It's not enough that death panels remained in ObamaCare and are now reaping havoc: ObamaCare Death Panels begin early: FDA pulls Avastin approval for breast cancer OVER COST CONCERNS. Obama wants a provision that was stripped out of ObamaCare to "end of life counseling" in which doctors are incentivized to get patients to basically kill themselves via medical neglect. Essentially Obama's "take a pain pill and die" strategy. To save costs of course. As you might suspect, Obama can;t get this legislation through Congress so he is instead going to push it through regulation just like so many other priorities:
From the New York Times via memeorandum: Obama Returns to End-of-Life Plan That Caused Stir
Under the new policy, outlined in a Medicare regulation, the government will pay doctors who advise patients on options for end-of-life care, which may include advance directives to forgo aggressive life-sustaining treatment.
Congressional supporters of the new policy, though pleased, have kept quiet. They fear provoking another furor like the one in 2009 when Republicans seized on the idea of end-of-life counseling to argue that the Democrats bill would allow the government to cut off care for the critically ill.
The final version of the health care legislation, signed into law by President Obama in March, authorized Medicare coverage of yearly physical examinations, or wellness visits. The new rule says Medicare will cover voluntary advance care planning, to discuss end-of-life treatment, as part of the annual visit.
Under the rule, doctors can provide information to patients on how to prepare an advance directive, stating how aggressively they wish to be treated if they are so sick that they cannot make health care decisions for themselves.
While the new law does not mention advance care planning, the Obama administration has been able to achieve its policy goal through the regulation-writing process, a strategy that could become more prevalent in the next two years as the president deals with a strengthened Republican opposition in Congress.
In other words, he's legislating through executive fiat. This is exactly the kind of thing that comes under the purview of Congress. Remember that Obama said on national TV that pain pills may be preferable to actual treatment:
Remember that next time you're in the doctor's office and he or she is trying to convince you to die for the 'greater good.'
Under the new policy, outlined in a Medicare regulation, the government will pay doctors who advise patients on options for end-of-life care, which may include advance directives to forgo aggressive life-sustaining treatment.
yeah, i'm struggling to understand what is so bad about this?
Meanwhile, there ARE death panels in places like Arizona where the state cut transplant programs for the poor, and now Texas may get out of medicare all together, giving millions of poor no health insurance.