THE TALK RADIO PARTY SUCKS

GOP politicians who formerly backed improving end of life counseling as recently as a week ago have decided that it's better to follow the ignorant fools who believe right-wing talk radio. Is pandering one of the "timeless conservative values" that Hannity brags about?

GOP backs away from end-of-life counseling
Aug 14 01:53 PM US/Eastern
By BEN EVANS
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Until last week, Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson was among the most enthusiastic backers of end-of-life counseling in government health care programs like Medicare.

That was before conservatives called it a step toward euthanasia and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin likened the idea to a bureaucratic "death panel" that would decide whether sick people get to live. And even though those claims have been widely rejected, the issue remains a political weapon in the increasingly bitter health care debate.

Now, Isakson and other Republicans who eagerly backed the idea are distancing themselves from it or lying low in the face of a backlash from the right.

Just last summer, Congress overwhelmingly approved legislation requiring doctors to discuss the issue with new Medicare enrollees. And the government already requires hospitals and nursing homes to help patients with advance directives or living wills if they want support, under a 1992 law passed under Republican President George H.W. Bush.

Isakson and other Republicans such as Sens. Richard Lugar of Indiana and Susan Collins of Maine have co-sponsored legislation in recent years promoting the counseling, including in initial Medicare visits and through a proposed government-run insurance program for long-term care.

In the House, Republican Reps. Charles Boustany of Louisiana, Geoff Davis of Kentucky and Patrick Tiberi of Ohio co-sponsored legislation from Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., that would authorize Medicare to pay for the counseling. That measure served as a model for the current House language.