Obama: I Don't Want "Death Panels"

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Health Care

(AP Photo/Jim Cole)

Updated 5:15 p.m. ET

Shortly after telling Americans that some opponents are trying to "scare the heck out of folks" by misleading them about his health care reform efforts, President Obama told a town hall audience in New Hampshire that he is "not in favor" of so-called "death panels" in which the government would decide who does and does not qualify for care to keep them alive.

The notion that the president and Congressional Democrats are seeking to institute such panels has been pushed by former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin and some activists.

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Republican Policy Committee Chairman Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) put out a statement last month claiming the health care legislation "may place seniors in situations where they feel pressured to sign end of life directives they would not otherwise sign. This provision may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia if enacted into law."

Some Republicans have disavowed the "death panel" claim, which several media outlets have noted is false. It was among the "10 Health Care Myths" debunked on this site last week. The provision cited by critics, the president said today, would allow Medicare to pay doctors to counsel those seeking information about end-of-life care issues, such as living wills and hospice care.

It would not, he said, "basically pull the plug on grandma because we decided that it's too expensive to let her live anymore."

Mr. Obama noted that a Republican, Johnny Isakson, was an initial sponsor of the provision. The president said lawmakers "very sensibly thought this was something that would expand people's options."

Isakson called the notion that the provision meant euthanasia "nuts." He later disavowed the president's comments, however, writing in a statement, "I categorically oppose the House bill and find it incredulous that the White House and others would use my amendment as a scapegoat for their misguided policies."

In a Facebook post Friday, Palin wrote this: "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil."

The president said in a response to such claims that Americans should not listen to efforts by those seeking to "scare and mislead the American people."

"Where we disagree, let's disagree over things that are real, not these wild misrepresentations that don't bear any resemblance to anything that's actually being proposed," he said.

Read more: Obama Pushes for Public Support of Health Reform

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
Follow on Twitter »

87 Comments Have Your Say
Email Story Send to a Friend
Share This Tell Your Friends
Tweet This Tweet This
More Share It

Add a Comment

See all 87 Comments


by bncwheeler August 14, 2009 12:25 PM EDT: Let me get this right, those alleging use of "death panels" are so disinterested in the care of their elderly family members they would not be involved in the counseling that occurs? Shame on you Ms. Palin!; Reply to this comment


by Parsifal_tx August 12, 2009 4:35 PM EDT: Not all Opposition are republicans or conservatives. Most opposition are NOT Anti-Healthcare nor Anti-American, but we're AGAINST the 'Public Option'. The debate is not about maintaining the status quo as Obama alleges that critics want, it's about how much participation the government will have in healthcare.; Reply to this comment


by jhenry1208 August 12, 2009 6:32 AM EDT: Generally, trade-in vehicles must get 18 or less MPG (some very large pick-up trucks and cargo vans have different requirements)

Jhenry
Blogger
www.cashforclunkersfacts.info
http://www.cashforclunkersfacts.info; Reply to this comment


by jhenry1208 August 12, 2009 6:31 AM EDT: Generally, trade-in vehicles must get 18 or less MPG (some very large pick-up trucks and cargo vans have different requirements)

Jhenry
Blogger
www.cashforclunkersfacts.info
http://www.cashforclunkersfacts.info; Reply to this comment


by hungry1968-16 August 11, 2009 9:20 PM EDT: by NotDon August 11, 2009 8:35 PM EDT

Paying doctors money to bring up end of life care with an elderly patient during a regular office visit is not "voluntary", its coercive, and Obama knows it, that's why he leaves that part out.

Bwaaa haaa haaa!!!

This idiot thinks that "living wills" are some sort of crazy government plan to kill American citizens!!!

Too funny!!!!; Reply to this comment


by NotDon August 11, 2009 8:35 PM EDT: You can believe anything Obama says, so don't worry. Remember how he promised to use govt financing of his campaign?

Remember how Bill Ayers was "just some guy in the neighborhood"

Remember how he was going to stay focused on the deficit like a laser beam?

Yeah, everything that comes off that silver tongue of his is gold, and you can take it to the bank.

Paying doctors money to bring up end of life care with an elderly patient during a regular office visit is not "voluntary", its coercive, and Obama knows it, that's why he leaves that part out.; Reply to this comment


by pursuitoftruth August 11, 2009 7:59 PM EDT: Obama Lied, Seniors Died.
(Except,of course for those dried out and useless Congresscritters like Dingle); Reply to this comment


by HenryDorsettCase August 11, 2009 6:09 PM EDT: This is SO funny! Pharmaceutical companies and Insurance companies will lose BILLIONS on this health care bill (because it will no longer allow them to charge anything they want). And now those same pharmaceutical and insurance companies are using scare tactics on ignorant people who really don't know what's in the bill. You complain about how high medical costs are, how much prescription drugs cost and how the insurance companies are bilking you out of coverage and yet you believe them when they tell you there will be "death panels"! Wow! Have they ever got YOU fooled. They must be getting quite a big laugh in their top floor office buildings. They have finally pulled off a HUGE scam, getting common people to defend insurance and pharmaceutical companies by scaring them into believing ridiculous nonsense. So to all of you opposing the new Health Plan, good for you, you work as shills of the pharmaceutical and insurance industries! You are defending their right to charge high prices and deny you coverage! You want better health care at a lower cost and yet you listen to the propaganda of the industry who has the most money to lose in this. This is almost as good as the one where the Devil convinced the world he didn't exist! Keep arguing against the health care bill guys! Keep all your money where it belongs -- in THEIR pockets, not yours. HA! Truly amazing that people can be so stupid as to defend insurance companies and pharmaceutical industries, who've been ripping them off for decades. Well I guess the general IQ in this country just dropped another 50 points. Good luck!; Reply to this comment


by gomzee69 August 11, 2009 6:04 PM EDT: "Obamacare"

Really, this is what the right wing nuts came up with?

Do you even listen to his words, or is everything that Hannity and Limbaugh say straight from God's mouth? Careful, they'll be your Mohamed's soon.

TOO LATE!; Reply to this comment


by johnbrown8888 August 11, 2009 6:02 PM EDT: If Dems were like Repugniscum, they'd have all the protestors in a fenced area somewhere down by the stockyards, surrounded by police.; Reply to this comment