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Killing Grandma
"Death panel" is a political term that originated during the 2009 debate about federal health care legislation to cover the uninsured in the United States. Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, coined the term when she charged that proposed legislation would create a "death panel" of bureaucrats who would carry out triage, i.e. decide whether Americans—such as her elderly parents, or son with Down syndrome—were "worthy of medical care". Palin's claim has been referred to as the "death panel myth", as nothing in any proposed legislation would have led to individuals being judged to see if they were worthy of health care. Palin's spokesperson pointed to Section 1233 of bill HR 3200 which would have paid physicians for providing voluntary counseling to Medicare patients about living wills, advance directives, and end-of-life care options. Palin's claim was reported as false and criticized by the press, fact-checkers, acade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uninsured In The United States
In the United States, health insurance coverage is provided by several public and private sources. During 2019, the U.S. population was approximately 330 million, with 59 million people 65 years of age and over covered by the federal Medicare program. The 273 million non-institutionalized persons under age 65 either obtained their coverage from employer-based (159 million) or non-employer based (84 million) sources, or were uninsured (30 million). During the year 2019, 89% of the non-institutionalized population had health insurance coverage. Separately, approximately 12 million military personnel (considered part of the "institutional" population) received coverage through the Veteran's Administration and Military Health System. Despite being among the world's top economic powers, the US remains the sole industrialized nation in the world without universal health care coverage. The United States healthcare system is ranked 29th compared to other nations, due to the lack o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
