Thank you for acknowledging the obvious, "medical care is ALREADY rationed". Perhaps you can help my learning process by explaining how the Obama/Daschle plan will cure the rationing problem? Even though my advancing years occasionally create lapses of recall, I do comprehend the impediments and implications to cost efficiency and quality of care that "PRIOR AUTHORIZATION" generate. Again I ask, " How is the Obama/Daschle plan going to improve this problem?

Do you believe the Federal Board they plan to create in the image of Britain's NICE is going to reduce the bureaucracy, eliminate the politics and reduce costs? I have seen nothing in the early proposals that would create a single nonprofit payer or reduce the bureaucracy. In fact it appears to double down on the bureaucracy and creates more payment options. Please correct me if I misunderstood the scant few points made public.

Digressing briefly, if I recall in one of your earlier posts, you observed that medical profession salaries are lower in Florida because of more competition. Good old capitalism at work. Would the members of your fraternity accept a national effort to substantially increase the number of educated, licensed doctors in this country? Why are so many of our brightest, most talented young Americans forced to go to the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica or abroad to receive their medical training? Could your observation on salaries in Florida be extrapolated to lower medical costs nationwide by increasing the number of practicing physicians? Hmm.....

You haven't walked a mile in my shoes either. I have witnessed politics, greed, and self preservation prevent a needed hospital from being built when funding was in place, because it would effect the profit margin of other hospitals in the area. Long story. not now and at best abstractly relevent.

I am not opposed to improving our medical care and I understand that any meaningful initiative will necessarily involve some government oversight. I just want government's role as exemplified by what's on the table, significantly reduced and the role of medical professionals given more prominence in the equation. Malpractice suits are complicit in driving up medical costs. I would campaign for tort claim and medical malpractice reform to eliminate "the lottery ticket" mentality of those who seek windfall judgements aided and abetted by "ambulance chasing" lawyers. This is not likely with an attorney president who owes so much to American trial lawyers.

Sorry for the rambling, long of wind response. There is just so much more that needs to be said and so little time and space.

Thank you for sharing your professional insights.