denied the care they need or somebody’s Special Needs child is denied the care.
Communist bastards.
Tom, me too, the reaction to AARP has been one thing that has felt good to see happen.
Mark, hahaha yes lookie is so right. I agree too Mark, there still are way too many people that have no idea what this is all about.