Aug 17, 2009 6:16 pm US/Central
Reality Check: Health Care 'Death Panels'
(WCCO)
There are a lot of e-mails and articles being spread around about the health care bill. Among the cruelest and scariest deceptions is that it encourages euthanasia and suicide for old people.
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin calls them
"death panels."
And other top Republicans say the health care bill encourages euthanasia and suicide for old people. A falsehood
first enunciated by former New York Lt. Governor Betsy McCaughey on the Fred Thompson radio program.
"The Congress would make it mandatory … that every five years, people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner," said McCaughey on July 16, 2009.
This is FALSE, and deceptive.
The health care bill allows Medicare to pay for
end-of-life counseling sessions with a doctor, if you want it. It allows for extraordinary measures to keep you alive or not; and whether you want a family member to make health decisions for you if you can't.
It also includes
hospice care if you need it.
IN FACT...
All of us have the
legal right to make this kind advance care planning, including living wills.
It's been federal law for nearly 20 years.
That's Reality Check.
To check the resources for this Reality Check, click on the links below.
Advance Care Planning: Preferences for Care at the End of Life
Federal Patient Self Determination Act 1990
FactCheck.org: False Euthanasia Claims
Snopes.com: Euthanasia Counseling
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Northstar Opens Despite Efforts To Block
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
