Betsy

By Betsy McCaughey Patient advocate Betsy McCaughey intends to let Congress know what doctors fear most about the healthcare reforms it is considering. McCaughey, former lieutenant governor of New York, began gathering information about physicians’ concerns when she convened 16 of them in January to discuss healthcare. One of the doctors, kidney specialist Dr. Richard

By Betsy McCaughey Health Reform: A recent IBD/TIPP Poll showed two-thirds of physicians opposing Congress’ proposed reforms, and warning of dire consequences. Now, a forum of prominent doctors has amplified those concerns. Of 1,376 doctors responding in late August, 65% opposed Congress’ reform plans; 45% said enactment would make them consider leaving their practice or

By Betsy McCaughey As the health-reform bills move through Congress, the prognosis for Medicare patients gets worse and worse. The Senate Finance Committee bill (generally called the Baucus bill, after Chairman Max Baucus) robs the elderly to cover the uninsured — like snatching purses from little old ladies. The House bills already cut future funding

By Betsy McCaughey When President Obama addresses Congress and the nation tonight, he should pledge to do three things. First, he should announce that he will discard the 1,018-page health bill drafted in the House of Representatives and replace it with a 20-page bill in plain English. Twenty pages should be sufficient. The framers of

By Betsy McCaughey Regarding Ingrid Komar’s Sept. 1 Health commentary, “Nothing to Get Scared About”: Ms. Komar wrote that under H.R. 3200, Medicare will cover end-of-life counseling and “medical professionals you choose would provide advice and guidance; you would be free to follow or to ignore it or not consult them at all.” Wrong. Simply

By Betsy McCaughey Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, health adviser to President Barack Obama, is under scrutiny. As a bioethicist, he has written extensively about who should get medical care, who should decide, and whose life is worth saving. Dr. Emanuel is part of a school of thought that redefines a physician’s duty, insisting that it includes

By Betsy McCaughey Health “reform” would be a body blow to New York: The city is the nation’s hospital capital — and the legislation being rushed through Congress cuts hundreds of billions of dollars from payments to hospitals. More New Yorkers have jobs in health care than any other industry. The workforce at New York

By Betsy McCaughey The health bills coming out of Congress would put the decisions about your care in the hands of presidential appointees. They’d decide what plans cover, how much leeway your doctor will have and what seniors get under Medicare. Yet at least two of President Obama’s top health advisers should never be trusted

By Betsy McCaughey Since Medicare was established in 1965, access to care has enabled older Americans to avoid becoming disabled and languishing in nursing homes. But legislation now being rushed through Congress—H.R. 3200 and the Senate Health Committee Bill—will reduce access to care, pressure the elderly to end their lives prematurely, and doom baby boomers

By Betsy McCaughey President Obama promises that “if you like your health plan, you can keep it,” even after he reforms our health-care system. That’s untrue. The bills now before Congress would force you to switch to a managed-care plan with limits on your access to specialists and tests. Two main bills are being rushed