"We have said there has to be clinical evidence when discriminating on grounds of age."

Critics have raised concern that the policy could lead to the elderly being denied some services.

What’s happening in Britain – the rationing of medical care – and "what will happen here if the health care busybodies are able to force us into some sort of single- or third-party payer or nationalized system, is a convergence of demand crashing into finite supply," reports Investor’s Business Daily.

Socialist health care systems like those in Britain and Canada encourage people to seek more medical treatment than they would if they were paying for it themselves. As a result, the system cannot keep up with demand.

That’s why patients must wait longer to receive basic treatment in Britain, Canada and other nations than in the U.S.

In Canada, it takes 8 1/2 weeks to see a specialist after a referral, and another 9 to 12 weeks until the patient actually is treated by the specialist, according to IBD.

In a free market, decisions about who gets to see a doctor "are made by individuals," IBD states.

"When we pay out of our pocket, we limit our visits to only those where benefits exceed costs. Though employee-paid health care can encourage some overuse, we as a nation tend toward self-rationing. National health care systems don’t have that built-in disincentive against overuse.

"When this is the case, bureaucrats eventually have to step in and ration treatment. That’s the ultimate end for universal health care."

Commenting on the rationing proposal, Britain’s Birmingham Post said: "The fact that people in their 80s and 90s regularly undergo successful operations underlines how dangerous it would be to assume that old age automatically equates to a hopeless case."

Editor's note: