Did you ever notice how the sides of any issue can stretch the truth and come out with blatant lies? Then those lies are put into emails and every small-minded person passes them on, until they suddenly become "truth". People will actually believe the lies without checking them. Part of this, I think, is just laziness on the part of small-minded people. They don't feel like doing the research and the email already states what they want to believe anyway, so they send it off. Part of this is stupidity; well it has an important sounding name or whatever, so it must be true, because you can't send anything that isn't true, right?

It is annoying when these untruths appeared in emails, but because you know who your intellectually light friends and relatives are, and you can ignore those emails, it isn't so bad. Some of these spreaders of lies spreaders are just your cousin Todd from Buffalo, but some of them are allowed to spread their lies on radio shows and TV shows, and then it is nearly impossible to stop the spread.

Well, today, I'm going to try to stop one of these lies from going any further.  Former lieutenant governor of New York, Betsy McCaughey, is going around claiming that the health care bill, H.R. 3200 (the bill in the House), is "a vicious assault on elderly people" that will "cut your life short." Between her and Palin's lie spreading, it is a wonder that the truth ever gets told.

There is a provision in H.R. 3200 for end of life counseling  which would be paid for by Medicare.  H.R. 3200, page 425:

Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), the term ‘advance care planning consultation’ means a consultation between the individual and a practitioner described in paragraph (2) regarding advance care planning, if, subject to paragraph (3), the individual involved has not had such a consultation within the last 5 years. Such consultation shall include the following:

(A) An explanation by the practitioner of advance care planning, including key questions and considerations, important steps, and suggested people to talk to. (B) An explanation by the practitioner of advance directives, including living wills and durable powers of attorney, and their uses.

(C) An explanation by the practitioner of the role and responsibilities of a health care proxy.

(D) The provision by the practitioner of a list of national and State-specific resources to assist consumers and their families with advance care planning,

(E) 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.

(F)(i) Subject to clause (ii), an explanation of orders regarding life sustaining treatment or similar orders

Article Author: Julie Marie Totsch

I have been writing ever since I can remember. I recently came across as a short story I wrote as a child. It was horrible. I'm hope that my writing has improved in the thirty years since.

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