So Glad I Don't Live 40 Miles West of Here

HotAir relates the dreadful story of Barbara Wagner from Oregon:

Oregon’s state-run health care plan won’t cover a new drug that could extend her life — which is, after all, the entire point of health insurance and health care — but will gladly pay the bill if she decides to stop costing the state more money.

Wagner is, of course, not the first or only one who's experienced this

local oncologists say they’ve seen a change and that their Oregon Health Plan patients with advanced cancer no longer get coverage for chemotherapy if it is considered comfort care.

Ed Morrissey's analysis is spot-on:

This is the entirely predictable result of the shift in thinking of human life as sacred to an entirely materialistic view. Human life becomes a commodity, especially when the state has charge of it and responsibility for its costs. When the state assumes the cost for the most personal and private functions of its citizens, the private and personal become public, and the limits of government disappear.

Do you like French fries? Those cause heart disease, which costs the government X billions of dollars per year, so those are out. How about tanning booths? Skin cancer treatments cost $X billions, too, so we’ll outlaw those. Finally, so what if you want to extend your life an extra couple of years? You can’t generate enough revenue to make up for the cost of the treatment, so the state won’t allow it. If you’d be so kind as to drop dead now, though, that will save some money for a badly-needed sex-change operation.

For those who are too lazy to read the link, there is a happy ending. Genentech, the pharmecutical company who makes the drug she needs, is going to give her a one-year supply (at least). Imagine that...someone putting medicine in the hands of the ill...how is that too complicated for the state? Oh wait...they're too busy making sure people don't pump their own gas...