16
Aug
2009
“Death Panels” Drama
The battle around rhetoric about death panels is crazy making. There has been a near-constant focus in the last two weeks is on section 1233 of H.R. 3200, which addresses Medicare repayment for counseling on end of life options. Nothing in this section talks about euthanasia or “pulling the plug on grandma.” It is therefore irresponsible and misleading to suggest that it does, and those arguing that point are correct.
However, this bill is 1017 pages long, and there are other provisions besides the end-of-life counseling section that imply indirect government control over when a person receives treatment, some of which would be designed to prolong their life. The creation of a Health Benefits Advisory Committee to “recommend covered benefits and essential, enhanced and premium plans” will determine what’s covered under which plans. Ostensibly those who are not paying for a premium plan will have fewer treatments covered. Someone would therefore be deciding what parts of their care would be paid for – just as insurance companies do now.
If it’s correct to describe insurance companies as deciding who lives or dies by deciding what treatments they’re willing to pay for, then it’s equally accurate to describe government decisions the same way. In short, all panels of people who decide whether life prolonging treatment will be paid for by someone other than the patient can reasonably be described as death panels. The government would just prefer that you only describe the corporate panels that way, not the publicly paid ones.