By PETER LEVINE, MPH

Recently, it was reported on CNN that a county in Great Britain has announced a controversial policy to “support patients whose health is at risk from smoking or being very overweight.” The plan for the local clinical commissioning group is to “delay access to routine or non-urgent surgery under the National Health Service until patients improve their health.” Criteria have been established for the time limits and percentage of weight loss required for those with a BMI of over 30 and over 40. For smokers to have elective surgeries would require a patient to go eight weeks or more without a cigarette. They would have to take a breath test to prove their claim of abstinence. The Royal College of Surgeons in the UK opposes this policy. These patients will eventually get surgery, even if they are unable to lose weight or stop smoking, but they will have to wait.

The CCG states that financial savings are not expected. These proposals were developed “with the best interest of the whole patient population of our area in mind!” Interestingly enough, surveys are reporting 85 percent public agreement with these policies. A 2016 report by the Royal College of Surgeons shows that one in three of the clinical commissioning groups that develop policies on a county by county basis are denying or delaying routine surgery to smokers and obese patients in some way. What makes the recent Hertfordshire County decision unusual is that it makes the delay indefinite.

The arguments on both sides of this issue are quite compelling. There is a need for communities to decide how they want their health care resources expended. In the United States, the length and breadth of services that insurance policies promise to cover are more than the system can provide without inflation. On the other hand, restricting access to, or delaying, non-emergency surgery can lead to all sorts of complications, ultimately costing more. The morality is an open question. Ultimately, these types of discussions are going to have to be held, not just in England and Canada, but here in the United States as well.

On a completely separate topic, while I was cleaning out a corner of my office, I found posters from the defunct bi-annual Post-Election Catharsis Party. These parties were held every other year when all levels of government held elections in Lansing. It was sponsored each time by political junkies. The idea was that, after national, state, and local elections, folks from both parties should get together and have a party so the relationships could be maintained, healed, or formed. Political parties that went out of power would have hundreds of government staffers, and sometimes legislators, looking for a job. These parties were held every two years in Lansing at Beggar’s Banquet. I was always thrilled to be one of the sponsors because the purpose of these get-togethers was so important. Sadly, these events are no longer held. In truth, politics have become so contentious in Lansing, that I’m not surprised. The folks from disparate parties do not wish to socialize together. There’s very little working across the aisle, and there certainly is almost no hiring across party lines. Decision-making takes place via rote party affiliation, without input from the other party. Sadly, term limits have made this worse than ever, but that is a whole other discussion. It is just a shame that collegiality has disappeared almost completely from politics. It means that very little is successfully accomplished on behalf of the state. Almost everything is done based on parochial interests. It makes it hard to work out of a mess like this state is experiencing.

As this year ends, we sincerely hope everyone has a peaceful wonderful family-based holiday season full of joy and good health!

Peter Levine is executive director of the Genesee County Medical Society. His column comes to us courtesy of GCMS.