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It's baaaaaack!

VF500

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The story that just won't die. Guess what has popped up again, the day after Christmas? Death panels are back in the news as of today. What Obama can't get through congress he end-runs around congress with administrative regulations. OK liberals, what's your excuse this time?

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.


New Medicaid rule encourages doctors to advise patients on end-of-life options - The Boston Globe
 
The story that just won't die. Guess what has popped up again, the day after Christmas? Death panels are back in the news as of today. What Obama can't get through congress he end-runs around congress with administrative regulations. OK liberals, what's your excuse this time?

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.


New Medicaid rule encourages doctors to advise patients on end-of-life options - The Boston Globe

I highlighted the important words. You are playing "the sky is falling game". I understand what you WANT the article to say, but that's not what it actually says.
 
The story that just won't die. Guess what has popped up again, the day after Christmas? Death panels are back in the news as of today. What Obama can't get through congress he end-runs around congress with administrative regulations. OK liberals, what's your excuse this time?............

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. [/COLOR]

New Medicaid rule encourages doctors to advise patients on end-of-life options - The Boston Globe

"May" being the key word, it may also contain a policy for doctors to administer cherry flavoured enemas to patients with chicken pox.
 
"May" being the key word, it may also contain a policy for doctors to administer cherry flavoured enemas to patients with chicken pox.

When I had the chicken pox, I never got such treatement. Fortunately.
 
After observing, up close and personal, my mother's "end-of-life" experience I have mixed thoughts on the subject. She was on her way out and they were keeping her alive all on Medicare's tab. In the last 6 weeks of her life, I bet the hospital and doctor's billed the government more than 150,000.00 on the ol' girl's demise. However, when the well started running dry, they kindly "put my mother down" much like a veterinarian might do with a terminally ill animal.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they could keep her around a bit longer. I know she would have appreciated it too if she had been conscience enough to realize she was still alive.

However, if it was me, I would have had them pull the plug as soon as they knew I was knocking on heaven's door, before I could no longer wipe my own ass.

Moral of the story: Make your own "end of life" decisions now when you are clear headed and logical, instead of leaving these decisions in the hands of those who just can't bring themselves to let you go. (Including doctor$ and hospital$.) Leaving the "pull the plug" decision to someone else is not fair to you or them when the grim reaper comes calling. Needlessly postponing the inevitable might be a cash cow to the medical profession but it's a drain on society. If they could have saved/extended my mom's life and given her some sort of quality of life, I would have approved of a million dollar treatment. But she was merely kept alive to drain the teat of the gov't cash cow for as long as they could suck it.
 
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The story that just won't die. Guess what has popped up again, the day after Christmas? Death panels are back in the news as of today. What Obama can't get through congress he end-runs around congress with administrative regulations. OK liberals, what's your excuse this time?

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.


New Medicaid rule encourages doctors to advise patients on end-of-life options - The Boston Globe

OMFG. What on earth is wrong with advising doctors to talk to their patients about end-of-life options??? And to encourage them to sign Health Care Powers of Attorney? And to execute Living Wills?

Do you not understand that medicine is as much about money as it is about any other aspect of a patient's health? It is time that we faced the fact that we are going to die!!! And time we faced that prolonging a patient's suffering in the name of some twisted sense of humanity is wrong.

At $10,000 a pop, doctors and hospitals are quite happy pumping chemotherapy into dying patients' veins until the very end. It is time we as a society grew up and faced reality. We are going to die. Terminal illnesses exist. And even if we can cure every terminal illness on the planet earth, we will simply dry up and blow away.

Death panels. Ridiculous.
 
The concern is that certain "end of life options" that are cheaper than treatment will be the ones promoted. I have no problem if the patient wants to give up, I just don't want them talked into it.
 
The concern is that certain "end of life options" that are cheaper than treatment will be the ones promoted. I have no problem if the patient wants to give up, I just don't want them talked into it.

But that's not what's being proposed. What's being proposed is the discussion of ALL end-of-life options. I think that's appropriate. When my mom was dying, she was given the option of being put in a coma for a week... and then dying, or just dying. She chose the latter. The options are just that. Folks making a big deal out of this are wrong.
 
It's the potential for abuse that worries some. That there might me a preference for "talking up" the pain pill and a quicker death over the chemotherapy or hip replacement because it's cheaper. Obama's already suggested something to that effect, hence the concern.
 
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It's the potential for abuse that worries some. That there might me a preference for "talking up" the pain pill and a quicker death over the chemotherapy or hip replacement because it's cheaper. Obama's already suggested something to that effect, hence the concern.

I can understand the concern for abuse, but there's a concern for abuse the other way, too. I would like to see some specific guidelines and regulations in how these discussions get presented. First should be just all the facts and options. Second, should be repurcussions and outcome possibilities of each option. Third should be questions from the patient. Something like that should be a regulation and the patient should sign a form indicating that this is the procedure they received. I'm sure there would be instances of abuse going either way, but something like this could minimize that, especially if there are fines for not following the regulation.
 
