[ExI] Fwd: What if Medicare required a living will?

[Mirco Romanato]

Il 30/04/2011 23:27, Kelly Anderson ha scritto:
> On Wed, Apr 27, 2011 at 7:04 PM, Keith Henson <hkeithhenson at gmail.com> wrote:

>> And although Sarah Palin managed
>> to rechristen medical counseling about end-of-life options “death
>> panels,” I choose to believe that that sort of childishness isn’t
>> inevitable and that this country can make adult decisions about adult
>> problems.

> I have understood death panels to mean groups of doctors deciding who
> can have their lives artificially extended by heroic means. I think
> most hospitals have committees that do this now. The fear of
> conservatives is that these panels will migrate from the private
> sphere to the public. I'd much rather have a group of well meaning
> doctors deciding my fate than a bunch of bureaucratic government
> types. I haven't read Palin's specific fears...

The problem, with socialized health care, is resources are limited, so
some rationing must happen. If the hospitals are forced to extend heroic
efforts to all, they would go broke if someone don't pay for it.
The government is out of money.
So, the panels are the groups that decide what is cost-effective and can
be done and what is not cost-effective. Obviously, the guidelines and
protocols given out by these panels will be binding or, anyway, the
large part of the doctors will not annoy the bureaucrats for some
decisions don't impacting on their life (not for long, anyway).

Then, you will have people older than, with this or that pathology, that
will be declared unworthy of treatments. All this justified because "we
must think to the babieeessss".

So, these could be the reasons to put a ninety years old last for a his
prostheses, even if he is in relative good health.

Add to this that, the patients with the right connections will, anyway,
have their health care.

Do you think a Senator of the US or of any state senate would not find a
doctor or the head of an hospital available to do whatever is needed and
not needed for his ninety years old mother, father or young but
decerebrate (by a car crash) son?

Do you think, if the POTUS is 85 years old, they will enforce the
spending limits and appropriate care limits if he have a severe brain
stroke?

Mirco