Death Panels. . . .

Senate candidate Maurice Ferre advocates capping Medicare spending on end-of-life care for elderly

WEST PALM BEACH — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Maurice Ferre says the U.S. spends an "absurd" amount on end-of-life care and should gradually move to a universal health system in which the government controls costs by setting prices for medical procedures and capping expenditures based on age and medical condition.

Speaking to The Palm Beach Post editorial board today, Ferre said he would have voted for the health care overhaul approved by Congress and signed by President Obama this year as "a step in the right direction." He later said the "Medicare-for-everyone" system he favors should be phased in over about 25 years.

Ferre, 75, is a former Miami mayor running a low-budget Democratic primary campaign against U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami and Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene.

Answering a question about the long-term solvency of Social Security, Ferre said eventually raising the retirement age should be considered. He then went into a discussion of Medicare costs, saying a large amount of money typically is spent in the final three months of a person's life.

"I've already written in my will that I don't want you to go spending half a million dollars to keep me alive for three more months all tubed up with all kinds of liquids going in and out of my body and my mind slowly slipping away. It's a torture chamber," Ferre said.

"Now you say, well, that's a 'death panel.' Well, you know what, when you get to be 85 or 90 years old, you're going to die. And I'm sorry, you call it, Sarah Palin, what you want, but the fact is that it is absurd for us to be spending the types of money we're spending to extend life three months."

Asked what he'd do as a Senator to control such costs, Ferre said: "I would absolutely say that this is the cap on how much is available for you to spend at age 90, 87, with a heart condition of this sort, with diabetes of this sort, two legs missing and, you know, this is how much is available for you to spend. And you spend it any way you want."

He added: "My logic tells me that it is illogical to spend half a million dollars to extend a diabetic person who has two legs cut off, that we spend half a million dollars to tube up that person and extend their lives six months."

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Well by golly Hitler felt the same way. . . .He didn't think there was a need for the elderly, mentally or physically disabled either.

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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/senate-candidate-maurice-ferre-advocates-capping-medicare-spending-737744.html