A heart health test that saved the life of former President George W. Bush may have been unavailable under Obamacare.
Doctors discovered that one of Bush’s heart chambers was 95 percent shut off, which usually results in death, according to the National Journal.
Life News reports:
"Sources familiar with the former president’s medical situation told National Journal that a major blockage in a coronary artery discovered during Bush’s annual physical exam in August had almost completely shut off blood flow to one of his heart chambers. ‘He was more than 95% occluded,’ an authoritative source said. ‘With a blockage like that in a main artery you’re supposed to die. He was pretty lucky they caught it.’"
Yet before the 95 percent figure became public, the doctors who had ordered the test whose results sent Bush into urgent surgery were denounced for having done so.
[...]
"If Mr. Bush had visited a general internist practicing sound, evidence-based care, he would not have had cardiac testing. Instead, the doctor would have had conducted age-appropriate cancer screening. For the former president, this would include only colon cancer screening. It no longer would include even prostate-specific antigen testing for cancer. The doctor would have screened for cholesterol, checked for hypertension and made sure the patient was up to date on age-appropriate vaccinations, including those for pneumococcal pneumonia and shingles. Presumably Mr. Bush got these things, and he got the cardiac test as well. What value does a stress test add for an otherwise healthy 67-year-old? No study has shown that this examination improves outcomes."