Isakson Pushes Back on “Death Panels” – But Also on House Democrats’ Bill
But, apparently Obama did not invoke Isakson with the senator’s blessing, and now there is some pushback today from the Georgia Republican who voted against the Senate health reform bill in committee, but did add an end-of-life consultation amendment to it.
“This is what happens when the President and members of Congress don’t read the bills,” says Isakson in a paper statement. “The White House and others are merely attempting to deflect attention from the intense negativity caused by their unpopular policies. I never consulted with the White House in this process and had no role whatsoever in the House Democrats’ bill. 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,” Isakson continued. “My Senate amendment simply puts health care choices back in the hands of the individual and allows them to consider if they so choose a living will or durable power of attorney. The House provision is merely another ill-advised attempt at more government mandates, more government intrusion, and more government involvement in what should be an individual choice.”
In the written statement, Isakson’s office says the House version would “incentivize doctors by offering them money to conduct ‘end-of-life counseling’ with Medicare patients every five years.” And it disagrees with the mandated list of topics doctors providing the counseling must provide to receive the benefit.
He owes Sarah a HUGE apology for calling her a nut. I guess all those phone calls to his office scared him a little
The jackass!