Obama’s new cancer Rx is a war on men

New York Post ^ | November 25, 2015 | Betsy McCaughey

[ConservativeStatement]

If you’re at risk of prostate cancer — in other words, if you’re male — the best place to be is the United States, where survival rates are highest in the world. But not for long, if the Obama administration gets its way in curtailing a test that flags prostate cancer before it spreads.

The administration wants to penalize doctors who routinely order the PSA blood test. Under a proposed policy, those doctors will get demerits for being considered over-spenders, while doctors who skip the test will be rewarded with a high “quality” rating from the government — and be paid more.

[fieldmarshaldj]

The government needs to get the hell out of health care.

[ClearCase_guy]

I believe they did this with Breast Cancer too. Lots of women getting tested, because early detection can save lives. Then, all of a sudden, early detection wasn't really saving all that many lives, and -- you know -- it was kind of expensive, and so the government guidelines suddenly changed. Who needs testing??

Government involvement in health care just means more bean counting and rigid regulations. People die because of that stuff.

[vette6387]

Simple workaround. Your doctor needs to order a “Diagnostic” PSA test as opposed to a “Screening” PSA test. They have different codes, but they are identical. I had some bitch Phlebotomist advise me upon the occasion of an annual PSA screening that “this was all I would get for the year.” I told her that I would “get” as many as my doctor and I jointly decided was appropriate. Dying of Prostate Cancer is needless today.

[Sans-Culotte]

When I had my physical this summer, the lab somehow forgot to run the PSA even though my doctor had ordered it. So, I had to go back to the lab (at extra expense) to have it done (I passed, BTW). My doctor is very dedicated to her patients (my doctor is a woman) and is not too keen on the changes ObamaCare DeathCare hath wrought. She will probably start piling up demerits.

[uncitizen]

That’s exactly right.

[ConorMacNessa]

This has been looming for some time. I had my first PSA before the turn of the century. In 2006, at age 59, I had a PSA high enough (4.5, IIRC) to cause my PCP to refer me to a urologist, who performed a prostate biopsy. Inconclusive - some precancerous cells.

A year later, my follow-up biopsy disclosed a fast advancing cancer - 9 Gleason, for which I was treated - classic radiation for 42 days and hormones for two years.

I'm now 8 years out, and but for that 2006 PSA, I'd be a dead man.

Thanks, Obama, and bean-counters everywhere!

"I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender
the members of my command while they still have the means to resist."

[Theodore R.]

Is the PSA reliable? I understand it is not reliable. Maybe I’m wrong. What about the link between cholesterol and cardiovascular disease? Is there really a link?

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Oh, great, Obama wants to make sure that I kick early, given my family history of prostate cancer.

PING!

[Diogenesis]

There will be PSA tests for Congress, for SCOTUS,
for POTUS, and their families, and their staff,
and, of course, all Moslems.

Similarly for breast cancer, and every other disease.

Death panels for all, except the duplicitous GOP monsters.

[LucyT]

.

Obama's new cancer Rx is a war on men (mostly white men since they are more likely to be screened for cancer than other races.)

Article and # 3 , # 4 .

[HiTech RedNeck]

Why isn’t this out of the bailiwick of “health plans” altogether? Let people choose whether to purchase the test, and don’t bother the doctors either way.

[Diogenesis]

Americans must thank the Bishop Romney and the GOP
for iMPOSING, by Gruber, RomneyCARE and socialized
medicine run by ... the EXEMPT government.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

PING.

[HiTech RedNeck]

It apparently has got even supposed conservatives singing the “I’m utterly dependent on government” blues. Maybe the prices are breathtaking, but has there been an actual BAN on buying medical services outside the system?

People hate to be robbed and then to pay again for what the robbery was supposed to get for them, but that beats letting the robbers boss your whole life around.

[The Cuban]

What if we change the coding and call it abortion?

[ConservativeStatement]

Maybe someone else can respond.

[FreeReign]

It apparently has got even supposed conservatives singing the “I’m utterly dependent on government” blues. Maybe the prices are breathtaking, but has there been an actual BAN on buying medical services outside the system?

Obama illegal amnesty gives Medicare to illegals.

Yet there will be no PSA tests under Medicare for lawful FICA tax payers who were forced to pay into the system for 45 years.

That's "utterly" absurd.

[HiTech RedNeck]

This is where people have to separate the freedom and robbery questions. Will they just bow down to the robbers? I’d sooner be poorer and free than richer and all satisficed.

[Sooth2222]

National Cancer Institute: "How do prostate cancer incidence and death rates differ for men from different racial or ethnic groups?"

"African American/Black men have the highest incidence rate for prostate cancer in the United States and are more than twice as likely as White men to die of the disease. The lowest death rates for prostate cancer are found in Asian/Pacific Islander men. Incidence and death rates for prostate cancer are shown in Table 4."

http://www.cancer.gov/about-nci/organization/crchd/cancer-health-disparities-fact-sheet#q9

Black lives only matter to Obama when there are political points to be gained.