Health Care Reform and Euthanasia? UPDATE!

Opponents of health care reform have begun making the truly bizarre argument that health care reform is going to lead the government to coerce - or at least manipulate - vulnerable senior citizens into choosing less costly medical options at the end of their lives. They say that this is a form of "euthanasia."

The current House resolution for health care reform, H.R. 3200, contains a clause entitled “Advance Care Planning Consultation” (Section 1233). The section mandates insurance coverage for senior citizens to meet with health professionals once every five years to discuss living wills and limits on end of life medical interventions.

The Bill does not require senior citizens to meet with a health professional every five years to update their living wills. It instead insures that elderly people can afford to do so if they wish! As everyone surely knows, the existence of an up to date "living will" can prevent a great deal of suffering, in addition to preserving valuable medical resources.

Forcing insurers to pay for such voluntary sessions is a fantastic idea - everyone, including the insurance company - benefits. Helping people clarify their wishes before they face a terminal illness will, in most cases, result in patients choosing less expensive palliative care over expensive medical interventions. But why would anyone oppose providing an incentive for people to clarify their wishes prior to becoming gravely ill?

This "liberals want to kill you to save money" crap is pretty hysterical. But I guess some people will believe anything.

Joe H.

UPDATE:

It is far worse than I thought. I stumbbled across this segment of the Rachel Maddow show which provides perfect (and numerous) examples of how far one political party will go to achieve its ends - tell old people that the government is going to kill you? Wow!

But then again, its not a lie if you really believe it! And I think most of the people on the segment do believe. Elected members of Congress no less.

Maddow's quoting Bill Maher was as accurate a description of the current political state of affairs as one could imagine. Maher said:

"[W]e don't have a left and a right party in this country any more. We have a center right party, and a crazy party. And over the last thirty odd years, Democrats have moved to the right, and the right has moved into a mental hospital."