When the truth won’t stop health reform, try lies

[Guest guest]

Globe Editorial The Boston Globe August 8, 2009

When the truth won't stop health reform, try lies

BY ALL MEANS, members of Congress should hold town hall meetings in their

districts to discuss Capitol Hill's proposals for health reform. Included in the

major bills are significant changes in the system: mandates that individuals get

insurance and that employers provide it, provisions in some bills for a

Medicare-like public option for consumers, and calls for new taxes to pay for

expanded coverage. But the necessary debate will not take place if

obstructionists who oppose any reform raise public ire by grossly distorting the

proposals.

A case in point is a clause in the House bill that would have Medicare reimburse

doctors who sit down with elderly patients to discuss end-of-life services.

House Republican leader Boehner has said this " may start us down a

treacherous path toward government euthanasia.''

Betsy McCaughey, a former lieutenant governor of New York and health expert who

has been critical of both the Clinton reform plan of the 1990s and more recent

proposals, said the provision mandates elders to have such conversations. It

clearly does not, nor does it require a patient to sign a living will after a

consultation. According to Rother, vice president of AARP, the measure

" would not only help people make the best decisions for themselves but also

better ensure that their wishes are followed.'' But the seniors group's

endorsement has not kept such right-wing commentators as Rush Limbaugh and Fred

from echoing McCaughey's willful misreading...

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