I guess the town hall meetings … are starting to have an impact!
Like giving in to a temper tantrum.

Too bad the shouting and screaming purveyors of myth and fear forced them to withdraw a sane and rational provision of the option (not compulsion) for counseling on end-of-life legal and medical matters. It does not bode well for rational discussion or good policy.

So am I to assume that Ms McGinty is happy now that seniors won’t get to have a counseling session with their doctors regarding how to make their remaining years comfortable? I guess she was in agreement with the raving mobs who insisted that “end of life care” meant that grandma and grandpa would be terminated by an evil government panel like the right-wing radio talkers said. How sad and pathetic.

Yes, this means that Michelle herself may go through extra years of suffering. But she has every right to be in favor of the laws that give her this result.

More false witness, I am sorry to say. I would think that someone who spends so much time studying original material like the Bible would be able to point us to the exact language in the proposed legislation that is anything like what you are describing here. The position you are supporting is the denial of funding for meetings with doctors so that patients can tell them what their end-of-life wishes are. The denial of service that you call a “death panel” is what exists under the current system of privately-held insurance companies determining without accountability or appeal what services will be reimbursed based on their own cost-benefit analysis of what a life is worth, with no relation to the wishes of the patient or the family. Are you telling us that you and members of your family do not want to have the discussion with the doctor about what treatment you want?

I agree Michelle, & it’s rather alarming that so many are so trusting of the government- ANY government- but especially one which has lied so much about so many things already. Like Charles Krauthammer said, “Watch what he does, not what he says” because we cannot trust what comes out his mouth, or many in the House & Senate. I get the impression that half the country isn’t reading or researching very much, or at least with an open mind. They’re just believing what is spoonfed to them; it makes me sad.
And what are these comments about if the government doesn’t REQUIRE a “counseling session” every so many years about “end of life” stuff then “seniors won’t GET TO HAVE a counseling session with their doctors…”? What the?! Are we that far into nanny state thinking? If the goverment doesn’t mandate it, then it won’t happen? Honestly, people- get some independent thought, common sense & reason please.

Yes, StayCalm, if the government doesn’t mandate it, it won’t happen. Insurance companies will not stop rationing healthcare by weeding people out with pre-existing conditions unless the government steps in.
There will not be an increase in competition across state borders unless the government steps in.
You expect the government to place minimum standards on the quality of our food and water but not our healthcare?
Since Medicare is a government entity it is SUPPOSED to spell out each and every thing that is to be paid for just like any policy would do. And the idea for the consultations came from a Republican.
I get the impression that it is your half of the country that hasn’t read a lick of what this bill is about. Have you once gone to a site other than Glen Beck or FOX to get your information? I on the other hand have gone to the actual bill which can be found at Thomas.gov (bet you didn’t know this site existed) and the Kaiser Family Foundation website (provides a comparison of all the bills)
By the way, it seems your Sarah Palin was for “death panels” before she was against them (i dare you to check out her official opinion)
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:_qjXL_3J08EJ:www.eeo.state.ak.us/archive-50122.html+%22HEALTHCARE+DECISIONS+DAY%22+palin&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
Republicans are the biggest hypocrites that ever existed. They have been trying to slash Medicare for decades and now they suddenly got religion and are working to “save” it. This is political posturing and has nothing to do with the good of the American people.

Michele asked, “What would Jesus do about healthcare?” in a later blog.
I can say Jesus would not lie by calling advanced directives “death panels.”
“Death Panel” Lie Comes From People Who Killed Clinton’s Reform
kelly pointed out Sarah Palin’s lies and hypocrisy. She is not alone. A Republican wrote the initial proposal for “end of life” decisions, which is not just for Granny.
Sen. Grassley voted for: http://tinyurl.com/ntl3l2
The 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill that passed with the votes of 204 GOP House members and 42 GOP Senators included counseling for end-of-life issues and care.
“The covered services are: evaluating the beneficiary’s need for pain and symptom management, including the individual’s need for hospice care; counseling the beneficiary with respect to end-of-life issues and care options, and advising the beneficiary regarding advanced care planning.”
The only difference between the 2003 provision and the House version is the expansion of funding that allows people to voluntarily receive counseling before they become terminally ill.

Kelly, I think you have presumed some things about me. For one thing, I absolutely agree with you that some things must be mandated by the govenment or they won’t happen. I just pointed out that a patient can discuss what they choose in the privacy of their medical visit without the gov’t requiring them to do so.
Also, I agree there are several issues re: health care that need fixing. I have felt for yrs that, among other things, the gov’t should require insurance companies to take on folks with pre-existing conditions. Case in point: I have a close friend who was treated for moderate depression a decade before she applied for health insurance. She was & still is one of the healthiest individuals I know (she is literally NEVER sick!). She was turned down because of the depression 10 yrs earlier & NO other reason!
Yes I agree that the Library of Congress site Thomas.gov (a nod to Jefferson) is an excellent way to inform oneself, as well as casting a wide net about what one reads & listens to. There are uninformed on both sides, for 1 thing because it simply takes a lot of time to read as much as you & I do. It’s possible nevertheless, for 100 people to thoroughly read the same 25 articles about a subject & come to differing conclusions about it.
Anyway, thank you for sharing your opinions & thank you for staying informed.

Stay Calm: Yes, of course, someone can ask their healthcare provider. This provision does not require a patient to do so, it merely allows the cost of that discussion to be paid for….something which was not allowed as a payment before.

Michele and Sarah Palin are rejoicing about something that does not exist.
Second, Congress has not been in session to remove the counseling for end-of-life issues – Sen. Grassley has to have the votes of the other members of the Senate committee.
Obama finally showed some (not enough) anger today. He directly took a shot at Sen. Grassley and other members of Congress that have been lying.
“. . . we shouldn’t have a public option, now I believe that we should on balance. It’s not perfect, it’s not going to solve every problem, but I think it actually would keep the insurance companies more honest. You can have a honest disagreement with me on that. What you can’t do, or you can, but you shouldn’t do is start saying things like ‘we wanna set up death panels to pull the plug on Grandma’
I mean, come on! I mean, I just. . . First of all, first of all, when you make a comment like that- I just lost my grandmother last year I know what it’s like to watch somebody you love who’s aging. . . deteriorating . . . and have to struggle with it. So the notion that somehow I ran for public office, or members of Congress are in this so they can go around pulling the plug on Grandma? I mean, when you start making arguments like that, that’s simply dishonest. Especially when I hear the arguments coming from members of Congress in the other party who, it turns out, sponsored similar provisions.
Here’s what this is about, here was the genesis of this little piece of information—we had a provision in the House bill that would give the option, the option, of somebody getting counseling on end of life care or hospice care and have it reimbursed by Medicare. The option, voluntary, so that you’d have more information on how to deal with these situations. Turns out, the biggest proponent of this was a Republican Congressman who is now a Senator and a colleague of Mr. Udall and Mr. Bennett. Turns out, in Medicare Part D, which was passed by a Republican Congress, they had the exact same provision! So when I have people who just a couple of years ago thought this was a good idea now getting on television suggesting that it’s a plot against Grandma or to sneak euthanasia into our health care system, that feels dishonest to me. And we’ve got enough stuff to deal with, without having these kinds of arguments