By ROBERT PEAR
New York Times,
January 4, 2011
Entire Article Can Be Read Here!
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration, reversing course, will revise a Medicare regulation to delete references to end-of-life planning as part of the annual physical examinations covered under the new health care law, administration officials said Tuesday.
The move is an abrupt shift, coming just days after the new policy took effect on Jan. 1.
Many doctors and providers of hospice care had praised the regulation, which listed "advance care planning" as one of the services that could be offered in the "annual wellness visit" for Medicare beneficiaries.
While administration officials cited procedural reasons for changing the rule, it was clear that political concerns were also a factor. The renewed debate over advance care planning threatened to become a distraction to administration officials who were gearing up to defend the health law against attack by the new Republican majority in the House.
In a recently published article by Arthur Caplan, Ph.D, msnbc.com contributor, 'Death panels' alive - and that's good news for all of us, he says, ...Washington, D.C., is not the place to talk about end-of-life care - your doctor's office is.
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