Death-dealing Arizona
Gov. Jan Brewer
Remember the death panels? The ones that the right-wing kooks warned we would all risk facing if Obamacare passed, consisting of committees of politicians whose job was to decide which severely ill patients got treatment and which were just allowed to go ahead and die?
Well, there actually was nothing of that sort in Obama’s proposed, so the worry was pointless to begin with. But it turns out that the prospect wasn’t entirely imaginary.
It just turns out that it isn’t the Democrats.who are deciding which old and unwell patients are to be permitted to live and which ones are condemned to death. In Republican Arizona, it is the Republican governor and state senators, who have formed themselves into a “death panel” that makes the decision on which otherwise terminal patients will be given life-saving organ transplants. The panel turned down more than 90 patients who had only one remaining option: Go ahead and die.
After a flurry of media coverage, the governor tried to save face by moving to create a pool to restore transplants — but then cut 280,000 people from the Medicaid rolls, which meant “The pool won’t be big enough to guarantee transplants because taking people out of Medicaid will create a surge in hospital patients who can’t afford to pay,” according to Bloomberg.com.
Funnily, the Republicans aren’t worried about death panels at all, now. Maybe it doesn’t hurt as much when the person who pronounces your sentence comes from your own political party.
ironchefoklahoma says:
When you have a spare moment, I’d enjoy hearing any words you have on the passing of Ray Bradbury.
June 8, 2012, 6:24 pmRick York says:
I think it was Emerson who said, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.” I would modify it to say “Small minds ignore consistency”. “Death Panels” are bad if you’re old – and possibly well off – but are OK if you’re young and/or poor.
June 8, 2012, 7:16 pmLarry Kollar says:
That’s been the right-wing tactic all along: accuse their opponents of doing what they’re either doing or planning to do.
June 8, 2012, 9:08 pmJohn Armstrong says:
so, they’d be properly described as Pro-Death, then?
June 8, 2012, 9:33 pmStefan Jones says:
The closest thing to “death panels” in the insurance reform bundle was an allowance for end-of-life plan counseling. Talking to a doctor so people could make living wills, standing orders about life support and Do Not Resuscitate orders and the like.
In the inane, evidence-free world of the conservative media circus, this common-sense measure was equated with a bunch of snickering bureaucrats rubbing their palms over the prospect of pouring bleach in grandma’s feeding tube.
This lie will continue as long as it is useful.
June 9, 2012, 11:11 pmRobert Nowall says:
I think it interesting that you equate “no Medicaid” with “death,” and that “organ transplant” doesn’t involve “death” at all.
Larry Kollar: you mean “left-wing tactic.”
June 10, 2012, 9:14 amEva Whitley says:
As I said to my son when the GOPpers were complaining about “death panels”: they must live a charmed life, never having to deal with insurance companies.
June 10, 2012, 12:28 pmTom Swirly says:
What gets me is that even one person was fooled by this stuff. I mean, if you live in the US, rich or poor you know of people who die because they can’t afford the medical treatment they need…
June 11, 2012, 7:43 amJohn C. Boland says:
What drivel, Fred, from you and several of your readers. You’re playing “good guys” and “bad guys” and assuming, as you accuse the Republicans of doing (perhaps rightly), that decisions will be better if your “good guys” are making them. Bad, bad bet.
June 17, 2012, 9:21 pmTonyC says:
@Robert Nowall:
The vast majority of organ transplants are required because alternatives are essentially a slow death (have you never known anyone on dialysis?). Transplants are not a panacea. They are never an easy way out. They are not a ‘choice’ anyone would willingly make for anything other than life-preserving reasons.
You, sir, continue to amaze with your astounding ability to prognosticate pompously on any subject in favor of your “side”. Guess what – death does not take sides.
@John C. Boyland: Where, exactly, does Fred presume that decisions would be better if the “good guys” are making them? Fred’s comment was that The Affordable Healthcare Act proposed to allow, and fund, end-of-life counselling by one’s PHYSICIAN. No. Bureaucrats. Anywhere! Contrary to this, the AZ Gov & cohorts *in actuality* forced themselves into the decision loop for patients. Bureaucrats. EVERYWHERE.
June 21, 2012, 8:00 am