Giuliani embraces 'death panel' tactic at GOP forum in Rosemont

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, often considered a moderate Republican, fully embraced Thursday the "death panel" tactic of those opposed to President Barack Obama's government-run health insurance plan.

"They seem to be the obvious result of how you cut costs," Guiliani said at an news conference to kick off a national assembly in Rosemont for state and local GOP officials.

Guiliani said "intelligent people" would come to the conclusion that Obama's plan will ration health care and threaten the lives of senior citizens, particularly by offering end-of-life counseling that would push them to give up costly treatment efforts.

"This is a real concern," he said. "This isn't made up by talk show hosts."

In fact, there are no provisions in the Obama health care plan for so-called "death panels" or senior counseling aimed at preventing lifesaving treatment. Supporters of the plan have called such allegations scare tactics meant to enrage senior citizens and cobble together a coalition opposed to the government health care expansion.

What is in some versions of the proposal are boards that will determine what kind of procedures and treatments will be covered by the government insurance. The insurance would also cover the tab for voluntary end-of-life counseling involving such things as hospice care and living wills.

Both of those elements are widely used in private health care insurance and nothing would stop citizens from paying out of their own pocket for treatments or refusing counseling.

Still, Republicans, even those considered to be more moderate, have embraced the fear drummed up by opponents over those provisions. On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert handed out fliers at a panel discussion in Naperville on health care that said such counseling could push seniors to "give up" when facing an illness.

Guiliani, who lost a bid for president in the GOP primary last year, took the same approach on Thursday. He blamed Obama for "causing the problem of people being cynical" by insisting the government can afford to expand coverage without raising taxes. Guiliani said that it would therefore be "natural" for people to assume treatments will be rationed and "death panels" would exist.

In fact, Obama has said taxes will have to be raised to cover at least a portion of the new costs.

When pressed on whether he believed there would be death panels, Guiliani backpedaled and said, "I can't tell you if they will or they won't."

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