David Broder OP-ED Questions Obama's IMAC

July 26, 2009 (LPAC)—In an op-ed in the Washington Post today, Sunday, entitled, "Our New Medical Judges," David Broder questions the wisdom of Obama's T-4 IMAC proposal by giving just two examples of recommendations made by the existing MedPAC in its June report, which could be enforced by dictate if the MedPAC were transformed into an independent board (IMAC) as proposed by Obama:

"Among other things, [MedPAC] proposes that Medicare take steps to penalize hospitals with abnormally high readmission rates for their patients, while allowing them to reward staff members for reducing those rates. It also suggests experimenting with flat-fee payments for each patient hospitalized with certain common ailments, rather than the current open-ended billing for each test and treatment—as an incentive to hospitals to control costs."

Broder then concludes: "Obama's proposal almost certainly would accelerate change in the way health care is delivered—and it might actually save money in the long run, but Congress will have to decide if it is willing to yield that degree of control to five unelected IMAC commissioners. And Americans will have to decide if they are comfortable having those commissioners determine how they will be treated when they are ill."

Lyndon LaRouche commented that if this Nazi board were implemented, the people who don't receive treatment are going to respond by wanting to "lynch a commissioner." With their dying breath they will say: "I'm going to take you with me!"