The chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80 percent of the total health care bill out here....There is going to have to be a conversation that is guided by doctors, scientists, ethicists. And then there is going to have to be a very difficult democratic conversation that takes place."
- President Obama, interview with The New York Times
In his April interview, President Obama announced the need for a "difficult democratic conversation" surrounding federal health spending on end-of-life care. However, one of President Obama's senior health care advisors, Ezekiel Emanuel, has already reached the conclusion that some individuals are more worthy of medical care than others:
Figure: Age-based priority for receiving scarce medical interventions under the complete lives system.
Given that President Obama's self-appointed "ethicist" supports allocating resources in a way that discriminates against the most vulnerable citizens in our society-infants, the elderly, and citizens with disabilities-who can state with certainty that the federal government will not end up denying treatments to those deemed "unworthy" as a result of Democrats' government takeover of health care?