From Press Release
Congressman Steve King released the following statement after introducing H.R. 3251, the End-of-Life Counseling Bill.
“On July 8, 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its plan to pay doctors to counsel patients about end-of-life care, effective January 1, 2016,” said King. “Americans are well-aware of the fact that Medicare is cash-strapped. Allowing the federal government to marry its need to save dollars with the promotion of end-of-life counseling is not in the interest of millions of Americans who were promised life-sustaining care in their older years in exchange for their compelled funding of the program during their working years.
An early draft of Obamacare contained the end-of-life counseling provision. Like CMS’ recent announcement, the provision stipulated that CMS would pay doctors for end-of-life counseling. However, the bill went on to prescribe what doctors would have to discuss. In 2009, public outcry led to the provision being removed from the final legislation that ultimately became law in 2010.
The worldview behind the policy has not changed since 2009 and government control over this highly personal decision is still intolerable to those who respect the dignity of human life. We need to block this harmful regulation before the Administration imposes yet another life-devaluing policy on the American people. My bill will accomplish this important objective by prohibiting Medicare payments for end-of-life counseling under the coming regulation.”
To view the original bill text, click here.
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