Medicare

House Republican: Health Care Panel Means Patients 'Going To Die'

Brian Beutler | June 23, 2011, 11:55AM

Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA)

A House Republican says a Medicare board created by the health care law will kill people.

Reprising the "death panel" meme that cast a pall over the health care reform debate in 2009, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) charged Wednesday that the Independent Payment Advisory Board -- a panel charged with reducing growth in Medicare spending -- will cause patients to die.

"[U]nder this IPAB we described that the Democrats put in Obamacare, where a bunch of bureaucrats decide whether you get care, such as continuing on dialysis or cancer chemotherapy, I guarantee you when you withdraw that the patient is going to die," Gingrey said. "It's rationing."

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Ron Johnson

Ron Johnson: 'ObamaCare' Would Have Killed My Congenitally Ill Daughter

Brian Beutler | March 23, 2011, 9:54AM

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed on the one-year anniversary of the health care law, freshman Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) recalls the story of his now-adult daughter, who was born with a heart defect, and nearly died -- and suggests she might not have survived if the new health care law had been in place back then.

"I don't even want to think what might have happened if she had been born at a time and place where government defined the limits for most insurance policies and set precedents [sic] on what would be covered," Johnson writes. "Would the life-saving procedures that saved her have been deemed cost-effective by policy makers deciding where to spend increasingly scarce tax dollars?"

It's a new, retroactive twist on the 'death panels' hoax, which has been broadly debunked, but never seems to go away.

It should be noted that one of the current benefits of the health care law prevents insurance companies from discriminating against children with pre-existing medical conditions.

Death Panels

Wall Street Journal: We LOVE Death Panels!

Brian Beutler | December 30, 2010, 9:25AM

Former VP candidate Sarah Palin (R)

Rupert Murdoch needs to pay a visit to Rupert Murdoch to make sure the two are on the same page about Death Panels. Because while Murdoch's Fox News Channel is firing away at a new Medicare regulation allowing doctors to be reimbursed for providing end-of-life counseling, Murdoch's Wall Street Journal thinks it's a great idea!

"[T]he substance is more than defensible," the Journal's editors opined yesterday. "Certain quarters on the political right are following the media's imagination and blasting Dr. Berwick's decision as the tangible institution of death panels. But the rule-making is not coercive and gives seniors more autonomy, not less.... Advance care planning lays out the options and allows patients, in consultation with their providers and family members, to ensure that their future treatment is consistent with their wishes and moral values should they become too sick to decide for themselves."

They go on to do some hand-waving to exonerate Sarah Palin and other provocateurs from the charge that they equated this policy with Death Panels. But that's what they did.

The question is: Now that the Wall Street Journal has given this new regulation the thumbs up, will other conservatives and Republicans quiet down about it? I didn't think so.

Death Panels

Fox News: Are Death Panels Back? Death Panels Are Back!

Jillian Rayfield | December 29, 2010, 2:30PM

Fox News was all about "death panels" this week. No, it's not 2009.

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Death Panels

GOP Could Force Vote On 'Death Panels'

Brian Beutler | December 28, 2010, 12:55PM

President Barack Obama

Republicans could turn the cooked-up controversy over end-of-life counseling into a "Death Panel" vote next year.

If they fully embrace their new strategy, outlined here, Republicans could cherry pick politically-charged executive branch regulations and put vulnerable Democrats, particularly in the Senate, in a bind: vote for regulations that are unpopular with their constituents; or rebuke President Obama as he attempts to govern from the White House.

One of those regulations -- scheduled to take effect January 1 -- would achieve the Obama administration's goal of encouraging end-of-life planning. It works by paying Medicare doctors for counseling patients with terminal illness on their medical options -- including advance directives compelling doctors and families to forgo certain medical interventions like feeding tubes, IV fluids or respirators. Obama and congressional Democrats tried to include these incentives in their health care law, but were forced to nix it after Sarah Palin and other Republicans started referring to the provisions as "death panels" that could "pull the plug on grandma."

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Barack Obama

White House Pushing Back Against Revived Chatter About End-Of-Life Planning

Jillian Rayfield | December 27, 2010, 5:05PM

Pres. Barack Obama (D)

The White House is denying that a new Medicare regulation revives language dropped from the health care reform bill that covered voluntary end-of-life planning sessions between doctors and patients.

