“You can’t avoid these questions,” Dr. Emanuel said in an Aug. 16 Washington Post interview. “We had a big controversy in the United States when there was a limited number of dialysis machines. In Seattle, they appointed what they called a ‘God committee’ to choose who should get it, and that committee was eventually abandoned. Society ended up paying the whole bill for dialysis instead of having people make those decisions.”
Dr. Emanuel argues that to make such decisions, the focus cannot be only on the worth of the individual. He proposes adding the communitarian perspective to ensure that medical resources will be allocated in a way that keeps society going: “Substantively, it suggests services that promote the continuation of the polity—those that ensure healthy future generations, ensure development of practical reasoning skills, and ensure full and active participation by citizens in public deliberations—are to be socially guaranteed as basic. Covering services provided to individuals who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens are not basic, and should not be guaranteed. An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia.” (Hastings Center Report, November-December, 1996)
Dr Emanuel is Rahm Emanuel’s brother & when asked directly by the Washington Press Corps if Dr Emanuel had provided advice on healthcare plans to the Admin, Press Secretary Gibbs repeatedly said yes.
Baby Boomers beware. Social Security has already been cut (last week). In a few years it will give out more than it takes in, and then it will be gone. That means that today’s retiring members of the “Me Generation” will be short on cash, at the end of the line for healthcare, and-if this guy has his way-will be left to die when Alzheimers hits.
Author of “Reparations and America’s 2nd Civil War
Reparations and America’s 2nd Civil War: Malensek, Scott: 9798864028674: Amazon.com: Books