I have no trouble with laying out the options and letting the patient decide. You're right, the potential for abuse is there on both sides. There just seems to sometimes be this notion that choosing to fight for your life is somehow selfish or foolish. I just wouldn't want those attitudes to permeate these end of life discussions. Anyway, sincerely, sorry about your mom.
 
I have no trouble with laying out the options and letting the patient decide. You're right, the potential for abuse is there on both sides. There just seems to sometimes be this notion that choosing to fight for your life is somehow selfish or foolish. I just wouldn't want those attitudes to permeate these end of life discussions. Anyway, sincerely, sorry about your mom.

I agree. ALL options need to laid out there, objectively.

And thanks. Happened 9 years ago. It was a tough decision, but she knew that the end was near either way and wanted to be coherant.
 
I agree. ALL options need to laid out there, objectively.

And thanks. Happened 9 years ago. It was a tough decision, but she knew that the end was near either way and wanted to be coherant.
I totally understand and respect that.
 
Only in conservative world is a consult that encourages the elderly to pre-plan their end-of-life care taking away their choice in end-of-life care...
 
Only in conservative world is a consult that encourages the elderly to pre-plan their end-of-life care taking away their choice in end-of-life care...

Not all conservatives Deuce. Just the ones who are blind partisans.
 
The idea of someone being talked into offing themselves through the medical system is horrible, but I just don't see doctors, who have taken the hippocratic oath as being inclined to do that. This is about empowering the patient.
 
The concern is that certain "end of life options" that are cheaper than treatment will be the ones promoted. I have no problem if the patient wants to give up, I just don't want them talked into it.

The HC bill had the doctors having the conversation every 5 yrs. Now it's every year. Are they going to ask people to help us out with the deficit by dying earlier or what? Knowing that the HC czar what's his name Berwick? is all for rationing to keep costs down, kind of makes you wonder.
 
The HC bill had the doctors having the conversation every 5 yrs. Now it's every year. Are they going to ask people to help us out with the deficit by dying earlier or what? Knowing that the HC czar what's his name Berwick? is all for rationing to keep costs down, kind of makes you wonder.

So, you believe that doctors would council people to die early for the sake of the government? Do you realize how insane this sounds?
 
So, you believe that doctors would council people to die early for the sake of the government? Do you realize how insane this sounds?

I don't want someone bugging me about death and how expensive my treatments are every year. Do patients ask for the counseling or is it forced on them? Are they going to ask questions like "do you sometimes feel like you are a burden to your family?"
Do you sometimes feel like your life is no longer worth living? Never, sometimes, often, very often?
I want to know that they aren't going to guide people in the direction of dying sooner rather than receiving treatments or surgeries that they need.


The new rule authorizes Medicare to pay for yearly "wellness" visits for patients, which is simply a physical and discussion between doctor and patient about "voluntary advance care planing" to discuss end-of-life treatment. Doctors will be able to provide information that will help the patient decide how aggressively they wish to be treated if and when they are too sick to decide for themselves.


Medicare to Revive End-of-Life Decision - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com
 
The concern is that certain "end of life options" that are cheaper than treatment will be the ones promoted. I have no problem if the patient wants to give up, I just don't want them talked into it.

great, then you clearly support this, because no one is talking anybody into anything.
 
I don't want someone bugging me about death and how expensive my treatments are every year. Do patients ask for the counseling or is it forced on them? Are they going to ask questions like "do you sometimes feel like you are a burden to your family?"
Do you sometimes feel like your life is no longer worth living? Never, sometimes, often, very often?
I want to know that they aren't going to guide people in the direction of dying sooner rather than receiving treatments or surgeries that they need.


The new rule authorizes Medicare to pay for yearly "wellness" visits for patients, which is simply a physical and discussion between doctor and patient about "voluntary advance care planing" to discuss end-of-life treatment. Doctors will be able to provide information that will help the patient decide how aggressively they wish to be treated if and when they are too sick to decide for themselves.


Medicare to Revive End-of-Life Decision - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com

it's just awful that democrats want people to be informed, right? goes against the grain of any good hannity republican, doesn't it? what happened to taking responsibility for yourself, isn't that what you people preach?
 
I highlighted the important words. You are playing "the sky is falling game". I understand what you WANT the article to say, but that's not what it actually says.

Yes, but what it doesn't say is: it WON'T include......
 
it's just awful that democrats want people to be informed, right? goes against the grain of any good hannity republican, doesn't it? what happened to taking responsibility for yourself, isn't that what you people preach?

You people? How very accepting you are.
 
I highlighted the important words. You are playing "the sky is falling game". I understand what you WANT the article to say, but that's not what it actually says.

Oh, I see. So you think there's really no possible way this will ever get pushed in through a side door or "pole vault over the wall" as Nancy Pelosi said they were going to do with health care? Well then, why do the **** roaches keep bringing it back up, especially the day after Christmas when they think no one is paying any attention? You just hide and watch what your slime ball buddies have in store.
 
it's just awful that democrats want people to be informed, right? goes against the grain of any good hannity republican, doesn't it? what happened to taking responsibility for yourself, isn't that what you people preach?

Thanks for addressing my post:sarcasticclap
 
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