The policy was removed from the health care bill after Republicans and right-wing opponents of the bill construed the provision as creating "death panels" for old people.

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Sarah Palin

Palin Brings Back 'Death Panels' Smear -- Against The Deficit Commission!

Eric Kleefeld | December 10, 2010, 11:22AM

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R)

Sarah Palin is now getting on the conservative bandwagon to oppose the Bowles-Simpson deficit plan -- which of course, already failed to receive the approval of a supermajority of the commission itself. And along the way, she's bringing back her greatest hit from the health care debate: The Death Panels!

As Palin writes in a new guest column in the Wall Street Journal:

Not only does it leave ObamaCare intact, but its proposals would lead to a public option being introduced by the backdoor, with the chairmen's report suggesting a second look at a government-run health-care program if costs continue to soar.

It also implicitly endorses the use of "death panel"-like rationing by way of the new Independent Payments Advisory Board--making bureaucrats, not medical professionals, the ultimate arbiters of what types of treatment will (and especially will not) be reimbursed under Medicare.

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Betsy McCaughey

Betsy McCaughey: Health Care Ruling 'Victory For The Cause Of Freedom'

Brian Beutler | October 15, 2010, 11:28AM

Betsy McCaughey on the Daily Show

Everyone's favorite health care scold Betsy MacCaughey is excited about yesterday's ruling on the new health care law.

As a result of the ruling, the Obama administration will have to show why the new law is constitutional in the next stage of the suit.

For McCaughey it's a huge win.

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Ground Zero Mosque

How Republicans Might Drag The 'Ground Zero Mosque' Fight Into The Fall

Brian Beutler | August 16, 2010, 2:52PM

Sen. Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and President Barack Obama

From Terri Schiavo to "death panels," Congressional recesses have long bred political controversies. But while some (like Schiavo) fizzle, others, (like "death panels") have a lasting impact on policy and politics. An open question for now is whether the row over the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" will be with us past August.

Republicans and conservative activists have made no secret of the fact that they want the issue to have legs, but that gets trickier when politicians return to Washington to actually govern. One option Republicans will have to pressure Democrats on the issue will be to force Democrats to vote on the question of whether they support the cultural center and mosque.

"There are no plans to do that at this point," says a top Republican House aide. "It's a month away, and I'd guess any chances we get to message...will be focused on jobs."

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Ground Zero Mosque

Is The Term 'Ground Zero Mosque' This Year's 'Death Panel'?

Brian Beutler | August 16, 2010, 1:51PM

Arguably, the recent partisan griping over the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" really went from a simmer to a boil in mid-July, when former half-term Alaska Governor Sarah Palin went on a Twitter rampage, calling on New York Muslims to "refudiate" the Cordoba initiative.

If that were truly the case, it would be a fitting tribute to the role Palin played last August when she popularized the conservative obsession with euthanasia by claiming the Democrats' health care bill contained "death panels."

But in reality, the loaded and inaccurate term "Ground Zero Mosque" had a much more organic rise to prominence beginning this past spring, when Palin and the GOP were instead politicking on the oil spill, the New Black Panthers and other right wing causes célèbre.

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David Vitter

Vitter, Breitbart Revive Death Panel Smear In Attack On FDA Breast Cancer Drug Decision

Brian Beutler | July 28, 2010, 1:29PM

Senator David Vitter (R-LA)

In one fell swoop today, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) revived the specter of health care death panels, and called into question the FDA's ability to judge the effectiveness of breast cancer medication.

According to the Associated Press, Vitter slammed the FDA, which voted 12-1 to drop its endorsement of the breast cancer drug Avastin after research showed that its additional positive effects were minimal, but it was associated with increased liver toxicity. Vitter called the decision "sickening" -- but not because the FDA's accelerated approval of the drug in 2007 went against the medical advise of its advisory committee or because women with metastatic breast cancer using the drug were more likely to die. Instead, he compared the FDA's reversal to withholding care for patients whose lives are "not deemed valuable enough."

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Michele Bachmann

Bachmann Back To Beating The 'Death Panels' Drum

Megan Carpentier | July 9, 2010, 3:31PM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

You didn't think the resurrection of death panels would begin and end with one Fox News legal contributor, did you? Donald Berwick's supposedly nefarious plans for the nation's seniors from his ominpotent perch atop the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (reporting to the Secretary of Department of Health and Human Services) are far too dangerous for that -- and Rep. Michele Bachmann knows it.

