Stimulus Bill Bad for Your Health as Well as Your Wallet

On Wednesday the American Thinker reported on a feature in the so-called “stimulus bill” that should alarm all Americans who might need health care now or in the future. They report that:

"On page 151 of this legislative pork-fest is one of the clandestine nuggets of social policy manipulation that are peppered throughout the bill. Section 9201 of the stimulus package establishes the 'Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research.' This body, which would be made up of federal bureaucrats will 'coordinate the conduct or support of comparative effectiveness and related health services research.'

"Sounds benign enough, but the man behind the Coordinating Council, Health and Human Services Secretary-designate (and tax cheat) Tom Daschle, was kind enough to explain the goal of this organization. It is to cut health care costs by preventing Americans from getting treatments that the government decides don't meet their standards for cost effectiveness. In his 2008 book on health care, he explained that such a council would, 'lower overall spending by determining which medicines, treatments and procedures are most effective-and identifying those that do not justify their high price tags.'"

Think you can get around this by purchasing your own private insurance? Daschle explained they plan:

"… to expand the Coordinating Council's power even further, allowing the government to deny tax benefits for private insurance that covers treatments deemed too expensive by the Council. Thus, if a handful of government employees deem a therapy not cost effective, no health insurance will cover it and it will become virtually unobtainable to patients at any cost."

Daschle may be gone at least from the front line, but this feature in the bill is not and is just one more reason this ridiculous legislation must not be passed.

UPDATE; http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/02/022749.php