Kennedy Finally Redeems Himself

They (and by "they" I don't mean Michelle Obama's "they" who are headed by "The Man")... they say God works in mysterious ways, and as evidence of that, we can now see why Ted Kennedy was left to carry on after abandoning Mary Jo Kopechne and subjecting her to a horrible death. These many years later, Kennedy has himself been stricken with a horrible fate, but because of it, he's single-handedly demonstrated what future evils come part and parcel with government run healthcare.

Writing in the New York Post today, Robert Goldberg details the consequences for the average American who might find himself with a life threatening medical condition in a post-competitive healthcare environment, and he notes that such dire situations are already the rule in countries such as Canada and Britain for the simple reason that care is coldly rationed and cost containment is a prime consideration. Right now, any American can, at least theoretically, get similar treatment to that which Kennedy is receiving, treatment that would likely be out of the question with a national system of "care." 

Consider, too, the chemo drug Kennedy is receiving: Temodar, the first oral medicine for brain tumors in 25 years.

Temodar has been widely used in this country since the FDA approved it in 2000. But a British health-care rationing agency, the National Institute for Comparative Effectiveness, ruled that, while the drug helps people live longer, it wasn't worth the money - and denied coverage for it.

Barack Obama - and other Democrats - have been pushing a Senate bill to set up a similar US "review board" for Medicare and any future government health-care plan.

After denying this treatment completely for seven years, the NICE (did whoever named it intend the irony?) relented - partly. Even today, only a handful of Brits with brain tumors can get Temodar.

And if you want to pay for Temodar out of your own pocket, the British system forces you to pay for all of your cancer care - about $30,000 a month.