DEATH PANEL MUSINGS

NO 'DEATH PANEL' IN HOUSE BILL

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR (AP)

"Then what's all the fuss about?"

A: A provision in the House bill written by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., would allow

Medicare to pay doctors for voluntary counseling sessions that address end-of-life issues.

The conversations between doctor and patient would include living wills, making a close

relative or a trusted friend your health care proxy, learning about hospice as an option for

the terminally ill and information about pain medications for people suffering chronic

discomfort.

The sessions would be covered every five years, more frequently if someone is gravely ill.

Q: Who supports the provision?

A: The American Medical Association, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization

and Consumers Union are among the groups supporting the provision. AARP, the seniors' lobby,

is taking out print advertisements this week that label as false the claim that the

legislation will empower the government to take over life-and-death decisions from

individuals.

Q: Should the federal government be getting involved with living wills and end-of-life

questions — decisions that are highly personal and really difficult?

A: It already is.

The government requires hospitals to ask adult patients if they have a living will, or

"advance directive." If the patient doesn't have one, and wants one, the hospital has to

provide assistance. The mandate on hospitals was instituted during a Republican

administration, in 1992, under then-President George H.W. Bush.

Here is the link to the article :
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jrxylOzrAmdb5s_98jqjr6I0zw0QD9A09HO80

Seeing is believing, look it up.
Ed

PALIN OVER THE EDGE

Sarah Palin's statement on her FaceBook page on Friday, Aug. 7th mirrors the absolute ignorance of many of the recent protesters at the Townhall meetings.
From MSNBC :

"The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care," the former Republican vice presidential candidate wrote. "Such a system is downright evil," Palin wrote.

The allegation appears to be based on a provision of the House bill that would require Medicare to PAY for end-of-life counseling sessions, on a VOLUNTARY basis, for beneficiaries who WANT the service. Medicare already covers hospice care. And legislation passed by Congress in 1990 requires that patients be asked if they have a living will.

Read the entire article here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32340009/ns/politics-white_house

Also watch this video to further scare yourself :
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/32337676#32337676

For a complete reading of the counseling provisions in the bill, the infamous page 425, see :
http://urbanlegends.about.com/b/2009/07/27/health-care-bill-page-425-the-truth.htm


My discourse is this :
None of the versions of the Healthcare Reform bills say anything about standing in front of a bureaucratic panel of ANY KIND FOR ANY REASON, let alone an Obama 'DEATH PANEL'.
The absurdity of such a statement is beyond belief and fortifies the sense that Palin has no credibility as a leader of reasonable people. (She is apparently still a leader of unreasonable people). If nothing else, her statement shows that she has not read any of the versions of the bill. If she has, she apparently is unable to understand what she has read. Next thing you know she also will insist that the Government keep their G-D hands off of her parents Medicare.

That's the truth, look it up.
Ed