as long as end of life counseling is 100% voluntary, then sure I would pay for it as part of an insurance plan.

by voluntary I mean voluntary by the old person or the old person's family (in cases where gramps is a vegetable).

Didn't know people still watched Olby.  Anyways, the panels are far from fiction and I don't thnk you quite understand what the GOP is opposed to.

I'm just waiting for someone to say 'like the British NHS death panels'.  They don't exist.  No.  They really don't.  Honest.

If I remember correctly, the "Death Panel" thing was created by the queen of political idiots: Sarah Palin.

Can't stand that bitch...

I just happened to see that video on another site. Regretably, I know full well the kind of choice that people face at the end of their lives. Some folks are lucky and pretty much live their lives out in their own homes and quickly die without too much pain. Even in this case it's hard to say "not too much pain" because even though it may only be a couple of weeks of suffering there is no denying that there is suffering involved. With enough narcotics it can be tolerable but even in that case it's not the pain so much as the loss of dignity and privacy.

On the other side of the scale instead of two weeks in hospice with a morphine drip my wife's father suffered for at least 3 years before mercifully he was allowed to die. He suffered through 2 hip replacement operations at the age of 92 and 93 and neither ever healed. He struggled so much to avoid a wheelchair and used a walker for the longest time. I was constantly reminded of the movie "They Shoot Horses Don't They". In my mind he was the strongest person that I've ever met but even he eventually had to relent and use a wheelchair.

There were a number of almost comical errors, or they would be comical if not so pathetic. He had a DNR (do not resuscitate) order in place but apparently it had been filled out incorrectly and so they had to revive him and give him a transfusion to save his life. Eventually as with all things it came to an end, but I really have no desire to go out that way. That's why I'm determined to retire to someplace where doctor assisted suicide is legal.

Perhaps you folks simply aren't old enough to have seen the like and had to face your own mortality but death itself is not the least bit frightening, it's the potential suffering that you'll have to go through to get there that has me concerned. I just want some control and say in the matter and have the ability to determine for myself when enough is enough. It's very easy to say that you'd just put a bullet through your own head, it's a far different thing to actually have the strength to do it and those that think they will be able to face it easily all I can say is I hope you are right but you *really* won't know until you're faced with the reality of it.

They have them in Texas.

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/HS/htm/HS.166.htm#166.046

Under section E after the committee reach the decision they can prevent treatment. And they are not held criminally responsible.

A person does not commit an offense under Section 22.08, Penal Code, by withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment from a qualified patient in accordance with this subchapter.

Of course that was signed in by that George W Bush guys so you know how much weight does it carry. But quite frankly they have panels for respirators, organ transplants, and various other life saving procedure in nearly all industralized countries that determine who will live and who will die. A panel by any other name leaves you equally dead.

i do think assisted suicide should be legal as long as it is completely voluntary and it can be shown you are of sound enough mind to make that decision.  If not, then it should be up to the family.  Government should not be in the decision.

Insane.

Insurance companies don't have to pay for a doctor to inform patients and family of all the possible options?!?!?

Healthcare. Made of two words, health and care. Its not Healthdon'tcare.

After reading other posts showing how much money the "GOP" members gets from insurance companies I can't beleive anyone believes those members have a shred of integrity.

GOP Epic fail.....

michaelcook, both republicans and democrats are corrupt beyond recognition.  The dems take plenty of handouts too.

The entire healthcare debate is a giant misinformationfest. 

Republicans say there are death panels that will decide if you live or die.

Democrats don't tell the truth about the actual plan. Universal healthcare is not free. You still have to pay a reasonable amount for your government health care. Those who can barely afford health care now WILL NOT be able to afford it once the risky sick people who previously couldn't get health care due to pre-existing conditions are added to the pool. Premiums will go up, and taxes will go up to pay for setting everything up.

I guess we're just going to have to bite the bullet and choose death or taxes. I know which way I'm going to go. Natural selection should (hopefully) deal with the rest.

I believe we should neither prolong nor hasten dying. I simply want to be kept alive (food and hydration) until Almighty God reserves His right to call me from this life.....in other words, natural death.

Olbermann?  you mean that Sadistic, Narcissistic, Misogynistic, Plagarising, Hypocritical, Lying, Immoral guy?  What a source!

Do you realize this so-called healthcare reform was created with backrooms deals with "Big Pharm" companies and the like?  Ya know, from this "transparent" administration.