Betsy

By Betsy McCaughey Sen. Edward Kennedy’s health proposal, the Affordable Health Choices Act, is now being marked up in committee, a first step toward a vote. Critics are mounting a battle against the bill’s public insurance option. But for patients, there’s a bigger danger: a mandate that will limit your choice of health plans and

Letter to The New York Times June 19, 2009 Dear Editor, Your editorial unfairly blames “profligate physician behavior” for high medical spending in the United States. Contrary to what the Dartmouth researchers claimed, regions with high Medicare per capita spending are not necessarily wasting money. Medicare spending per capita is an inaccurate proxy for overall

By Betsy McCaughey Last September Sen. Barack Obama promised that under his healthcare proposal “you’ll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves.” On Monday, President Obama repeated that promise in a speech to the American Medical Association. It’s not true. The president is barnstorming the nation, urging

By Betsy McCaughey The health proposals taking shape in the nation’s capital intend to do more than help the uninsured. The changes will affect everyone. Politicians have promised that if you like your health plan, you can keep it. That may be true, but when you’re sick and need care, you’ll get a lower standard

By Betsy McCaughey On Monday President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers released a report called “The Economic Case for Health Care Reform.” The report argues that Americans must curb their consumption of medical care in order to avoid soaring federal deficits, unsustainable burdens on family budgets, and damage to the economy. All of these

By Betsy McCaughey President Obama pledges to provide health insurance for 46 million uninsured people and, at the same time, restrain the nation’s total health spending. Covering the uninsured is a worthy goal, but it will not save money: Once they are covered, they will use 70 percent more health services overall than before, according

By Betsy McCaughey Patients count on their doctor to do whatever is possible to treat their illness. That is the promise doctors make by taking the Hippocratic Oath. But President Obama’s advisers are looking to save money by interfering with that oath and controlling your doctor’s decisions. Ezekiel Emanuel sees the Hippocratic Oath as one

By Betsy McCaughey Republican Senators are questioning whether President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill contains the right mix of tax breaks and cash infusions to jump-start the economy. Tragically, no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions slipped in without discussion. These provisions reflect the handiwork of Tom Daschle, until recently the nominee