Obama's trying to kill my grandma.
Obama's trying to kill my grandma. He's trying to send her up in front of the death panel to be judged as old and sentenced to a life remaining without healthcare or emergency services, he's a socialist who wants us to have universal healthcare that will make my grandmother wait in long lines in order to get CPR or the Heimlich maneuver, he's going to call the Sunset Squad to come take her and force her to live out the rest of her days on the the Near-Death star (I'm watching Futurama while writing this).
That's what I (basically)learned while listening to people yell and scream at US senators in recent town hall meetings. For those of you that haven't heard about any of this: people are worried about the government's proposed healthcare reform. In an effort to provide affordable healthcare the government has discussed creating a government run insurance program (I'm assuming similar to Medicare but better run/funded). Many didn't like this idea because it's too close to socialism (personally, I'm all for universal healthcare which the plan does not call for). Since those scare tactics didn't work opponents of healthcare reform came out with something that would really freak people out: death panels and the killing of old people.
In order to find out exactly where these lies (might as well call them what they are) came from I did a bit of research. I didn't go online to look at what all the websites were saying I went directly to the House of Representatives website to find "America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009"(AAHCA 09). There's another bill listed called: ‘‘Health Coverage, Affordability, Responsibility, and Equity Act of 2009’’ or "HealthCARE Act of 2009" The second one didn't have any of the "end of life" wordage that so offended the Americans attending these town hall meetings so I didn't spend much time reviewing it (maybe I'll do that for the next paper). Anyway, what I found when I started to read the bill was confusing and I can see how on first glance a person may see the word "committee" and get taken aback but if you read what it says you'll see that the mention of committees and public discussion is to discuss the Secretary of Health and Human Services findings and recommendations on what measures practitioners should follow when discussing end of life services and care with their patients.
Here's the information, I believe, has everyone crying foul and carrying loaded weapons on their thighs when protesting outside of town hall meetings where Obama is speaking: AAHCA 09, Division B, Title II, Sec. 1233 on pages 425 and 426. This section, titled Expansion of Physician Quality Reporting Initiative for End of Life Care, states that if a consultation with a patient hasn't been done within the past 5 years regarding advance care planning (basically, what should be done if you are unable to state your wishes) then the practitioner should have a consultation with individual in question. That doesn't seem so bad, however, people seem to be focusing on one aspect of what said consultation should include: "end of life services."
Within Sec. 1233 of AAHCA 09the areas that should be discussed during an end of life consultation are: (1) explanations of advanced care planning (what it is, when you need it, etc.), questions that should be asked, steps on how to set-it up, and who to talk to (professionals in the area of advanced care planning); (2) an explanation of advanced directives (living wills, powers of attorney, etc.); (3) explanations of the roles and responsibilities of a
healthcare proxy; (4) and "An explanation by the practitioner of the continuum of end-of-life services and supports available, including palliative care and hospice, and benefits for such services and supports that are available."
These things are not bad. It's similar to putting the donor sticker on you driver's license: it lets people know what you want if you are unable to speak for yourself. The above portions of the bill would help people to state whether or not they would want to be resuscitated should their heart fail while they are in the hospital, do they want to be on life support or not, who gets to make medical decisions should they be incapacitated. These decisions are no something that are made only at the end of life. DNRs (do not resuscitate) are often discussed before someone goes into surgery. I'm sure many of you have mentioned what you would like done with your body after you pass: ashes, burial, donated to science (I'm a donate-to-science person myself). But how many of you have stated what you would want done should you not be dead but brain dead? If you're in a coma who makes your healthcare decisions? Topics like these are often hard to bring up with family... it's not really a dinner conversation. But speaking with your doctor and having insurance benefits that help you set up these advanced care directives are a good thing.
While it's sad to see that so many Americans have reacted unfavorably to something that is very necessary (and that many insurance companies already have as benefits) the saddest thing of all is that they have no idea why they are so mad. Someone, out of spite and/or for monetary reasons, decided to spread the word that healthcare reform would include panels that decide whether the government lets you live or die: not true. They decided to tell people that Obama was going to kill your grandmother: now come on! That's soooo not true. His own grandmother recently passed and she was the one who raised him. Do you think he decided that if he doesn't get to have one then no one does? That's just silly!
So please, when you're watching the news try to pay attention to what's going on. Do some research. It's long and boring (believe me I know) but can be extremely informative. Healthcare if important. And while I'm not trying to push the passing of this bill: don't you think that if the government was trying to kill you they would make it so you DIDN'T have insurance... not try to find a way to get you affordable coverage?
