How to Survive Obamacare

1. Get all necessary but schedulable treatment in before rationing kicks in. If you have needed a new hip or knee, rotator cuff injury or lazy eye treatment, have it done BEFORE the government can deny you the right to have the surgery.

2. Have all elective surgery and treatment done before the insurance mandates drive about 40% of doctors out of the profession. If you have been considering laser eye surgery or lazy eye correction, dental reconstruction or cosmetic surgery, have it done before doctors begin dropping out of the profession and thus treatment becomes harder to have.

3. If you have a choice of health insurance through each spouse, pick the employer who has promised not to drop health insurance after the "public option" is passed. You cannot keep the better health insurance through your employer if they drop insurance coverage.

4. Accelerate dental treatment or seek the single treatment option over that which will require years of treatment. For example, consider planning out the treatment with braces or orthodontics that only take a year than one that stretches over two or three years. The last thing you need is to risk an incomplete or incorrect orthodontic treatment because Obama's socialized medicine has caused your dentist and many others to go out of business or who will refuse socialized medicine's incredibly low reimbursement rates.

5. Sign up for concierge medicine plans or join a concierge medical patient group. It's out of pocket, but these doctors will be there for those who pay for them.

6. Health savings accounts will likely be illegal in a few years due to the government outlawing high deductible health insurance plans as well as their hatred of allowing money to grow tax free. If you have an HSA, use the money well before the account is no longer allowed.

7. Seek permanent treatments over long term treatment. As the Canadians have known for years under their socialized medicine, it can often take months to see a primary care doctor and then as long if not longer to see a specialist. If there is a family history of breast cancer, consider a mastectomy instead of the lumpectomy; if there is a very high risk, such as BRAC1 and 2 gene carriers, rather than the risk of likely breast cancer treatment and life threatening delays due to rationing, consider a mastectomy now. For those with back problems, consider the single but more expensive surgery now than face the possibility that you cannot get the series of lesser procedures later.  Have the tubes tied now after childbirth than worry about being unable to get into an OBGYN in a few years. Instead of a full crown now with possibility of a root canal later (and not being able to find a dentist), consider having the tooth pulled and an implant put in its place.

8. Find doctors now who accept cash but not insurance. If the doctor doesn’t accept insurance, then they are not bound by government mandates limiting care or instituting quotes to the detriment of patients.

9. Separate wants from needs. Massage therapy is a want. Fusing a cracked lumbar to live without pain is a need. Chiropractic “cracking the back” for energy alignment is a want. Spinal decompression so that you can so can walk without pain is a need. Review where you spend your medical dollars so that you know what services can go when the number of doctor’s visits and number of doctors drop after socialized medicine is instituted.

10. Prioritize medical spending. Which medications are essential, such as inhalers for asthmatics and insulin for diabetics? Which medications are optional but useful, such as statins for those with a history of heart disease? If medical costs spike after the government health insurance plan rates go up, know what you must have and what you can let go before disaster strikes.

11. Get acquainted with overseas medical services. This can include a travel agency that specializes in sending people overseas to India for surgery or China for organ transplantation. Knowing who to go to so you can go get treatment could save your life if the government denies you the treatment you need.