Quote Originally Posted by badbullgator View Post
For those who say there will be no rationing or government control of a persons healthcare let me give you this example. We had a patient come over form Italy for treatment. She was 36 years old when she came to us and when talking infertility issues she is approaching critical age. In Italy she was first seen at age 31 and her issues figured out. She was then put on a waiting list for IVF at age 33+ she received her first IVF treatment. Treatment in Italy is very different that here. In Italy they are only allowed to retrieve as many eggs from a woman as they will transfer back into her. That number is usually one or two eggs. Let me explain how the process works. Women are stimulated to release more eggs than they would in a normal cycle, the amount depends a lot on the woman but we usually get an average of 10 (have gotten as many as 36). Out of those 10 8 or 9 are mature and available to be used for insemination. Even though in a majority of our cases we inject a sperm directly into an egg, only 80-90% fertilize normally, so out of those 8 eggs that were injected 7 may fertilize normally. Out of those 7 3-4, on average reach an advanced level of embryo maturity by day 5, the day we transfer them back into the patient. We generally transfer 1-3 embryos based on the patients diagnosis, age, and other factors. With luck this results in a pregnancy (in our practice we get 60% of our patient pregnant and they deliver a baby, but that is high as we are one of the better in the country). As you can see it is a numbers game when it comes to IVF. Now take this example and only start with 2 eggs. Can you see a problem? The first IVF cycle this woman did resulted in zero embryos to be transferred. She then had to wait another 16 months for another IVF cycle making her almost 35 years old. Her diagnosis was advanced reproductive age and low ovarian reserve so her age was a very important factor. When she came to us we were able to get 11 eggs, 10 had normal fertilization, and by day 5, 7 were at a very advanced stage. We transferred 2 embryos and she delivered a singleton about 9 months later. She is returning later this year to have some of her frozen embryos transferred (Something they don’t do over there) and hopefully will be able to have a second child. Because they have socialized medicine she was rationed (made to wait to the point that it was almost too late) and the government affected her personal healthcare by limiting the type of procedures that are done.
Rationing and government control of procedures will happen there is no two ways about it.
In a capitalist society, she is more than free to seek private fertility clinics who will be more than happy to harvest and implant as many eggs as she desires, even if we have a nationalized health plan. Personally, I don't want my tax dollars going to increasing the already overwhelming population. I don't mean to sound uncompassionate, but some things you should have to pay for if you want. (uh-oh, I'm starting to revert back to being a republican, saying crazy things like that!!)

If anyone does not think that healthcare is being rationed now, think of how much time you have spent on "hold" to your insurance company listening to Barry Manilow, waiting to argue with some weenie why something should be covered or not, or disputing your "explanation of benefits" form!