By: Danette Gamble, Kansas City Star Reader Advisory Panel

“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes,” Macbeth, William Shakespear.

This line still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. However, our President has said some things lately that literally scare me to death.

“If you like your current [health insurance] plan, you can keep it.”

And, “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.”

Innocuous statements on the surface. But are they lies? Or, exactly what lies beneath?

As a cancer survivor and a person getting really close to being of Medicare age, these statements terrify me. In an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, under the current Senate bill, the benefits of older Americans who are under Medicare Advantage would be cut in half. No smoke and mirrors. Literally, cut in half! Yikes!

In addition to that, with further cuts in Medicare, doctors will be forced to take on more patients and will receive less compensation. Not very encouraging for a young person thinking of his future career or for doctors who have spent years developing their practice.

By implementing a lot of these proposed changes, we are replacing quality healthcare with quantity healthcare.

When my cancer was discovered, it was less than a centimeter. I took action immediately. I got to choose my doctors, the time and place for my surgery, and the treatment methods after the surgery. I’m happy to say that I am a survivor for six years now, thanks to early detection, thoughtful, careful decisions made by my doctors and me, and quick actions on those decisions.

That is what is frightening me most. With this new healthcare reform, would I still be able to call the shots if I develop cancer again?

If I am 65, will I be put on a list and made to wait until some government healthcare panel thinks the tumor is “big” enough to remove?

Will I have to wait while some panel calculates some formula to determine if I am worth the time and money?

We fear the unknown, and with the winds of change looming ominously in regards to healthcare reform, I am truly frightened.

Will those “pricks of the thumbs” conjure up something “wicked.” Something wicked like taking away my choice of doctor and treatment.