Grassley Weighs In (Again) on End-of-Life Services

Here’s the statement just out of the office of Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who’s raised some eyebrows this week for his repeated claims that the Democrats’ health reform bill would empower the government “pull the plug on grandma,” as he said yesterday in Iowa.

On the end-of-life issue, there’s a big difference between a simple educational campaign, as some advocates want, and the way the House committee-passed bill pays physicians to advise patients about end of life care and rates physician quality of care based on the creation of and adherence to orders for end-of-life care, while at the same time creating a government-run program that is likely to lead to the rationing of care for everyone.

The Finance Committee, where Grassley is the senior Republican, has “dropped end-of-life provisions from consideration entirely because of the way they could be misinterpreted and implemented incorrectly,” the Iowa senator says. “Maybe others can defend a bill like the Pelosi bill that leaves major issues open to interpretation, but I can’t.”