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Death Panels

Obama's Recess Appointment Allows GOP To Resurrect Death Panels (VIDEO)

Megan Carpentier | July 8, 2010, 12:48PM

Former GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin

It was only a year ago that Sarah Palin invented out of whole cloth the concept of "death panels" and accused Congress of inserting them into the health care bill. Though they have been at this point thoroughly debunked as a way for Medicare to pay for doctors to talk patients through their options on end-of-life care before they are at the end of their lives, the concept that the government will decide which seniors should live and which should die apparently continues to hold resonance for easily-frightened elderly people, Fox News viewers and Fox News legal contributor and former Pataki appointee Peter Johnson, Jr.. That's the only explanation for Johnson's resurrection of death panels today in order to attack the new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Donald Berwick.

Berwick, the new Republican whipping boy for health care reform, once expressed admiration for the British system because of its ability to provide universal coverage and improve care. Obviously, that means he plans to use his new position to kill off American's senior citizens.

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Death Panels

Bachmann: Senior Citizens' 'Lives Literally Are On The Line With ObamaCare' (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | March 30, 2010, 10:21AM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is continuing to warn that senior citizens are in danger from "death panels" under President Obama's new health care legislation, predicting that seniors could lose their lives -- and their money, too.

Bachmann visited Duluth over the weekend, a city that is located in the district of Democratic Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN). Fittingly enough, the local Republicans put their speaker's podium in the middle of a boxing ring, and Bachmann was putting up her rhetorical dukes.

"Senior citizens have followed this issue more than anyone," said Bachmann. "Senior citizens are very smart. And they have been absolutely opposed to ObamaCare going forward, because senior citizens are the ones whose lives literally are on the line with ObamaCare."

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Health Care

Bachmann: 'We Need To Start Literally Banging Garbage Lids Together' Against Health Care Bill

Eric Kleefeld | March 10, 2010, 10:50AM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

During an appearance on a right-wing Internet radio show on Monday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) called upon voters who oppose the health care bill to get loud.

"Well I couldn't agree with you more, as to the timing and the sense of urgency," Bachmann told a caller to the show, Hot Tea Radio. "That's why with everything within us we need to start literally banging garbage lids together, to create enough noise so that our neighbors and our co-workers realize where the time clock is at this point, because the second hand is literally banging up against 11:59 on the clock on freedom when it comes to health care."

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Death Panels

Bachmann Changes Definition of Death Panels

Eric Kleefeld | December 23, 2009, 10:49AM

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is still warning against the presence of "death panels" in the health care legislation. However, on close examination the definition of "death panels" has changed radically.

Bachmann appeared on Glenn Beck's radio show, and told guest host Chris Baker: "Also, we're just reading this morning, Chris, that Harry Reid slipped in a provision that made it virtually impossible to repeal part of this legislation. And it's the part dealing with the Medicare Advisory Board -- what many people have labeled the death panels -- because these unelected bureaucracies will decide what we can and can't get in future health insurance policy. That's why they're called death panels."

Um, no, that's not why they're called death panels -- or at least, not why they were originally called death panels. As Sarah Palin first laid out the idea when she coined the term, "death panels" refers to a group of government bureaucrats who would allegedly would stand in judgment of individuals' worthiness of receiving health care. Specifically, they would kill Palin's Down syndrome baby by cutting off his access to medical treatment. (Palin was in fact referencing a speech by Bachmann, who was referencing Betsy McCaughey, who was in turn taking Ezekiel Emanuel seriously out of context.)

But now, "death panel" refers to a government body that would regulate insurance policies and the range of treatments that would have mandated coverage. Talk about moving the goalposts!

Mark Kirk

GOP Senate Candidate Kirk: Health Care Bill Would Deny Women Mammograms!

Eric Kleefeld | November 30, 2009, 2:59PM

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL)

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), who is running for President Obama's former Senate seat in 2010, is now embracing an offshoot of the "death panel" line -- warning that the health care bill could result in women being denied mammograms!

As Greg Sargent reports, Kirk's campaign sent out an e-mail, officially a "questionnaire":

This month, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended eliminating mammograms for women ages 40-49. The panel concluded that while thousands of women's lives would be saved by continuing the test, "the net benefit is small" for the population as a whole.

