Well, this is both flattering and telling. A questioner at an online town hall brought up a point I have made about Obamacare to Indiana “Blue Dog” Congressman Baron Hill. From the transcript:
Q: Congressman Hill, do you agree with Wesley J. Smith, author of “Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America”? In the book he reminds us that the devil’s in the implementation and not just the bill. He states that the legislation itself is only part of the problem with Obamacare. If the bill were to pass hundreds of bureaucrats will have years to govern the details of the law. This is where the real assault on American freedoms can be achieved as many regulatory actions are brought about after legislation and under the radar. For example, any end-of-life counseling provision should be specified in the bill to be purely voluntary and that counseling should be required by law to be neutral as to outcome. Otherwise, even if the legislation does not push in a certain direction, refusing treatment for example, the regulations could.
Rick Berry, Madison
A: Because of the complexity of our nation’s health care system, I believe the implementation of any reform legislation should be drawn out over several years. That will allow us to see what works, what doesn’t, what needs to be addressed immediately and how best to fix problems that arise. In terms of ambiguity on the end-of-life counseling or advanced directives provision, I can assure you that the language is perfectly clear on that issue - the option to receive such counseling or professional services is indeed an option (completely voluntary) and simply makes it a covered service should Medicare beneficiaries seek such services. This is a deeply personal issue and should remain one.
Notice how Hill avoids the issue of the tens of thousands of pages of regulations that would be promulgated outside of the public eye to carry out the purposes of the legislation. (Legislation today are mere skeletons. The flesh and blood is crafted by bureaucrats in the administrative departments.) Also, section 1233 of HB 3200, the end of life counseling provision, does need to be made explicitly voluntary on the face of the legislation for both provider and patient, and further, be required to be non-directed toward a particular choice. Yet, as we have discussed here at SHS, rather than make these changes that would prevent bureaucrats from inserting bad things into regulations, the House committee passed the bill to the floor without change—as the Senate looks prepared to drop the provision altogether.
In any event, way to go Rick Berry of Madison, IN!
