Glenn Nocera's Brooklyn YR Club puts out Guest Feature about Obamacare by Radio Talk Show Host, Dr. Ronald Hoffman

A partial text of Dr. Ronald Hoffman's feature is provided herein for you to preview, compliments of  the Brooklyn Young Republican Club and its President Glenn Nocera --  it is a example of what his organization considers serious and responsible guest commentary on issues relevant to Republicans in Brooklyn

The complete article "OBAMACARE—A COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE PERSPECTIVE WITH SPECIAL GUEST WRITER RADIO TALK SHOW HOST DR. RONALD HOFFMAN" is available at the Brooklyn Young Republican Club Home Page .... http://www.brooklynyr.com/2013/03/28/obamacare-a-complementary-medicine-perspective-with-special-guest-writer-radio-talk-show-host-dr-ronald-hoffman/ 

FROM:  "Obamacare—A Complementary Medicine Perspective"  by Dr. Ronald Hoffman [www.drhoffman.com]

The merits of PPACA—the Patient Protection and Access to Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare—can be debated endlessly....

What I offer instead is an analysis based on what I envision to be the impact of Obamacare on my chosen medical specialty, complementary medicine. 

First and foremost, complementary medicine is about freedom of choice in health care.  As such, it is uniquely imperiled by Obamacare.  Already imbedded in the stimulus program of 2010 were provisions offering billions for EMR (electronic medical record) systems. 

I don’t have anything against having automated records at my fingertips to improve safety and reduce redundancy, but these systems were designed to lay the groundwork for government regulation of the practice of medicine.... [T]hese systems will hasten the day when doctors need to adhere to standard algorithms of medical care.  Libertarians would also deplore the loss of personal privacy these systems portend. 

At the heart of complementary medicine is a critical stance toward standard medical interventions....  Future centrally-decreed medical guidelines might call for the institution of drugs, with denial of insurance reimbursement and even penalties for doctors who don’t toe the line. 

Obamacare already envisions the creation of the IPAB (Independent Payment Advisory Board), an appointed group of medical expert who will decide what’s covered and not covered in a vast, centralized, computer-driven medical system.  Drug manufacturers and medical specialty groups will undoubtedly wield powerful influence over this “independent” group.  Iconoclastic complementary practitioners will not be invited to the party. 

.... The regulatory burdens of Obamacare are forcing more doctors to become hospital employees....

For those who don’t defect to hospital groups... [the drive toward] early retirement. 

And that’s not to mention one of the most glaring deficiencies of Obamacare, which is its complete obliviousness of the need for malpractice reform....  Defensive medicine means doctors prescribe more unnecessary drugs, tests, and procedures for patients, to their detriment and perpetuating spiraling of medical costs. 

Finally, there’s the issue of moral hazard.  I strongly believe in personal responsibility as the basis of sound health care.  Cradle-to-grave, unconditional deployment of advanced medical resources undermines the incentive to stay well.... [by healthy living].

.... The current trend toward mandated coverage for all manner of minor preventive care encourages unnecessary utilization, and patients have no “skin in the game” for maintaining wellness....  

Health Savings Accounts, which are severely undermined by Obamacare, would promise to provide more freedom of choice to patients, and offer an incentive for healthy behaviors and enlightened, discretionary self-care. 

Some of my liberal colleagues in the field of complementary medicine point to language in PPACA that calls for inclusion of natural modalities and non-MD practitioners in a revamped health care system....   Do you really want to see acupuncture services, for example, regulated under Medicare or Medicaid, with burdensome reporting requirements, paltry reimbursement, stringent rules for where you put the needles and under what circumstances, and fines and even criminal penalties for those who don’t adhere to the bureaucratic guidelines? 

I believe that medicine is at a crossroads, and the answer is not more access to drugs and high-tech medicine as envisioned in Obamacare.  When the interim fix of PPACA crashes and burns, there will be those who will be quick to call for a single-payer system. Maybe that’s been the point of the unworkable Obamacare legislation all along. That’s when we’ll all have to head offshore to obtain quality care.

Listen to Dr. Hoffman on his weekly radio show, Health Talk, Saturdays from noon to 2PM on WOR 710 AM