Currently, this is only an advisory recommendation. But under the health care bill moving through the Senate, this recommendation could become law.

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK: Should women between the ages of 40 and 49 be denied access to life-saving mammograms?

However, the fact is that the Senate health bill would not do such a thing. But that panel recommendation has become a big talking point of the right in the past couple weeks, warning of government-rationed care -- and this e-mail is a strong sign of how conservative Kirk is going in this statewide race, after years of maintaining a moderate profile in a Democratic district.

Republicans

From Dollars To Death Panels: How Republicans Distorted Debates On Capitol Hill

Brian Beutler | November 27, 2009, 8:42AM

With Thanksgiving recess now upon us, it seems an appropriate time to revisit the hysterical Republican whoppers and talking points about the Democratic party agenda that have dominated this Congress. Herewith a top-five list:

Number Five: Paul Ryan Draws Line On Graph

Back in the Spring, when Democrats were putting together the federal budget, House Budget Committee ranking member Paul Ryan (R-WI) released a much-mocked Republican alternative, which would have basically canceled the stimulus and instituted a spending freeze of sorts. The ideas in the Republican alternative budget were roundly rebuked by experts, but Ryan wasn't deterred. Instead of accepting defeat, he unveiled some graphs suggesting that, under Republican budgets, spending would be restrained, while under Democratic budgets, it would blow through the roof.

Except his numbers weren't based on any analysis at all. Instead, Ryan used CBO numbers through 2018 and then drew an upward-sloping line on the graph completely at random. It didn't take long for Republicans to catch on and begin claiming that Democratic policies would make government spending half of GDP before the end of the century.

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Organizing for America

Like An '08 Flashback: OFA Targets Sarah Palin As 'Dangerous'

Christina Bellantoni | November 20, 2009, 10:30AM

Fmr. Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

Organizing for America, the DNC's campaign arm set up to support President Obama's agenda, has a familiar target today: Sarah Palin.

Mitch Stewart, OFA's director, told supporters in an email just now they need help to raise "$500,000 in the next week to push back against Sarah Palin and her special interest allies."

His argument is that Palin's "lies" about health care are "widely covered by the media, then constantly echoed by right-wing attack groups and others who are trying to defeat reform." He uses her death panels meme as an example.

In his book "The Audacity to Win," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said he was shocked that Palin was such a good fundraising driver for the team.

He writes that he looked at the online fundraising numbers a few hours after Palin made her big debut at the Republican National Convention going after Obama as his only experience being a community organizer.

"I couldn't believe what I saw," Plouffe wrote.

More from the book:

"We had taken in millions of dollars in the three hours since Palin had started speaking. We hadn't even asked for most of it; we had sent out just a single unplanned fund-raising email highlighting her attacks on community organizers, but it was just starting to hit people's in-boxes as I checked the numbers. So the big response from the last three hours meant people were merely venting via contribution. Her speech might have ginned up their base, but apparently it had sent ours into orbit."

He said he thought, "I hope she keeps this up. Sarah Palin has now become our best fund-raiser."

Sounds like that hasn't changed much.

Stewart's email from today after the jump.

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Sarah Palin

Palin Digs In On Death Panels, Also Calls For Primary Against Lindsey Graham

Eric Kleefeld | November 18, 2009, 12:22PM

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

In an interview with National Review, Sarah Palin explained how "death panels" are not meant to be taken literally -- and then gave a pretty much literal description -- and also called for a Republican primary challenge against Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

On death panels:

"To me, while reading that section of the bill, it became so evident that there would be a panel of bureaucrats who would decide on levels of health care, decide on those who are worthy or not worthy of receiving some government-controlled coverage," she explains. "Since health care would have to be rationed if it were promised to everyone, it would therefore lead to harm for many individuals not able to receive the government care. That leads, of course, to death."

"The term I used to describe the panel making these decisions should not be taken literally," says Palin. The phrase is "a lot like when President Reagan used to refer to the Soviet Union as the 'evil empire.' He got his point across. He got people thinking and researching what he was talking about. It was quite effective. Same thing with the 'death panels.' I would characterize them like that again, in a heartbeat."

There are two problems here. As Dave Weigel notes, Reagan was not speaking figuratively about the Soviet Union -- they were an empire, and they were evil. But beyond that, Palin gives a literal description of a panel of bureaucrats deciding that some people won't be worthy of getting any health care.

