Fifteen years ago, Colorado's governor Richard Lamm got himself in trouble by saying elderly people have "a duty to die and get out of the way."
Lamm knew how much governments spend on end-of-life care. About one-third of Medicare's budget goes for costs incurred in the last one year of life, and 40% of that goes for expenses in the last one month of life. It is so much cheaper if old people just do their duty and get out of the way rather than go to hospitals, get expensive tests and surgeries, and take medications.
Congress knows this too, which is why they include Section 1233 in the proposed health care reform bill.
Under Section 1233, doctors get paid to sit down with all patients over 65 years old to talk about end-of-life issues. The idea is to encourage people to sign living wills and enter hospices rather than getting expensive treatments. Since hospice provides only pain relief and palliative care, everyone else saves money. Under the new rules, you enter hospice when you have only 18 months to live, compared to today's six months- so this way you speed things along even faster for us.
Section 1233 is aimed in particular at patients who have expensive diseases, such as cancer and congestive heart failure. In states where physician-assisted suicide is legal, end-of-life talks would no doubt include assisted suicide, the cheapest option of all....
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Jane, this is simply not true. Article 1233 provides funds for those who wish to seek end-of-life consultation. It does not require consultation, it does not coerce the elder to find a cheap way to do, it does not dictate state-managed euthanasia.
This lie has been debunked again and again over the past few days and it is blatantly irresponsible and unprofessinal of you to perpetuate it.
If you wish to post opinion, by all means do so. But have some ethics. Know your facts. Do not work to damage the ill and elderly by confusing them about how public health care will help save their lives.