Posted on 12/26/2010 6:57:59 AM PST by tobyhill
When a proposal to encourage end-of-life planning touched off a political storm over “death panels,” Democrats dropped it from legislation to overhaul the health care system. But the Obama administration will achieve the same goal by regulation, starting Jan. 1.
Under the new policy, outlined in a Medicare regulation, the government will pay doctors who advise patients on options for end-of-life care, which may include advance directives to forgo aggressive life-sustaining treatment.
Congressional supporters of the new policy, though pleased, have kept quiet. They fear provoking another furor like the one in 2009 when Republicans seized on the idea of end-of-life counseling to argue that the Democrats’ bill would allow the government to cut off care for the critically ill.
The final version of the health care legislation, signed into law by President Obama in March, authorized Medicare coverage of yearly physical examinations, or wellness visits. The new rule says Medicare will cover “voluntary advance care planning,” to discuss end-of-life treatment, as part of the annual visit.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
And where are all the folks who said Palin was dumb?
bump
Isn’t there something a wee bit unethical, if you can’t get something through Congress, to do the same thing by fiat? “Will of the people” and all that?
Sounds like something we can pull the plug on when the new Congress convenes...
Estate Taxes + Death Panels = Will people be denied care so that the gov’t can get their hands on people’s money?
Scary thought.
To 0bama, the needs of the many ALWAYS take precedent over the needs of the few...
unless those needs of the few are HIS own or his Immediate Family’s.
Then it is most likely some form of “Social Injustice” and “you all can go F yourself”!!
Yeah, it’s more than a wee bit unethical, but they’re Democrats. They don’t care about ethics.
They’ll establish a starting point by using most extreme of cases. That way they’ll get as many people as possible to agree it’s probably best to let the people pass away. Then they’ll apply pressure relentlessly to inch that line forward. Evil never rests.
This is plainly and simply dictatorship and it must be stopped.
Oooh, biiiiiiiig mistake Obama, you’ll see. Old people vote.
When some of us “old folks” start taking people with us when they deny benefits they will change their tone!Got to go after the a$$holes who voted yes for this legislative POS!
Its a good thing the lame (duck) congress is gone or he would get this too.
One of many.
Ah yes... acting with “consent of the governed.”
Death Panels? Rationed Care? Never Again? Welcome to the Obama, Pelosi, Reid et al. DeathCare Holocaust Plan designed to reduce social security costs. Next, will we see boxcars and camps and Mengele? How about your new politically-correct, non-English speaking Government Physician from a Third World Country? Anyone approaching 65 years old would be well advised to call (202) 225-3121 and ask to speak to their elected political hack by name. Ask them if they and their family will be participating in the Liberal DemocRAT Holocaust DeathCare plan? Of course, don’t expect to to be allowed to speak to anyone other than a young, arrogant staffer who doesn’t even know what’s going on in the world. Constituent comments truly aren’t wanted only their votes and donations prior to an election.
November 2012 can’t get here soon enough to fine tune the hypocrites that we put in office in 2010. We must clean more of the DC sewer. Our continued cleaning project must start on January 1, 2011 and continue through 2016 at the least.
Sounds like Caligula or Nero when the Imperial Roman treasury ran out of gold. Presidential candidate McCain did say that we had nothing to fear from an Obama presidency./spit
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2639673/posts
Calling this “death panels” is bait and switch. It’s not the top-down rationing that even Krugman was referring to when he stepped in it and endorsed Sarah Palin’s conceptualization of it last month. Limiting access to drugs and procedures by exclusion is the idea behind death panels as I have understood it,and it is a far greater threat.
Nailed it!
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