The Buffett Medical Rule
You may have heard that Warren Buffett was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. You may have heard that he has elected to get radiation treatment. I don’t know if Warren has his own insurance or is using Medicare but someone is paying for it. What is interesting is that the United States Preventive Services Task Force recommends to stop checking the PSA after age 75. Actually, they recommend not checking the PSA at all due to the controversy on not knowing if it really helps or not. That being said, they DEFINITELY feel it should be stopped after 75 because most people die from something OTHER than the prostate cancer. Guess how old Warren is? Mr. “I want to help the little guy out” is 81. He shouldn’t have ever been tested!. Even though our medical system is hemorrhaging money it is good to know that the rich can still get around the basic recommendations.
He’s 81 years old but as healthy as a sixty year old. Actuaries would say he has at least a ten year life expectancy. So it is totally reasonable to check his PSA. And for him to be treated.
I like to pronounce this guy’s last name “Buffet” as in the French word describing a self-service meal or salad bar…
I listened to “Buffet’s” interview with Charlie Rose, in which he lamented that he paid 15% capital gains taxes, while his company salaried employees paid over 30% income taxes… Charlie Rose seemed oh so very concerned about this. Were I doing the interview I would have asked Mr. Buffet why he didn’t address this inequity by writing a check to the IRS to make up for the difference….But then, I’m not Charlie Rose…
Could it be that capital gains taxes are lower than salary income taxes because those who invest in the stock markets take a greater risk than those who do not invest capital and get paid a salary? Capital investors stand to lose money if their investment fails. Current IRS laws do not allow them to “deduct” bad investments beyond certain minimum amounts. It is precisely this great risk of losing capital that justifies the difference between captital gains taxes and “straight” income tax rates. A salaried employee takes no risks with his income (unless he chosses to invest it somehow).
I would expect that a stock-marketeer like Buffet would understand this. Apparently he doesn’t, or maybe he does and has a political agenda that he prefers to pursue.
I’m pretty sure that Mr. Buffet, however brilliant he may be as a capitalist investor, knows diddly-squat about medicine.
You can book it that Medicare is paying for it. He speaks with forked tongue.
The advice is not to SCREEN after age 75 but what if there are significant symptoms and an enlarged nodular prostate, I guess a PSA could be indicated.
What are the numbers of “failure to diagnose” suits for not ordering a PSA and the average settlement? We need some support from the legal systems and judges to uphold these recommendations in court. Good luck with that.
There is a great piece on this http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/buffetts-prostate-cancer-poor-decisions-201204234621 I’m sharing with patients.