This Week in the Mercury
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Politics Guess Who Lost the "Death Panel" Debate?
Posted by Sarah Mirk on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 2:34 PM
The Democrats unveiled their $894 billion healthcare overhaul today and surprise surprise, guess what's still included? Portland representative Earl Blumenauer's small section on providing end-of-life care that spiraled into the whole "death panels" hysteria.
The policy provides reimbursement for time doctors spend counseling patients about end-of-life options, but the funny thing is that Blumenauer's office says the misinformation-riddled attacks on the straight-forward idea actually helped keep it in the healthcare bill. "The outrageous and vindictive attacks over the last few months backfired and ironically helped to raise awareness about this problem, which is why it’s been kept in the bill," says Blumenauer. The obviously-false attacks on the legislation actually rallied support around the provision and raised its profile—Obama even wound up mentioning it in his big address of the healthcare joint session.
- BT Livermore
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