One of the big hypes I am seeing of late is the End Of Life counseling provision. Of course, the opposition spin doctors are saying that every 5 years the doctors are required to talk to patients about how they should end their life. They claim this bill requires doctors to inform patients on how to "commit suicide".

The specific section is on page 424, section 1233.

From what I am reading here, the bill mandates a discussion of the following:

1) Advance Care Planning (not defined in the bill, still trying to make sure I understand its implications)
2) Advance Directives, living wills, and durable powers of attorney
3) Health care proxies
4) Contact information for outside organizations that specialize in this sort of assistance
5) Advantages and Disadvantaes of Hospice and pallitive care facilities and what the medical insurance benefits are regarding such facilities.
6) What a order regarding life sustaining treatment is and why they are necessary
7) The information needed by a patient's surrogate (generally a family member) to make decisions regarding things such as "pulling the plug"
8) Contact information for outside organizations, including local and state organizations that specialize in this sort of counseling and assitance.
9) The federal regulations for counseling must meet or exceed the recommendations of the state in which the patient is receiving treatment.

So as far as I can tell, this is legislation mandating a conversation between a patient and their physician that they should be having anyway. Am I missing something that says suicide here?

Already been done, here

» Above Politics » Let's discuss what's in the Health Care Bill

But you're more than welcome to start again, maybe you'll find something we didn't.