Euthanasia

By the way, Betsy McCaughey has been working for some time in a position that would benefit greatly from leaving the health care in this country as is.  She only resigned from her position in Aug of 09 to "to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest during the national debate over healthcare reform." (in her own words).  She has a long history of opposition to any health care reform, and obviously has her own political and financial agenda.  Here are the op-eds she has authored in the past:

   * opposed 1989 and 1991 proposals for redistricting of New York City Council districts to comply with the Voting Rights Act.[26][27]

   * supported the 1991 nomination of Clarence Thomas to be an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.[28]

   * opposed a 1992 proposal for redistricting of New York State judicial districts to comply with the Voting Rights Act.[29]

   * warned of an Electoral College deadlock in the 1992 U.S. presidential election.[30]

   * supported the Tisch family-owned Liggett Group tobacco company in the 1992 Cipollone v. Liggett Group U.S. Supreme Court case.[31]

   * praised the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey U.S. Supreme Court decision restricting abortion.[32]

   * criticized lawsuits asking state courts to order racial integration across town lines of affluent predominantly white and Asian American suburban schools and poor predominantly African American and Hispanic city schools in Connecticut and New Jersey.[33]

Oh, and the Lewen group is nothing for than a front for UHC.  They are a sister company to UHC, and they just happen to do their own studies regarding health care- completely unbiased I am sure.

Okay, I'm done with the political junk- I can go to a political blog if I want to continue.  If we want to actually discuss the really issues pertaining to health care and our profession I am all ears.

Tim,  I usually enjoy your posts, and the discussions that ensue.  I would appreciate it if you would stop interjecting your own political views via your professional blog.  We can debate the issues of health care minus the many myths you insist on expounding upon from god knows what resource.  Did you even read the most recent form of the proposed bill?  I do not wish to have a political debate via this avenue, but really?  Every established news source has called out the euthanasia accusation as false, and if you read the bill you would already know that.  You would also have much more insight into the actual changes that are being proposed with medicare.  I have heard your many complaints about what they are possibly going to do to reform the system, but I have yet to hear any ideas from your end that would comprehensively fix the problem.  You know as much as I do, the insurance industry, in many instances, is irresponsible and unacceptable.  You also know that, with its faults, medicare (government run) is one of the best insurances our geri population can hope to have (especially in comparison to independent insurers)!  Let's have an honest debate on how we can better this system, and make it affordable for the country.  Please tone down the rhetoric if you care to keep all of your readers engaged!

Kathryn-

"There isn't any mandate for the patient to take counseling. The provision only mandates that end-of-life counseling, if sought by the patient, be a covered expense, but not more often than once in 5 years unless the patient was seriously ill.  This is a compassionate, sensible provision."

And what will they get counseled about? How to die? How to take their own life? That's compassionate?

The government has no business dealing with end of life matters, PERIOD. Yea, the system is broke and we can't afford to pay to care for our seniors, but we also can't tell them it's time to check out and stop being a burden to the system either. We need to tell Washington to start taking what they dish out, if they had to live on Social Security and Medicare when they retired I'm sure the system would be fixed tomorrow.

So, what will you tell your parents or grandparents about getting old? That there is no money for healthcare and they either need to suffer or die? Can't you see where this will go in the coming years? First it will apply to the terminally ill, then to any senior citizen, then it will apply to any illness regardless of age. My choice to establish a Living Will = Yes, government telling me to do it = NO.

Unfortunate to see such misinformation here. There isn't any mandate for the patient to take counseling. The provision only mandates that end-of-life counseling, if sought by the patient, be a covered expense, but not more often than once in 5 years unless the patient was seriously ill.  This is a compassionate, sensible provision.

It couldn't be more clear that in the selected quote, President Obama is talking about the importance of personal choice in end-of-life matters. Isn't that what we all want?

In his own words:

<i>OBAMA: But, look, the first thing for all of us to understand is  that <b>we</b> actually have some - some choices to make about how <b>we</b> want to deal with <b>our own</b> end-of-life care. And that's one of the things I think that we can all promote, and this is not a big government program. This is something that <b>each of us individually can do</b>, is to draft and sign a living will so that <b>we're very clear with our doctors about how we want</b> to approach the end of life.</i>

The myth of forced counseling, euthanasia, and "death panels" originated as intentional distortions by health insurance industry lobbyists and PR firms such as Betsy McCaughey and the Lewin Group, to poison people against health care reform in general.

Crae-

So who would be the one to determine if this lady, even though she is 1/1000, have or not have some form of care to prolong her life? I do not want the government telling me I'm too old for a pacemaker if I make it to 100 and want to stay around for a few more years. And who's decision would it be to go down the third floor of a nursing home and say this one goes but this one stays? In a daze or not, there is only one being that I want in charge of when I leave this world.

Tim

Mr. Cruz-

I am not saying that people who don't work will have no insurance. I just want to control my own insurance needs. I believe that if I work, I should have better coverage than someone who refuses to work. If the cancer patient got cancer because they sat at home refusing to work and smoked three packs a day, yes I'm sorry but Medicaid is their insurance. On the other hand if they got cancer from exposure to chemicals on the job, their company should be responsible to carry their insurance to cover their healthcare for the remaining days of their life. Again I believe that the biggest problem with insurances are the outrageous salaries many of the higher ups in these companies collect. Any government run program will suffer the same fate, enourmous salaries doled out to a bloated staff of people designated as "managers" of the system.

Thank you for your comments.  I don't think the government has any business making those kind of choices for us.  While I don't believe in extraordinary measures to prolong life, it should NOT be the government's decision and counseling every 5 years!!!!!!!  A little intrusive, I think.  Actually, more than a little.  I gotta tell you, if all that stuff is in there as you say - its more than a little inappropriate.  It seems that "Big Brother" is here.

I love the fact that there are wonderful spunky woman like Hazel in the world but she is 1/ 1000. There are so many people on the 3rd floor of a nursing home who have know idea who or what they are and who sit and drool all day and who are on a lot of medications to keep them going. Others cry and beg to "get out". I am the kind of person who takes in stray dogs and stray kids but please put me out of my misery if I don't know who I am. There are so many people who are living in a daze. Others live independantly for years.

"Anyone who works will have health insurance. That is a better plan than having the government dictate what we can have and can not have."%0d%0a%0d%0a%0d%0aTim, not every one can work and you know this, considering you are a critical thinker, to a degree. What do you say about a cancer patient that needs treatment and cannot work? What is this individuals options for health insurance? Medicaid? Please. %0d%0a%0d%0aAs a medical professional, I was expecting a little less apathy on your part.

Anyone who works will have health insurance. That is a better plan than having the government dictate what we can have and can not have.

Is having no health insurance a better option?