THE FEDERAL takeover of health care, passed into law this weekend, is the almost inevitable outcome of government intrusion decades ago. Entitlement programs for the elderly and poor, along with the rise of the HMO, were destined to lead us here without a principled retreat from socialized medicine. Twila Brase, of the Citizens’ Council on Health Care, writes:

The proliferation of managed-care organizations (MCOs) in general, and HMOs in particular, resulted from the 1965 enactment of Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor. Literally overnight, on July 1, 1966, millions of Americans lost all financial responsibility for their health-care decisions. 

Offering “free care” led to predictable results. Because Congress placed no restrictions on benefits and removed all sense of cost-consciousness, health-care use and medical costs skyrocketed. Congressional testimony reveals that between 1965 and 1971, physician fees increased 7 percent and hospital charges jumped 13 percent, while the Consumer Price Index rose only 5.3 percent. The nation’s health-care bill, which was only $39 billion in 1965, increased to $75 billion in 1971.1 Patients had found the fount of unlimited care, and doctors and hospitals had discovered a pot of gold. 

This stampede to the doctor’s office, through the U.S. Treasury, sent Congress into a panic. It had unlocked the health-care appetite of millions, and the results were disastrous. While fiscal prudence demanded a hasty retreat, Congress opted instead for deception.

C.S. writes:

I  am a retired physician, and I was practicing at the time of the inauguration of Medicare. It became abundantly clear that the medical profession at the time had sold their soul for “easy money.” I can demonstrate this anecdotally. I was sitting in a surgical lounge with about 12-15 other surgeons not too long after passage of the government plan, and to a man they were complaining about the program, most particularly what they consider as the problem, namely the paperwork.

I chimed in and remarked, ” Why don’t we just accept what “Aunt Jane” the patient can pay us for our services and if it is just a box of oranges, so be it. We will be completely disconnected from this intrusion into the relationship between the patient and us.” The room became deathly quiet. A thoracic surgeon finally spoke up and said, “But this Medicare is about half of my practice.” Everybody in the room agreed with him. At that point, I realized that the profession would do nothing but decline. What I mean by that is that there was a time when doctors were approaching somewhat a sacerdotal duty to their patients; that has been lost!

Laura writes:

That’s an important point. Doctors went along with government intrusion as a way of avoiding the risks and uncertainties in treating poor patients on their own.

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