Congress has recently opened hearings to investigate whether health maintenance organizations restrict access to health care and deny patients the ability to make critical decisions regarding their care. Although it is important that such inquiries take place, Congress also needs to scrutinize their own program, Medicare.
Multiple myeloma is a fatal cancer of blood cells that commonly affects people over the age of 65. Despite a growing body of evidence that bone marrow/stem cell transplants can prolong the life of patients with multiple myeloma and equally strong evidence that patients up to and beyond the age of 70 can tolerate this therapy, Medicare continues to deny older patients this important therapy.
In a time of limited resources, it is important to make wise decisions regarding health care. Those decisions are best made by the patient and the physician, not a bureaucrat. As Congress investigates the obstacles placed by HMO bureaucrats, they should also investigate how and why similar obstacles have been imposed by their own Washington bureaucrats.
