RealClearPolitics: In trying to rally support for health care overhaul, Obama described a patient who sees a physician for a sore throat, or a parent who brings in a child with a sore throat.
"Right now, doctors a lot of times are forced to make decisions based on the fee payment schedule that's out there. ... The doctor may look at the reimbursement system and say to himself, 'You know what? I make a lot more money if I take this kid's tonsils out,'" Obama told a prime-time news conference.
The president added: "Now, that may be the right thing to do, but I'd rather have that doctor making those decisions just based on whether you really need your kid's tonsils out or whether it might make more sense just to change; maybe they have allergies. Maybe they have something else that would make a difference."
Perhaps some doctors overprescribe based on fees and I can't doubt that this happens.
However, what is the alternative? A bureaucrat making a decision? That's what Obama wants.
How is a bureaucrat to decide whether the person really needs his tonsils out? He'll look at the chart? What about the bureaucrat's women's studies degree qualifies him to make better decisions?
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