The truth behind the "death panels"...

(Note: This blog will be discussing section 1233 of H.R 3200. To ensure that everything in this blog concerning the bill is true here is the link to the actual bill)



First off, as you read this I suggest you play this music. The most epic evil, horror, music ever.


And now...the truth behind the death panels. Who is behind them?




Betsy McCaughy.




Who is she? And why should she start such a horrible rumor--such a ridiculous and utterly false concept?

Lets take those one at a time. Betsy McCaughey, besides being a succubus (a little humor), she is the director of medical device company called Cantel Medical Corp; former lieutenant governor of New York; she is a senior at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank. How conservative are we talking here? The Capital Research Center, a non-partisan, independent, group that seeks to rank non-profits and documents their funding, allocates Hudson as a 7 on its ideological spectrum with 8 being "Free Market Right" and 1 "Radical Left."

Yeah, that conservative. Here is the kicker, guess where they get their funding? Pharmaceutical companies, drug store chains, and biomedical companies. Yeah, the same group of people who oppose a reformed health care because of a fear the government will regulate prices on their drugs.

Now the basis of this lie didn't start with the H.R 3200, but rather with the stimulus package and its provision on heath care spending. She threw a fit on Fox and CNN and misquoted the provision to say the government will, "guide decisions at the time and place of care", drawing the implication that the government will decide what your doctor will do, even if it means euthanasia if your treatment is too costly. Of course this fear of a government take over carried over to the health care reform and...viola you have the "death panel" origin.


What did H.R 1 really say? That the government will "provide appropriate information to help guide the decisions at the time and place of care". So what is this saying? The government will provide information, that doctors can access at any time, to help them in their decision of treatment. Because too often corporations, like the pharmaceuticals that funds McCaughey, give falsified or skewed information to doctors which result in unnecessary prescriptions, and unnecessary tests that make the health care system inefficient more expensive.

These corporations are the same corporations that shot down the health care reform in 93', the same corporations that are responsible for the skyrocketing premiums and plummeting medical salaries. These people are the reason why we dont have universal health care like france, or italy (they top the chart for health care)-- the reason we have people being denied coverage on fatal illnesses. They are the reason we need reform!

Dont belive me on her motive of recieving funding from pharmaceuticals? You dont have to. Read McCaughey letter to Pharma Ceo Alan Holmer,

"Asking Pharma (a pharmaceutical company) to fund my work at the Hudson institute, because my writings on health care policy can make a substantial difference in the public opinion and in the nation's capitol."

And she sure has, people actually believe old people will be put through euthanasia. She has made a substantial difference not only in the public opinion but also in the nation's capital. We have Sarah Palin bolstering ridiculous comments about a death panel that decides whether or not a person should have the right to life. But its not just wacky right wing would be politicians, its actual politicians. Sen. Grassley told his constituents they "have a right to be feared." He actually endorsed this ridiculous nonsense of McCaughey and sold it to the public!

What the "death panel" is referring to is section 1233 of the health care bill. What section 1233 suggests is "end of life counseling"--no not for the way you want to die, but for how your treatment will go to reduce costs for senior citizens and medicare alike. End of life counseling has been no new thing in our health care system. In fact when the section was added to the bill, guess how many objections there were? None. Not one. Not even from a republican. In 2007, in fact, a few republicans helped suggest and cosign a bill entitled "Medicare End of Life Counseling Act"....Go figure.

So lets outline how this stupid idea began:

First came the stimulus revision and McCaughey's outlandish comments

Secondly, on July 16, she goes on ex. Senator Fred Thompsons radio show and butchers section 1233 of H.R 3200...lighting the match for the "death panel" comments calling the bill bill "a vicious assault on elderly people" and that it will "cut your life short."

Third: July 24 she wrote a collumn pretty much outlining the same thing, tugging on heart strings by a hypothetetical situation of a Grandma with Parkinson's disease not getting treatment by "Obamacare"

Next comes Rep. Michele Bachman who almost recited the article verbatim at time on the House floor.

And then, the shit hit the fan...and all over none other than...Sarah Palin. Who on her facebook wrote the infamous "death panel comment"

And now...Sen Grassley and his endorsement of McCaughey's ideas. And these are just people of politics.

We are not even talking about the crap Beck, Limbuagh and Drudge.com have been spewing.

Now, the damage has been done, thanks to McCaughey. People like her helped shoot down universal health care in 93' with terms like "socializied medicine", "death panels", "government take over", and they are trying to shoot it down again when we need a health care reform the most. With premiums skyrocketing and the the US health care system rank plummeting...this is not the time for greedy corporate puppets and stupid politicians trying to shut down health care. The very idea is scarier than the music your hearing right now...