I don’t dispute anything you’ve said, but death panels are not the solution.
Who said I supported death panels? But what do you should be the alternative? We already have ethics committees to help clarify issues of treatment, prognosis, placement, etc, that involve everyone from social workers, chaplains, nursing, and medical. In the end, it is still the family’s decision, although there is no obligation to provide futile treatment.
The elephant in the room is cost. If you insist on keeping a family member alive with expensive technology, despite the fact there will be a poor outcome, who should pay for it? That is the $64,000,000,000 question no one wants to touch.
In CA our hospitals are preparing for drastic cuts in reimbursement for the coming fiscal year. There are cuts across the boards going on. It will affect everyone.