TW: Bad policy. What was proposed briefly to be included in health care reform and shot down as "death panels" would have helped many folks. Instead it was demagogued to death. Where were the moderates as our political leaders either cowered like frightened children or joined the disinformation campaign with glee?
From Robert Reich:
"Three years ago, my mother died after a long and painful illness. During her last months she was only partially conscious, and in her brief intervals of awareness was often distraught. At several points my father, sister, and I met with doctors to figure out how to ease her obvious suffering with pain medications, and how we could get her into a hospice facility. We could afford the counseling, but millions of other families cannot -- which is why one of the useful heathcare reforms now moving through Congress authorizes Medicare to reimburse doctors for such voluntary end-of-life consultations. The American Medical Association and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization support the provision...
Health care is already rationed, of course. Those who can't afford health insurance don't get much of it, except in emergency rooms. For those who have insurance, the rationing is done by prepaid medical groups, the legacies of HMOs, that decide what drugs and procedures their members will get. Or it's done by insurance company personnel who decide what will be covered. But for the scaremongers to say that under the healthcare reform proposals now being considered, government will do the rationing -- and that government bureaucrats will decide whether people live or die -- is odious. It's a deliberate lie that preys upon the fears of many people who already scared as hell about loss of their jobs, healthcare, homes, and savings.The "town meetings" that are now spewing such anger reflect deepseated fears that are welling up across America during this economic crisis. Healthcare reform may ease some of these fears. But the demagogues that are manipulating those fears for political gain don't give a hoot. Have they no shame?
http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2009/08/sarah-palins-death-panels.html
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