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Michele Bachmann

Bachmann: Joe Wilson "Spoke Truth," And Death Panels Come From Obama's Bureaucracy

Eric Kleefeld | September 14, 2009, 12:19PM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

It turns out Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) has had a prominent defender among his colleagues, sticking up for his "You lie!" outburst during President Obama's speech to Congress: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN). In an interview late last week with NewsMax, Bachmann said Wilson "spoke the truth."

"Joe Wilson spoke truth on the floor of the House last evening," Bachmann declared, "when he said -- when he was stating that, his disagreement with the President."

Bachmann also dug in on death panels: "But there's been a confusion about death panels. "Death panels" isn't just about end-of-life counseling. Death panels are the bureaucracies that President Obama is establishing, that will -- where bureaucrats will make the decision on who gets health care, and how much. who will have access to doctors? How quickly? What will the delays be? Because we know, this bill will include rationing."

Check out the video, after the jump.

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Death Panels

Palin: "So Much For Civility" With Obama's Debunking of Death Panels

Eric Kleefeld | September 10, 2009, 12:55PM

Former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK)

In a Facebook post responding to President Obama's speech last night, Sarah Palin said that Obama's debunking of the "death panel" smear -- which she has propagated -- showed a lack of civility:

"In his speech the President directly responded to concerns I've raised about unelected bureaucrats being given power to make decisions affecting life or death health care matters," Palin wrote. "He called these concerns 'bogus,' 'irresponsible,' and 'a lie' -- so much for civility."

Yes, Palin is saying Obama lacks civility. This from the politician who said: "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil."

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David Vitter

Vitter Raising Money Through Deatherism

Eric Kleefeld | September 9, 2009, 11:42AM

Sen. David Vitter (R-LA)

Sen. David Vitter appears to be sending out a new fundraising letter containing an all-too familiar claim -- that if the Democrats pass their health-care bill, the old and disabled will have their health care cut off by government bureaucrats deciding they're not worth the cost -- the main substance of the "death panel" scare.

Here's the key quote from the letter, which was given to us by the Louisiana Dems after a supporter handed it to them in the past week:

So what about the claims that this plan will reduce health care costs? Well, to do that will simply require a plan to ration existing resource sand restrict benefits for certain medicines, procedures and therapies.

The government will determine who is eligible for what and if you are older or have certain other afflictions, an economist will determine if you are worthy of the government's "investment" in your longevity. That's right, a bureaucrat will be making life or death decisions.

The Vitter campaign did not return our requests for comment.

Charles Boustany

Boustany, Who Has Backed End-of-Life Counseling, To Deliver GOP Response To Obama

Eric Kleefeld | September 8, 2009, 11:56AM

Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA)

Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA), a three-term Congressman and medical doctor, will be giving the Republican response to President Obama's address on health care tomorrow night, George Stephanopoulos reports.

Greg Sargent reports that the speech will utilize the standard Republican talking points in this area -- that Democrats are refusing to work with Republicans, and that they'll put government bureaucrats between you and your doctor.

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Mike Enzi

Enzi Pushes Deatherism In GOP Address

Eric Kleefeld | August 29, 2009, 1:47PM

Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY)

This weekend's Republican YouTube address by Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) -- one of the three key Republicans negotiating on health care -- was a pretty strong sign that negotiations might not be working out after all. Enzi delivered a thorough speech against the Democrats on health care. And even while he did not use the "death panel" phrase itself, he did make the same underlying argument by warning that people could be denied care because of age or disability:

"The bills would expand comparative effectiveness research that would be used to limit or deny care based on age or disability of patients," said Enzi. "Republican amendments in the HELP Committee would have protected Americans by prohibiting the rationing of their health care. The Democrats showed their true intent by voting every amendment down and leaving these unacceptable provisions in the bill. This intrusion of a Washington bureaucrat in the relationship between a doctor and a patient is not the kind of reform that Americans are seeking."

And remember, this guy is one of the key GOPers with whom the Democrats are working, to try to find common ground.

Health Care

Death Book vs. Death Book: A Disagreement Over End-of-Life Philosophy

Brian Beutler | August 27, 2009, 6:24PM

Nine days ago, Jim Towey, the former director of President Bush's Office of Faith Based Initiatives, and founder of the non-profit group Aging with Dignity, entered the health care debate by throwing gasoline on the dying death panel embers with a Wall Street Journal op-ed called "The Death Book for Veterans."

