A plan to make elderly die sooner?

The health care bill that made its way through the House includes some very ominous policies that the media and the politicians haven't disclosed.

Section 1401 introduces Comparative Effectiveness Research, a Great Britain-style decision process that places cost effectiveness above reasonable health care service. In Great Britain, CER policy requires that a patient suffering from macular degeneration (blindness) cannot receive drugs to preserve eyesight in one eye until the other has become blind because it's more cost effective. Never mind that complete blindness could have been prevented earlier - that costs too much.

Section 1233 of the bill introduces advance care planning consultations. Physicians will be required to set aside their Hippocratic Oaths to administer health care, and instead discuss alternative options with an elderly patient and their family - legal service alternatives such as a living will and power of attorney and hospice services and other types of palliative care. In other words, medical care that doesn't extend life, but rather prepares one to end life.

Seniors must attend a consultation session with a practitioner who will provide them with end-of-life options. These will occur every five years to review their physical condition; more frequently if they experience a chronic illness, life-threatening condition or simply admission into a skilled nursing or long-term care facility.

So, your loved one will die sooner because the government doesn't want to pay anymore for wasteful services that don't improve health or only provide marginal results. Is this a form of legal medical genocide?

Our system does need change, but not like what's being proposed. An unsustainable status quo is no excuse for making things worse. They need to overhaul their attempt at overhaul and have a meaningful, transparent and honest national dialogue. And the American people are letting them know it, loud and clear.

Gordon Soderlund

Wheaton