.jpg)
Betsy McCaughey / Wikimedia Commons
Opponents of health care reform on the Right and in the insurance industry have been employing scare tactics every time they step in front of a microphone and open their mouths. One of the parts of the proposed health care reform legislation they’ve been grossly exaggerating and downright lying about is aimed at both seniors and aging baby-boomers, and that is that the health care reform will force seniors into counseling every 5 years in order to try and convince them that it would be better for society to choose death over life. In other words, the government would be promoting euthanasia.
Part of this inaccurate portrayal of one of the proposed health care bills, was started by anti-health care reform sensationalist Betsy McCaughey, on former presidential candidate Fred Thompson’s radio show when McCaughey claimed that on page 425 “the Congress would make it mandatory … that every five years, people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner, how to decline nutrition, how to decline being hydrated, how to go into hospice care … all to do what’s in society’s best interest … and cut your life short.”
.jpg)
AP Photo / Lauren Victoria Burke
Nothing could be farther from the truth, but by quoting page numbers she lends credibility to her claim, this of course is eaten up by Right-Wingers. Then you have actual members of Congress fanning the flames of falsehood and the spread of lies becomes even more viral. House Minority Leader John Boehner warned Americans about the same provision claiming that it "may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia if enacted into law."
Page 425 of H.R. 3200 defines the term “advance care planning consultation” a voluntary consultation between a patient and his or her doctor which as provided for in the bill, Medicare would pay for every five years. McCaughey’s claim that it would be mandatory “that every five years, people in Medicare have a required counseling session,” is typical of lies that spring from her mouth when she starts discussing health care issues. There is nothing mandatory about it, and seniors should be happy that Medicare will pay for consultation with an expert on such subjects as the uses of having a living will and durable powers of attorney, the roles and responsibilities of a health care proxy, national and state resources which assist consumers and their families with advance care planning, and of course planning for end-of-life services and supports such as palliative care and hospice.
McCaughey and Representative Boehner would like to twist the term “palliative care” into a portrayal of convincing people to “pull the plug”, but unfortunately, it is a fact of life that most of us will some day face up to the decisions defined on page 425. Palliative care as defined in Wikipedia is “any form of medical care or treatment that concentrates on reducing the severity of disease symptoms, rather than striving to halt, delay, or reverse progression of the disease itself or provide a cure.”
Palliative care and hospice is nothing new, and though it is not an easy subject for anyone to discuss, these are choices that are better left to be made in advance by the individual who is facing the end of his or her life, than to leave the burden of these decisions to their surviving children or other family members.
In Broward County, Florida, more than 14 percent of the population is over age 65, that’s more than 250,000 people who are potentially being frightened by the scare tactics of the likes of Betsy McCaughey and John Boehner. That’s a quarter of a million American’s who are being duped into being frightened of a provision of health care reform that will actually help them in their senior years. A quarter of a million people who may actually believe the lies that are being fabricated merely for political reasons, and the desperate attempts by the GOP to avoid complete political implosion.
(Photo of Betsey McCaughey is from Wikimedia Commons: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. In short: you are free to distribute and modify the file as long as you attribute its author(s) or licensor(s). Author: Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths. Original uploader was DickClarkMises at en.wikipedia)
Comments
Sounds to me, based on the definition Skordelis himself provides from Wikipedia, that Page 124 of H.R. 3200 is suggesting exactly what McCaughey said. The elderly (that includes me) are going to receive instruction on how they might reduce pain rather than pursue a remedy, or go so far as to assist them in how to end their lives. It's the same old story; "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you." Give me a break.
THANK YOU! I am so tired of people falling for all these lies!!
This is a wonderful article that brings light to a truly incorrect idea spread by McCaughey; she is poisoning the minds of the people.
The Washington Post disagrees with this column.
Powerlineblog.com
An Honest Look At The House Dems' End-Of Life Counseling Regime
8/8/09
"Democratic politicians and the MSM consider it a given that concerns about the "end-of-life counseling" provision in Section 1233 of a House-drafted version of health care legislation are nothing but the unfounded product of right-wing fear-mongering.
But Charles Lane of the Washington Post, certainly no right- winger has taken a careful look at Section 1233 and finds that he too is concerned. Lane argues that the "comnsultations" provided for in Section 1233, while not mandatory, are not "purely voluntary" either as the Democrats have claimed. Thus, he writes, "Section 1233 lets doctors initiate the chat and gives them an incentive - money - to do so. Indeed, that's an incentive to insist."
As Lane notes, common sense tells us that Section 1233 would place senior citizens in a situation where they will feel pressured...
Cont. above
...to sign end-of-life directives that they would not otherwise sign. The federal government should not be in the business of skewing end-of-life counsel, and thus end-of-life decisions.
Lane concludes:
Ideally, the delicate decisions about how to manage life's end would be made in a setting that is neutral in both appearance and fact. Yes it's good to have a doctor's perspective but Section 1233 goes beyond facilitating doctor input to preferring it. Indeed, the measure would have an interested party - the government - recruit doctors to sell the elderly on living wills, hospice care, and their associated providers, professions and organizations. You don't have to be a right-wing wacko to question that approach."
powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/08/024228.php
At the end, Charles Lane of says "No authority got paid by federal bean-counters to influence me. I have a hunch I'm not the only one who would rather do it that way."
The last thing the elderly need is doctors who have an incentive - money - to pressure the them into making decisions that they otherwise would not make. The last thing the elderly need is authority figures (pushed on by federal bean-counters) to tell them how much they will be helping their families (and others younger than them) if they will but refuse certain care and treatments.
Yes, the gov't has NO business being in the business of skewing end-of-life counsel and thus end-of-life decisions.
And we certainly don't need Section 1233 with doctor input going beyond facilitation to preference.
Ray,
Doctors have one incentive now, and that is to do as many procedures as possible because that's how they keep their Porches and Corvettes. This practice creates a tremendous strain on the health care system and causes rates to increase at record rates. And the bottom line is that it doesn't do diddly for patients.
Believe me no doctor is going to convince their "cash cow" to end their life earlier. The longer the patient lies there the more money they make.
Get off the Sarah Palin mentality and deal in reality.
just remember, you loudmouths are the ones paying there house payments, quit talking and do something about it, cry, cry, cry, you sound just like um!!!
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!