Grandma Is Scared Now

Healthcare "reform" is being rammed through at breakneck speed with the (realistic) hope that no one will have time to actually read the many competing bills, numbering thousands of pages.

But Redstate and the Anchoress have caught on to a small section in one House bill that is a must-read for anyone is older than 55 -- or who loves anyone older than 55.

Go to sec. 1233 of House Bill 3200 and see how senior citizens are required to have a consultation with their physicians -- not their lawyers -- every five years on such topics as living wills and hospice, all in the name of dying with dignity.

Subsection 1233 (a) (E) provides that Medicare recipients will get Advance Care Planning Consultations,

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 under this title.

(The section does not copy and paste so I have retyped it; it appears at 425-6 of the legislation.)

This is what Democrats mean when they talk about making hard choices: a cost-benefit calculation in the name of "quality of life."

Anyone who actually reads the section will be struck by its complexity -- the interlocking statutory references to existing laws that the new legislation would repeal or modify make this a legislative labyrinth. For any member of Congress to actually read and digest this legislation would take way more than the two weeks the Administration has alloted.

The Anchoress calls this attempt to mandate "dying with dignity" what it is:

This mindset is evil, by the way. If you’re not sure, if you’re wondering about it, let’s be clear: assigning monetary value to life based on budgets and arbitrary assessments that disregard humanity’s (and life’s) “intangible assets” such as, you know…loving, being loved and oh yes, the basic human desire to continue living, is evil.

Deciding that some people have a greater effect on society than others, and therefore are more worthy of treatment than anothers? That’s evil, too.

Read it before your vote.