What is "The Death Book for Veterans"? Towey reports that, under President Obama, the Department of Veterans Affairs is reviving a 52-page end-of-life planning document called "Your Life, Your Choices", which Bush had scrapped because, allegedly, it "presents end-of-life choices in a way aimed at steering users toward predetermined conclusions." Namely, it urges ailing veterans to choose death over life.

Facts are tricky things, though. For instance, the document Towey cites was created over 10 years ago. And though the VA did indeed stop distributing it, the department has been in the process of updating the document for months now, following plans developed during the Bush administration. Curiously, among the panelists involved in updating "Your Life, Your Choices" was the president of Aging with Dignity.

The new version should be completed next year.

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Michele Bachmann

Bachmann: Fight Against Health Care Bill Will Be Won "On Our Knees In Prayer And Fasting"

Eric Kleefeld | August 25, 2009, 10:59AM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) made an interesting appeal to conservative activists last week on a telephone town hall hosted by the conservative Susan B. Anthony List, the Minnesota Independent reports: To help stop the Democrats' health care bill, through the power of fasting and intercessionary prayer.

Bachmann praised Sarah Palin for raising the alarm about "death panels" that would deny any health care to the elderly and mentally disabled. "Thank God that Sarah Palin said that," said Bachmann. "These are true." Bachmann also warned against the government forcing doctors to perform abortions, and urged callers to oppose it with all their energies -- and their prayers.

"That's really where this battle will be won -- on our knees in prayer and fasting," said Bachmann. "Remember: faith without works is dead. So we're asking you to do all of it: pray, fast, believe, trust the Lord, but also act."

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Michael Steele

Steele Hearts Death Panel Talking Points

Eric Kleefeld | August 24, 2009, 9:45AM

RNC Chairman Michael Steele

RNC Chairman Michael Steel now seems to be fully embracing the death panel talk, with a new column in the Washington Post promoting a Republican proposal called a "Seniors' Health Care Bill of Rights," which will prevent the government from killing grandma:

Third, we need to outlaw any effort to ration health care based on age. Obama has promoted a program of "comparative effectiveness research" that he claims will be used only to study competing medical treatments. But this program could actually lead to government boards rationing treatments based on age. For example, if there are going to be only so many heart surgeries in a given year, the Democrats figure government will get more bang for its buck if more young and middle-aged people get them.

Fourth, we need to prevent government from dictating the terms of end-of-life care. Many of the most significant costs of care come in the last six months of a patient's life, and every American household must consider how to treat their loved ones. Obama's government-run health "reform" would pay for seniors' meetings with a doctor to discuss end-of-life care. While nonthreatening at first, something that is quite normal for a family to do becomes troublesome when the government gets involved. Seniors know that government programs that seem benign at first can become anything but. The government should simply butt out of conversations about end-of-life care and leave them to seniors, their families and their doctors.

Late Update: For more on the GOP's Seniors' Health Care Bill of Rights, click here for the RNC's official release.

Death Panels

Poll: Americans Would Like Key Parts Of Obama's Plan -- But He's Failing To Fight Bad Info

Eric Kleefeld | August 19, 2009, 12:15PM

The new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll has some mixed news for President Obama on health care. On the one hand, people would solidly support his proposals if they were properly explained -- but he's currently held back by misinformation.

"From what you have heard about Barack Obama's health care plan, do you think his plan is a good idea or a bad idea?" the poll asked. Only 36% of Americans said they believed Obama's health care plan is a good idea, while 42% believe its a bad idea.

Respondents were then given this description of certain points of the plan, in terms of regulations and taxes:

The plan requires that health insurance companies cover people with pre-existing medical conditions. It also requires all but the smallest employers to provide health coverage for their employees, or pay a percentage of their payroll to help fund coverage for the uninsured. Families and individuals with lower-and middle-incomes would receive tax credits to help them afford insurance coverage. Some of the funding for this plan would come from raising taxes on wealthier Americans.

After the description was read, the numbers shifted to 53% in favor, to only 43% against. Granted, this description didn't go into such points as a public option or co-ops -- maybe because this description only went into the parts that Democrats themselves have in some kind of order right now -- but it does show the general trend here that more information equals more support.

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