Among the issues most commonly discussed are individuality, the rights of the individual, the limits of legitimate government, morality, history, economics, government policy, science, business, education, health care, energy, and man-made global warming evaluations. My posts are aimed at intelligent and rational individuals, whose comments are very welcome.

"No matter how vast your knowledge or how modest, it is your own mind that has to acquire it." Ayn Rand

"Observe that the 'haves' are those who have freedom, and that it is freedom that the 'have-nots' have not." Ayn Rand

"The virtue involved in helping those one loves is not 'selflessness' or 'sacrifice', but integrity." Ayn Rand

For "a human being, the question 'to be or not to be,' is the question 'to think or not to think.'" Ayn Rand

17 July 2009

The Quality Adjusted Life Year

How much are you worth to the millions of Americans who do not know you?

Suppose you are sick and you need medical care. There is medical care which will prolong your life at say a fairly high expense. In a private health care system, you and perhaps your family and maybe even your friends might choose to contribute the needed money to cure you of the disease and give you more time to live. This is your decision to make and your family and friends are free to join you. But, in a nationalized health care system, such as that of Obama and the Democrat Congress, you do not get to make any such decision.

No, in the nationalized health care insurance plan which they will have take over decisions for all medical treatment in the U.S., complete strangers will make all the decisions about what extending your life is worth to them. First, there will be the hundreds of millions of Americans who will have to pay taxes to fund the national health insurance system. What will they think you are worth? Then there will be the government bureaucrats who will have to make the available tax revenues match the costs of the nationalized health insurance program to consider. What is your life worth to them?

All such national health systems come up with formula's to make such judgments. The formula is commonly called the Quality Adjusted Life Year. This formula takes into consideration the costs to extend your life, or your spouse's life, or your daughter's life, or your baby's life, the amount of life extension, and somehow factors in what they believe the quality of your life will be. It does not factor in how much your loved ones may want you to be with them, only how much many strangers may want you to be around longer.

Is this the way the value of your life should be judged? Or the way the value of those you love should be judged? If it is not, then you had better get on the horn and talk to your Senators and your Representative in Congress.

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