Ah, the finessing of the euphemisms,
The new rule says Medicare will cover “voluntary advance care planning,” to discuss end-of-life treatment, as part of the annual visit.
This is from a NYTimes article today,
Obama Returns to End-of-Life Plan That Caused Stir (emphasis added)
When a proposal to encourage end-of-life planning touched off a political storm over “death panels,” Democrats dropped it from legislation to overhaul the health care system. But the Obama administration will achieve the same goal by regulation, starting Jan. 1.
Here comes the punchline:
Congressional supporters of the new policy, though pleased, have kept quiet. They fear provoking another furor like the one in 2009 when Republicans seized on the idea of end-of-life counseling to argue that the Democrats’ bill would allow the government to cut off care for the critically ill.
…
While the new law does not mention advance care planning, the Obama administration has been able to achieve its policy goal through the regulation-writing process,
of which there’s more to come
a strategy that could become more prevalent in the next two years as the president deals with a strengthened Republican opposition in Congress.
How’s that for change?
