Many elderly Americans receiving Medicare are alarmed by the so-called “advance care planning consultation” mandated by the health care bill, fearing that they will be visited by government officials who are paid to pressure them to accept a kind of soft euthanasia in lieu of medical treatment. Are their fears overblown?
Consider Section 1233 of the bill, HR3200, currently under consideration by the House of Representatives. This specifies that the “advance care planning consultation “shall include … (1)(E) An explanation by the practitioner of the continuum of end-of-life services and supports available”, which “may include the formulation of … an actionable medical order relating to the treatment of that individual that …may include indications respecting …(iv) the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration.”
Proponents of the new health care plan have fallen over themselves to explain this away as simply letting elderly Medicare patients learn about their options. We—along with other pro-life groups—disagree. We hold that an intrusive visit of this nature is intended to cut health care costs—by cutting health care recipients. Why else would the option of withholding food and water from the elderly even be on the table?