No Death Panels? Read This

If you still think there isn’t a policy idea that is essentially the Death Panel idea, read this excellent piece by my colleague Paul Byrne.

End of life planning--the Blumenauer way

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D. Oregon) has strong agenda to encourage early death for United States citizens. Oregon was the first state to legalized physician-assisted suicide. This happened November 8, 1994, by the narrow margin of 51% to 49%. Washington State became the second state in 2008. Montana has been added through a Supreme Court ruling.

Medicare is funded by working United States citizens who made it clear through their voice and votes on November 2, 2010 that they do not want to pay for end-of-life counseling or encouragement. But now the government has regulated that they do not care what the people want. This is evident in the fact that just 3 weeks after the November 2 voting, Medicare regulation was printed Monday November 29, 2010 as Federal Register/Vol. 75, No. 228, which changes definitions of "First annual wellness visit" and "Subsequent annual wellness visit" by adding "a new element (vii)" to the final regulation text that would read as follows: "Voluntary advance care planning as that term is defined in this section upon agreement with the individual." more