The Reality Check

Here's a summary of the death panel issue. There are influential people that have said that Obama's Health Care Reform bill would institute death panels like in Nazi Germany or Stalinist Russia to decide who lives and who dies. Of course, that's absurb.

What they were saying is that Obama's Health Care Reform bill would have panels to decide who gets what kind of care depending on their condition. The truth is, this already happens with our current health insurance companies. Currently, health insurance companies decide what kind of treatments you get, not doctors. Yes, it's a problem, but the government run insurance doing it won't be much different than what's happening now. In fact, the government panels might be better since they don't have a profit motive like the insurance companies. People still might not get the treatment they need, but with the government it'll be because a lack of money or lack of available services and resources. It won't be malicious like it is now with insurance companies.

The other place they get this death panel idea is the elderly end-of-life counseling the new health care reform bill would provide. I'm not really sure how they inferred death panels from this unless the bill specifically states that these counselor should advise people to commit euthanasia. That's possible, but it's possible now, and it's not in the bill.

I'm not in favor of passing a health care reform bill but I at least want people to tell the truth. We need to reform health care, but we need to do it with concerted discussion of the facts and implications of those facts. Trying to get this health care bill passed without hashing out the details won't be helpful, and neither is spewing poisonous lies about what is in the bill.

How about some civil debate and discussion about the facts and then let the congressional votes fall where they may?