The Government Shows How It Would Cut Health Care Quality

As if by clockwork, the government has confirmed the health care analysis I posted on this blog only just last Monday, November 16.  There, I insisted that the system would have to sacrifice quality to contain costs.  And then just a few days later, the government told American women to relieve the burden on the system of mammograms and other breast cancer prevention efforts.  Though the American Medical Association has called for an annual mammogram after 40, the government panel now says women can wait until 60 and then do a mammogram only every other year.  I have no idea which is correct, but in the face of the AMA and past practice, one would think that the panel should at least justify itself with some references to research.  It, however, has not done that.  It has not offered any explanation at all.  Without any medical reference, it is only natural that we look at other motivations for the guidelines, and they seem to appear in cost containment.  Cutting out 10 years of exams and then half those following certainly will keep costs down, while there is not reference to the medical ramifications.  This juxtaposition of what we can know and what we cannot know certainly raises suspicions about how the government will proceed going forward.  It also gives a taste of the imperial style they are likely to adopt, that Washington always adopts.