Lamm’s first comments were made 28-years ago, and even then he understood that by definition, healthcare included life and death decisions. He also understood that at the center of these incredibly difficult discussions, we cannot lose sight of human rights or human dignity.

But as always, it comes back to tough decisions – money and quality of life. Under any type of socialized medicine, you can only control costs by withholding care and the first to feel the brunt of those decisions, will be those who cost the most to treat. Under Obamacare, those decisions – who will live and who will die – will be made, according to Mr. Rattner’s explanation of Obamacare, by the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a panel of 15-bureaucrats who have the unimaginable job, based on limited funds, of “playing God.”

No matter how you look at it, with medical costs spiraling out of control, people living longer, and 78-million baby boomers who will be between 65 and 83 years old in just 17-years, Mr. Rattner was most likely correct when he said, “We may shrink from such stomach-wrenching choices, but they are inescapable.”

Now that’s something to think about.

Ron Kauffman is a consultant on issues of geriatrics and aging. He’s in private practice in Henderson and Polk Counties. He is the author of Caring for a Loved One with Alzheimer’s Disease, available on Amazon.com and at the Polk County Senior Center. His podcasts can be heard weekly at www.seniorlifestyles.net. Contact him at 828-696-9799 or by email at: drron561@gmail.com.