But it turns out a GOP Senator, Susan Collins, sponsored a virtually identical initiative this spring, before this became an anti-reform GOP talking point — and praised it as necessary to improving our health care system’s “care for patients at the end of their lives.”
This sharply undercuts the GOP and conservative claim — unless, of course, you believe Collins backed an initiative she thinks could lead to mass government extermination of the elderly. Though this talking point has been debunked multiple times, conservatives and GOP leaders like John Boehner continue to employ it with abandon.
On May 22nd, Senators Collins and Jay Rockefeller introduced the “Advance Planning and Compassionate Care Act,” according to a press release sent over by a source. The measure provides Medicare funding “for advance care planning so that patients can routinely talk to their physicians about their wishes for end-of-life care,” the release says.
Collins praised the measure, which may be included in the Senate health care bill, in the release. “Our legislation will improve the way our health care system care for patients at the end of their lives,” she said, “and it will also facilitate appropriate discussions and individual autonomy in making decisions about end-of-life care.”
Now as I said yesterday, I still think invoking the Terry Schiavo case would be the best line of attack as push back on all this nonesense. However pointing out that it was a Republican who proposed almost an identical measure earlier this year couldn't hurt either.
And I am hoping that at some point during his show today, preferrably at the beginning, that Chris Matthews runs an apology and a correction for the erroneous information he put out yesterday.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
Come Hard Or Not At All!