Don't treat the old and unhealthy, say doctors
By Laura Donnelly, Health Correspondent
January 28, 2008

Doctors are calling for NHS treatment to be withheld from patients who are too old or who lead unhealthy lives.

Smokers, heavy drinkers, the obese and the elderly should be barred from receiving some operations, according to doctors, with most saying the health service cannot afford to provide free care to everyone.

Fertility treatment and "social" abortions are also on the list of procedures that many doctors say should not be funded by the state.

The findings of a survey conducted by Doctor magazine sparked a fierce row last night, with the British Medical Association and campaign groups describing the recommendations from family and hospital doctors as "out­rageous" and "disgraceful".

About one in 10 hospitals already deny some surgery to obese patients and smokers, with restrictions most common in hospitals battling debt.

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I noticed a very interesting development last time I was in the UK.

It turns out that in the 'national' health service, that's paid for with rather large mandatory National Insurance taxes (Average of 11% for employees and 12.8% for employers), a lot of things are no longer covered. For instance, there are next to no national health dentists or opticians any more, the cost of prescription drugs is fast approaching the same level as the U.S and there is much talk of 'penalty waiting times' essentially, penalizing people for lifestyle choices and shunting them to the back of the line.

Now, if you want to have a national health service that people are forced to pay in to through taxation on their income (as I previously stated, employees pay on average 11% of their income in NI and employers pay an additional 12.8% on average) it seems ludicrous to then have the same health service turn around and say that unless you meet strict requirements, you'll be forced to wait, or go private and pay for, surgery that has been deemed necessary my a Doctor.
It seems to me that unless the National Health Service meets strict requirements then people shouldn't be forced to give up more than a tenth of their salary to it.

Don't get me wrong, the NHS is still superior to our essentially non-existent health service, but the gap is quickly shrinking.

In Canada, optical and dental are not totally covered. I say not totally meaning that they aren't really covered at all, except that in some provinces you get a yearly voucher to help defray the cost of frames and lenses. Also, if you need surgery on your gums or eye and it's medically necessary, then that will obviously be covered.

Every system has its problems. Canada has a problem with wait times in the ER and with certain specialised services and procedures. But even that varies from province to province. The Canada Health Act stipulates the minimum requirements a province's health plan must meet, but everything else is up to the province. So there are nuances.

A good example is newborn circumcision. It is not done routinely in Canada anymore like it once was. A couple provinces still cover it under their health plans, but in most of them it's not covered, so if you insist that your newborn son be circumcised it's considered unnecessary and you have to pay for it yourself.

A lot of Brits seem fed up with NHS and would like to privatize their healthcare system.  That seems to be the Torygraph's position (other than the usual socialism leads to Nazism prop).  

The article sites outrageous cases of people who refuse to help themselves.  Why should the taxpayers buy you a new liver if you're just gonna go down the pub and get pissed every night and destroy that one too?  I mean, look pops, your family doctor told you for twenty years to quit smoking and get your weight under control.  You wantonly ignored him.  So now we, the taxpayers, have to pay for a heart bypass and new hips?  

Yeah, take some responsibility for yourself, man!

But then the next thing you know, the NHS is turning grandma away for spine surgery because she wouldn't have all that osteoporosis if only she'd got more calcium in her diet....

Look, my British cousins, you can go to a private insurance system, just be prepared to deal with private insurance system problems.  You might not find it more coste effective or efficient than the NHS.  

Perhaps the obesity rate is on the rise in the UK, but I thought smoking was on the wane.  You save yourself lots of trouble if you never start smoking.  

In Canada, optical and dental are not totally covered. I say not totally meaning that they aren't really covered at all, except that in some provinces you get a yearly voucher to help defray the cost of frames and lenses. Also, if you need surgery on your gums or eye and it's medically necessary, then that will obviously be covered.

Every system has its problems. Canada has a problem with wait times in the ER and with certain specialised services and procedures. But even that varies from province to province. The Canada Health Act stipulates the minimum requirements a province's health plan must meet, but everything else is up to the province. So there are nuances.

A good example is newborn circumcision. It is not done routinely in Canada anymore like it once was. A couple provinces still cover it under their health plans, but in most of them it's not covered, so if you insist that your newborn son be circumcised it's considered unnecessary and you have to pay for it yourself.


It's like that with my private insurance.  I need a bunch of dental work but I can't afford to get it done yet because my insurance covers less than half of the cost.  What I find prespammersite is the way we separate oral health from everything else.  Evidence shows a healthy set of teeth helps prevent all kinds of other health problems.  Why should your eyes be treated differently from your heart or your skeleton?  It just doesn't make sense. 

It's like that with my private insurance.  I need a bunch of dental work but I can't afford to get it done yet because my insurance covers less than half of the cost.  What I find prespammersite is the way we separate oral health from everything else.  Evidence shows a healthy set of teeth helps prevent all kinds of other health problems.  Why should your eyes be treated differently from your heart or your skeleton?  It just doesn't make sense. 



Word. I agree. But, thankfully, most people are covered for dental and optical with insurance provided by employers. And more employers offer supplemental health benefits here because they are much less expensive than the full coverage employers are expected to offer in the US. And in Quebec for example, if you don't have access to prescription coverage at work or school, then you are automatically enrolled in the public plan. 

That's extreme bullsheesh! They're treating them like second-class citizens. They might as well attack the blind, deaf, and people like that next! >:(