Krauthammer: Paying doctors for end of life counsel is to nudge the dying "toward letting go"

"... why get Medicare to pay the doctor to do the counseling? Because we know that if this white-coated authority whose chosen vocation is curing and healing is the one opening your mind to hospice and palliative care, we've nudged you ever so slightly toward letting go.

It's not an outrage. It's surely not a death panel. But it is subtle pressure applied by society through your doctor. And when you include it in a health care reform whose major objective is to bend the cost curve downward, you have to be a fool or a knave to deny that it's intended to gently point you in a certain direction, toward the corner of the sick room where stands a ghostly figure, scythe in hand, offering release."

Senate committee scuttles end-of-life consultation

"The Senate Finance Committee will drop a controversial provision on consultations for end-of-life care from its proposed healthcare bill, its top Republican member said Thursday.

The committee, which has worked on putting together a bipartisan healthcare reform bill, will drop the controversial provision after it was derided by conservatives as "death panels" to encourage euthanasia.

"On the Finance Committee, we are working very hard to avoid unintended consequences by methodically working through the complexities of all of these issues and policy options," Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a statement. "We dropped end-of-life provisions from consideration entirely because of the way they could be misinterpreted and implemented incorrectly."

The Finance Committee is the only congressional committee not to report out a preliminary healthcare bill before the August congressional recess, but is expected to unveil its proposal shortly after Labor Day."

How I might deal with an end of life counselor

Gallup has found that senior citizens, aged 65 and older, are the most skeptical about Obamacare. By a margin of three to one, seniors tend to think the scheme is more likely to reduce their access to medical care, rather than expand it.

I accept the result, but am skeptical about the explanation.

The real reason seniors don't want Obamacare, I suspect, is the thought of having to submit to end of life counseling every five years. This is how I imagine that would go:

A pale, wan 30-something approaches, tells me I look a little tired and asks for a rundown on my life-threatening ailments. I tell him I have none, that my life and limbs are at risk only when I play hockey, ski downhill in the mountains, or go canoeing in the wilderness.

He asks me if I ever get winded.

"Yeah," I say. "I got winded last night. I went roller-blading on the trails, met a nice woman and got laid. Then I came home, watched some cage fighting, had a few martinis, made dinner and walked the dog. I was ready for bed, but instead I went out for a quick one-mile jog, and came home refreshed."

Do you ever feel dizzy?

"Only when I mistakenly double up on the vodka."

How are your reflexes?

"My reflexes were slowing down a bit until Obama got elected. Now, I reach for the clicker as soon as I see his face on the tv. My goal is to click him away before he gets out his first word, and I usually succeed. My reflexes have improved markedly since he's been in the White House."

How long do you hope to live?

"Well, my ancestors were living to their late 80s a hundred years ago, and I lost an aunt at 98 a few years ago. My chances of reaching 100 are pretty good. I'd have settled for that until you people came along."

"Now, I'm going for 120, and if you come for me before I'm ready, bear in mind that I have guns and know how to shoot."

A satirical peek at the potential of Obamacare

Al Gore on Saturday said the outlook for his global warming venture, which has made him richer and more famous, is not encouraging. He hinted that he might put the issue to death rather than watch it wither and die over decades.

"President Obama has opened new doors with his courageous campaign to overhaul our health care system," Gore said. "Look, he's calling for end-of-life counseling for old people. Everybody knows that the next step is to cut off medical treatment for those whose time has come and gone."

"I'm just applying the same test to a political issue, global warming."

"Besides, I don't have time for global warming any more. I have a new venture, Paradise Starts Here. Each franchise will be a miniature strip mall. The first stop will be a doctor's office where an MD will check the new patient's vital signs, take blood and urine samples, and do a medical history."

"The doctor will be looking for a compelling reason why this patient should continue to consume limited medical resources. Finding none, he will pass the patient on to the next step. Even if he were to find such a reason it wouldn't matter because there will be only one exit from the doctor's office. It leads to a psychologist, who will work up a report on the patient's state of mind."

"There, too, the findings don't matter much because there will be only one exit from the psychologist's office, which leads to a small office where a minister, rabbi or priest prays with the patient and asks God to forgive his sins. A nurse then administers the lethal shot."

"As in the previous steps there is only one exit, which leads to the crematorium."

"Now, I ask you, how's that for efficiency? I think I can keep the price for the entire exit under $1,000."

"Think of the savings, given the cost of medical treatment for old people, along with the reality that they really don't have that much to live for."

"Down the line we'll probably get to younger people who have incurable diseases. Maybe we'll even get to Republicans. Heh heh. That was a joke."