This snip is pretty amazing form this website...
http://www.discardedlies.com/entries/2005/03/the_cruelest_hoax_signing_your_own_death_warrant.php
I wonder how reliable the info is.
EUTHANASIA
"The idea was launched in the U.S.A. in 1969 by a law journal article entitled "Due Process of Euthanasia: the Living Will, a Proposal." (In Britain the Voluntary Euthanasia Society is the main distributor of Wills/Directives). The proposal soon found favour with U.S. government officials as an economy measure. The leaked "Derzon memorandum" advised President Carter to "Change social values regarding cost-inducing activities" and stated "The cost-saving from a nation-wide push toward 'Living Wills' is likely to be enormous. Over one-fifth of Medicare expenditures are for persons in their last year of life." But it was not until 1991 that it was made compulsory for all patients admitted to hospital in the U.S., for whatever reason, to be presented with "Living Will" forms."
So what are we trying to say here..that now we want to push the envelope and include not only those who are in the last years of life in those cost savings measures but also those that might require long term Medicare like the borderline disabled (PVS, Alzheimer's, CP patients, the minimally conscious, etc.)?