Death Panel Provision Survived

[festus]

House Health Bill
The provision allows Medicare to pay for voluntary counseling to help beneficiaries deal with the complex and painful decisions families face when a loved one is approaching death.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009...-house-health/
AP

Thursday, October 29, 2009

-- It's alive.

The Medicare end-of-life planning provision that 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin said was tantamount to "death panels" for seniors is staying in the latest Democratic health care bill unveiled Thursday.

The provision allows Medicare to pay for voluntary counseling to help beneficiaries deal with the complex and painful decisions families face when a loved one is approaching death.

For years, federal laws and policies have encouraged Americans to think ahead about end-of-life decisions, and make their wishes known in advance through living wills and similar legal documents. But when House Democrats proposed this summer to pay doctors for end-of-life counseling, it touched off a wave of suspicion and anger. Prominent Republicans singled it out as a glaring example of government overreach.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, at the time a lead negotiator on health care legislation, told constituents at a town hall meeting they had good reason to question the proposal.

"I don't have any problem with things like living wills, but they ought to be done within the family," he said. "We should not have a government program that determines you're going to pull the plug on grandma."

Thursday, the sponsor of the provision said the barrage of criticism may have actually helped.

"There is nothing more basic than giving someone the option of speaking with their doctor about how they want to be treated in the case of an emergency," said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore. "I think the outrageous and vindictive attacks may have backfired to help raise awareness about this problem, which is why it's been kept in the bill."

The legislation would allow Medicare to pay for a counseling session with a doctor or clinical professional once every five years. The bill calls for such sessions to be "completely" voluntary, and prohibits the encouragement or promotion of suicide or assisted suicide.

The counseling provision is supported by doctors' groups and AARP, the seniors' lobby. It was not included in health care bills passed by two Senate committees.

[FN1910]

In my observations, limited as they may be, and with no scientific data at all I have found that the ones most likely to take the "While there is breath there is hope" attitude are the ones least likely to be able to pay for it. I don't know that this has anything to do with the "death panels" but is interesting that I have seen many of those who are totally on government assistant are much less likely to "pull the plug" than those with insurance and assets.

Those with nothing to lose are the ones that are least likely to have a living will or families that will make such decisions. With that thought in mind maybe we do need to have a "death panel".

[HK4U]

I sure don't want big brother playing God and deciding if my life is worth saving or not. Could be I am to old, or could be I am not politically correct enough.

[Rman]

To the Marxists now in federal government, the state has replaced God. As a result, life is valued only as they see fit. To them, abortion is not even a moral issue. Old people? They see them as a drag on society; their lives becoming meaningless as they get older.

Words are inadequate to describe this evil being perpretrated on our country.

God help us!