Who Will Judge Your Health Care Coverage?

Two articles in today'[s New York Times referenced health care costs on the reform bill. Stating that the reform bill  focused on health care access, rather than cost-control. Jonathan Bush opined that health reform will be cost-expansionary. But Andrea Sisko, the main author of a government report predicted modest effects on the  growth of health care cost to accompany a marked increase in access as more than 30 million people gain insurance coverage, although the article citing her report notes that growth in health care spending will increase from its 17.3 percent of the gross domestic product to 19.6 percent in 9 years.

Will our government be forced - by economic realities - to make new changes to health care coverage, limiting benefits for conditions now covered, imposing age barriers to obtaining palliative or even curative therapies, or barring individuals from health care coverage for conditions which they developed  as a result of damage which they self-imposed, such as the use of drugs, high risk sexual behavior, abuse of alcohol, and perhaps even consuming types and quantities of foods known to increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, obesity related joint disease and other conditions? Will government move towards pragmatic limits which will reduce scientific research, impose restrictions which favor the young and healthy, and make individuals primarily responsible for the consequences of lifestyle decisions which end-up costing society money?

Who will judge and who will be judged?  Who will live and  who will die?

Who by Fire?