That is it a horror…..if we listen top and believe those on the far right we will be having rationing of our health care if the Dems get their way.  We have been bombarded with this prediction for a couple of months now and I want to know…what do they mean by “rationing”?  There are several types of rationing:  about.com has some of the answers.

Self-Rationing

Sometimes we limit ourselves. Suppose you develop a rash. You have two choices. You can go to the doctor, pay a co-pay, or pay cash from your pocket. Then you’ll still need to pay for whatever prescription your doctor writes for you, too.

Or, you may choose an over-the-counter rash treatment instead — much less expensive, not to mention the time you saved by not making an appointment, even waiting for heaven-knows-how-long to see the doctor. If you choose the no-doctor-visit route, then you have self-rationed your care, and saved money for something you believe is more important.

Health Insurer Rationing

Health insurers ration care, but they don’t call it rationing, and they don’t even want you to realize that it is rationing. Dr. Rich Fogoros, the About.com Guide to Heart Disease gave this its own term. He calls it “covert rationing.”

Health insurers ration care through co-pays, deductibles and caps. In fact, what they are really doing is encouraging you to self-ration. Knowing that a certain amount of your care will have to be paid from your pocket, you may choose not to get the care or drug you need.

Health insurers deny services or reimbursements for services. Denial of care is perhaps the most understood form of rationing, because it causes outrage and frustration. What most patients don’t understand is that this is also the aspect of rationing that is most affected by laws and regulations, too.

Government Healthcare Rationing

Even the government rations healthcare. The difference between the government’s rationing and the rationing conducted by health insurers is that there is no profit motive. The government, through Medicare or state Medicaid or other programs, keeps costs lower as much as possible in order to keeps taxes lower, or to expand care to others, both considered to be the greater good.

People need to understand and understand completely what is meant by rationing…no matter what one believes, one should have ALL the facts and not just some 20 second buzz from a well groomed millionaire.

There are several reasons why understanding healthcare rationing will help you.

First, should you run into a denial of care, you’ll know why it’s been denied, and will better understand how to go about combating it, should you want to do so.

Second, in the coming years you will hear more and more about and why it will, or won’t, affect how you receive care. The biggest arguments center on how payment should be handled; whether it should be handled as it is now with both government and private payers, or whether the United States should move to an all-government, single payer system.

Some experts in healthcare rationing will tell you that private health insurer rationing means that the insurers are the ones determining who is getting what care. They cite the fact that which treatment you receive has more to do with whether or not your insurer gives permission than what you and your doctor think would be best. Private insurers argue that if the government takes over all cost coverage of all healthcare, then the government will make healthcare decisions for patients.

The far right of the GOP is making noise about the Dems will have rationing to all people…especially to the elderly whgich will let them die by withholding treatment….Sorry, I have read the bill and that is just not so.  Besides we already have rationing, look at a transplant list….if the money is not there then the top person can be skipped over…..there is rationing now…only thing it is done by the insurance companies and not the government.

As usual the talk over the proposed health bill is just using fear to make a point and to incite verbal revolt.  Rationing is not a coming fear…it is a reality of today.