Finance Committee drops end-of-life provision, according to GrASSley

[jefferson_dem]

Finance Committee drops end-of-life provision
@ 1:59 pm by Michael O'Brien
The Senate Finance Committee will drop a controversial provision on consultations for end-of-life care from its proposed healthcare bill, its top Republican member said Thursday.

The committee, which has worked on putting together a bipartisan healthcare reform bill, will drop the controversial provision after being derided as "death panels" to encourage euthanasia by conservatives.

"On the Finance Committee, we are working very hard to avoid unintended consequences by methodically working through the complexities of all of these issues and policy options," Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a statement. "We dropped end-of-life provisions from consideration entirely because of the way they could be misinterpreted and implemented incorrectly."

The Finance Committee is the only congressional committee to not report out a preliminary healthcare bill before the August congressional recess, but is expected to unveil its proposal shortly after Labor Day.

Grassley said that bill would hold up better compared to proposals crafted in the House, which he asserted were "poorly cobbled together."

"The bill passed by the House committees is so poorly cobbled together that it will have all kinds of unintended consequences, including making taxpayers fund health care subsidies for illegal immigrants," Grassley said. The veteran Iowa lawmaker said the end-of-life provision in those bills would pay physicians to "advise patients about end of life care and rate physician quality of care based on the creation of and adherence to orders for end-of-life care."

"Maybe others can defend a bill like the Pelosi bill that leaves major issues open to interpretation, but I can't," Grassley added.

http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/08/13/finance-committee-drops-end-of-life-provision/

[BlooInBloo]

1. You mean the one that the republican put there in the first place?

[CrownPrinceBandar]

3. BINGO!!!!!!!!

You win the cookie!

[barbiegeek]

11. Reps put it there as a setup for "Death panel"

Republicans included that provision because they had their "Death Panel" debate all ready. It was a set up

[BlooInBloo]

13. That's my guess.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

2. The slow drip of concessions continues............

what's next, dropping the public option altogether?

[DesertFlower]

4. i'm afraid that's going to happen.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

5. Me too......

And what frightens me more is that the Dems will roll over for it. Hope to Dog I'm wrong.

[DesertFlower]

9. i know.

i feel betrayed and i want to cry.

[SpartanDem]

7. It already happened for finance bill it's not going have a public option

the house bill and other senante bill do have them.

[babylonsister]

6. What, no more death panels? Whatever will the crazies talk about now?

I have no problem with this. I can talk about living wills and end of life provisions without this being included in a bill.

[Phx_Dem]

8. Oh well, I guess all the angry old farts who could have used this

provision, can suck on it and pay for their own fucking counseling since they are responsible for it being eliminated. I'm in my 40s and I already have a Living Will so I won't be needing it. That's what happens when you're too stupid to know what you're bitching about.

[Becky72]

10. There are 13 Dems and 10 Republicans in the committee

Why? What was wrong with helping old people who wanted to be helped with their living wills and decisions as to what medical methods to accept or reject? Didn't Democrats win two straight elections?

[ieoeja]

12. Stupid 1 - Leadership 0