Health care rationing is a polite name for invidious medical discrimination against the weak and vulnerable. The Obama Administration seems to be pushing the USA toward rationing by hinting that it will support establishing a utilitarian bioethics oversite board that would determine the levels of care —whether privately or publicly funded. If so, people with serious conditions and their advocacy groups should be up in arms.
Here’s one example of the potential consequences of giving oversight power to a national bioethics board: In the UK, the Orwellian named NICE (National Institute for Health an Clinical Excellence), which governs what the NHS covers, has refused to authorize providing medication for early dementia based on quality of life considerations and cost assessments. More on this story at Secondhand Smoke .