House Health Care Bill Contains End-Of-Life Counseling

The AP reported last night that the House health care reform bill indeed contains provisions for end-of-life counseling, which generated so much controversy over the summer when it was included in earlier version of the bill. Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin dubbed this counseling "death panels"--a bit of an overstatement I think--and it was off to the races.

I figured the Democrats were smart enough to strip these provisions out of the House bill, but no. The reality is the counseling likely wouldn't make its way into an eventual combined House-Senate bill because over in the more adult chamber the Dems are struggling to land votes. You can read the language of the end-of-life counseling beginning on page 641 of the bill, downloadable here.

While the language does state that such counseling would be strictly voluntary, I can appreciate why some people object to the Congress legislating much of anything about end-of-life because it seems just as weird to me as the bill's many Nanny State provisions--yay, the government is going to tell me how many calories are in restaurant food because I'm too stupid to figure out that a Big Mac is fattening!--and its provision encouraging workplace wellness plans to create positive mental health in the workplace. Can't business owners work that kind of thing out for themselves? Or is the government to regulate our moods now, too? I feel roughly the same about the end-of-life counseling--it's something the government is best keeping its nose out of.

Interestingly, the prime backer of the counseling is Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) who I dealt with many times when I was a reporter in Portland. I found him to be very smart, very quirky (bow ties, biking everywhere, showing up for endorsement interviews in biking shorts) and very committed to whatever his particular position was, often to the point where you couldn't ask legitimate questions.

He told the AP:

"'There is nothing more basic than giving someone the option of speaking with their doctor about how they want to be treated in the case of an emergency,' said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore. 'I think the outrageous and vindictive attacks may have backfired to help raise awareness about this problem, which is why it's been kept in the bill.'"

Blumenauer knows damn well that there's a lot more in this portion of the bill than emergency treatment. There's consulting on wills, living wills, and "[a]n explanation by the practitioner of physician orders regarding life sustaining treatment."

I bet you this blows up all over cable news and the blogosphere later today. Stay tuned.