Health Rationing In England: Obese And Smokers Banned From Routine Surgery

Everything is going well with that single-payer Democrats love so much. 

#Obamacare #SocializedMedicine #DeathPanels

For those who extol the virtues of socialized medicine, and protest that it could never, never, ever lead to rationing, here’s a wake-up call from Great Britain.

Health care experts in Great Britain are warning that obese people and smokers will be routinely refused operations all across Great Britain in the very near future. The latest case in point comes from North Yorkshire, where patients having a BMI of 30 or higher and smokers will be refused routine surgery for over a year for non-life-threatening conditions.

That means standard hip and knee operations are out.

Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) stated:

The local system is under severe pressure. Hospitals are being warned they will not be paid for surgery if they carry out operations on obese patients who are not exempt from the policy. This work will help to ensure that we get the very best value from the NHS and not exceed our resources or risk the ability of the NHS being there when people really need it. 

Clare Marx, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, condemned the decision, asserting:

This policy from Vale of York is among the most severe the modern NHS has ever seen. Leaving patients waiting in pain for treatment longer than is clinically necessary cannot be accepted. In the last month alone, the Royal College of Surgeons has learnt of at least three clinical commissioning groups that are planning to introduce policies that deny or delay patients’ access to surgery as a means to cut spending At this rate we may see brutal service reductions becoming the norm, rather than just being exceptions.

Via The Daily Wire