Free Republic

A father-of-two died of cancer the day after a 'breakthrough' drug he had battled for nearly five months to get finally arrived in the post. The family of Stuart Cunningham, 51, were left heartbroken after he succumbed to the disease without getting the chance to try the drug, known as Afinitor. Used to treat kidney cancer, it is an option for patients who have not responded to Sunitinib, the primary drug used to fight the condition. Mr Cunningham's wife, Tracy, said she was 'angry and frustrated' at the NHS, which refused to fund the Afinitor because it was not 'cost-effective'....

Socialized Medicine: UK Patient Receives Smoker’s Lung in Transplant Lyndsey Scott, 28, suffered from cystic fibrosis and died five months after the operation.

Reagan gave this speech in 1961 while still a democrat. The man was a genius.

Freedom Dies With Thunderous Applause: Democrats Shove Government Health Care Take Over Down Our Throats 84rules March 22, 2010

The effort by Republicans to sue the government for requiring everyone to have health insurance is based on flawed logic. The sponsor of the bill claims that requiring citizens to carry health insurance is like forcing everyone to buy a car. This comparison is false based on how each decision affects other people. If I choose not to have an automobile, that decision affects only me and my immediate family members. However, if I choose not to buy health insurance, and I have a serious illness or injury, guess who pays when I show up at the emergency room —...

In an article for the Heritage Foundation entitled “Congress’s Secret Plan to pass Obamacare” authored by Brian Darling layout a four step plan for Obamacare to hitch a ride on an existing piece of Legislation which has originated in the House using a rare parliamentary procedure. Steps one and Two have been completed.

U.S. researchers have identified 10 locations in California that have double the rates of autism found in surrounding areas, and these clusters were located in neighborhoods with high concentrations of white, highly educated parents. Researchers at the University of California Davis had hoped to uncover pockets of autism that might reveal clues about triggers in the environment that could explain rising rates of autism, which affects as many as one in 110 U.S. children. But the findings likely say more about the U.S. healthcare system than the causes of autism, said researcher Irva Hertz-Picciotto of UC Davis' MIND Institute, whose...

Polled support for the health care plan wending its way through Congress continues to crash downward in the polls. And before you say it, it's not just Rasmussen, which has actually been pretty much in the middle of the other polls. Here's where we stand as of today. For reform advocates, this is not good news. At 40% approval, it probably passes. At 30% approval--what Social Security reform enjoyed by the time it imploded--it's not going to no matter how the Senate massages their plan. Democrats cannot pass a bill this large on a straight party line vote if the...

My last post dealt with Barack Obama's Marxist personal physician of more than 20 years, Quentin Young and his decades long campaign to socialize US healthcare. Young and his comrades in Physicians for a National Health Plan and Healthcare Now! have driven the US healthcare debate for years. Now they have a friend in the Oval Office and both Houses of Congress controlled by the Democrats. Soon the Senate may pass a Healthcare Bill-but whatever form it takes, the drive to fully socialized, government controlled "single payer" healthcare will only accelerate.

Up to 10,000 people die needlessly of cancer every year because their condition is diagnosed too late, according to research by the government's director of cancer services. The figure is twice the previous estimate for preventable deaths. Earlier detection of symptoms could save between 5,000 and 10,000 lives in England a year, Prof Mike Richards will reveal this week. The higher figure is nearly twice his previous calculation, which put the figure at about 5,000. Richards has revised up his estimate after studying the three deadliest forms of the disease ‑ lung, bowel and breast cancer ‑ which together kill...

This WSJ editorial tells it like it is: As usual, the most dangerous parts of ObamaCare aren't receiving the scrutiny they deserve—and one of the least examined is a new commission to tell Congress how to control health spending. Democrats are quietly attempting to impose a "global budget" on Medicare, with radical implications for U.S. medicine. Like most of Europe, the various health bills stipulate that Congress will arbitrarily decide how much to spend on health care for seniors every year—and then invest an unelected board with extraordinary powers to dictate what is covered and how it will be paid...

Thought experiment: Ten years from now, the United States has fully embraced universal healthcare and the government is responsible for administering every aspect of medicine. Two patients' files fall on the desk of a governemnt employee: Both have brain tumours in exactly the same places, and only with heroic attempts will either survive. One is a 25 year old man. One is an 91 year old woman. With heroic methods each have about a 20% chance of survival. Since the Equal Protection clause of the Constitution does not discriminate based on age, can the 91 year old woman expect the...

When asked where specifically the Constitution authorized Congress to mandate that individuals buy health insurance, Sen. Jack Reed (D.-R.I.) said that he “would have to check the specific sections” but said that it was like making people “sign up for the draft.” “Specifically where in the Constitution does Congress get its authority to mandate that individuals purchase health insurance?” CNSNews.com asked Reed. “Let me see,” said Reed. “I would have to check the specific sections, so I’ll have to get back to you on the specific section. But it is not unusual that the Congress has required individuals to do...

I think you will enjoy this! Video at site

A federal bailout of AIG last year attracted angry protesters who for weeks gathered outside the insurance giant's headquarters in New York and stalked company executives at their homes. But there has been little response to the bailout of Peter Miller, who runs a two-person lobster-fishing crew in Maine. Miller, who gets 50 cents on the dollar for his catch these days, a few months ago received a $35,000 loan from a new Small Business Administration program that was crafted in February during final negotiations on the federal stimulus package. The loan program offers an unprecedented 100 percent guarantee to...

Rep. Dan Boren (D-Okla.), who voted against the Pelosi health-care reform bill that was approved by the House yesterday, said he did so because it raises taxes and will lead to a single-payer health care system in the United States. The bill—the “Affordable Health Care for America Act”—passed the House late on Saturday evening. The final vote was 220 to 215. Thirty-nine House Democrats voted against the proposal and only one Republican, freshman Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana, voted for it. In town hall meetings in August, Boren told constituents he would not support a health care bill that raised...

The Congressional Budget Office is out with its analysis of the House Democrats' health care bill...in reality, the CBO says that the gross cost of the bill will be $1.055 trillion.....the CBO says the bill's gross spending will be $60 billion in the first four years, and $995 billion in the next six years (or 94 percent of the total).

A word search of the 1,502-page Senate health care bill (S. 1796) reveals that the term "tax" is used 124 times, "taxable" is used 158 times, and "excise tax" is used 12 times.

Senate Finance Committee members have been notified that the committee's health reform bill was filed today. S. 1796 weighs in at 1,502 pages, according to a Senate Republican leadership source. It's still not up yet on the Finance Committee website or Thomas.gov. We'll post a link as soon as we get one.

The nation's governors are emerging as a formidable lobbying force as health-care reform moves through Congress and states overburdened by the recession brace for the daunting prospect of providing coverage to millions of low-income residents. The legislation the Senate Finance Committee is expected to approve calls for the biggest expansion of Medicaid since its creation in 1965. Under the Senate bill and the House proposal, a state-federal insurance program targeted mainly at children, pregnant women and disabled people would effectively become a Medicare for the poor, a health-care safety net for all people with an annual income below $14,404. Whether...