[Cyman]

“The chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80 percent of the total health- care bill out here.”

He is misquoting a statement concerning the expenses of the MediCare program. The statement should be that approximately 80% of the cost of all medical care received by an individual is spent in the last 6 months of their life.

[KarlInOhio]

The statement should be that approximately 80% of the cost of all medical care received by an individual is spent in the last 6 months of their life.

That seems horribly high. Most people who die are old and on Medicare. If that 80% number was true, Medicare's share of total national medical expeneses would be a lot higher than 45%.

[MozarkDawg]

Obama said “you just get into some very difficult moral issues” when considering whether “to give my grandmother, or everybody else’s aging grandparents or parents, a hip replacement when they’re terminally ill.

“That’s where I think you just get into some very difficult moral issues,” he said in the April 14 interview. “The chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80 percent of the total health- care bill out here.”

Your post:

He is misquoting a statement concerning the expenses of the MediCare program. The statement should be that approximately 80% of the cost of all medical care received by an individual is spent in the last 6 months of their life.

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He's also putting this wrong, it's not a moral issue, it's a financial decision, whether made by gubmint bureaucrats or one's family. It's a physical benefits decision made by a patient in consultation with his doctor, how much will I gain over how much I risk?

[nikos1121]

This guy is completely below water. We’ve elected a man who couldn’t get a job at a department head’s level at most companies. He’s a likeable guy, but there is also something very sinister about him. Kind of like I feel listening to Russian leaders. The end justifies the means. In other words, say and do anything it takes to get your programs and laws passed. Lying or misleading is part of that process. I think this is the cornerstone of Saul Alinsky.