URGENT ACTION NEEDED TO STOP DEATH PANELS--A MESSAGE FROM DR. PAUL BYRNE

[Thomas A. Droleskey, Ph.D., Preface: Although most of the calls to “urgent action” that are sent to me via e-mail have to do with legislative efforts that are based upon one or more fatal flaws, no matter how well-meaning such efforts may be, there are times when such action should be taken if only to let the nonelected bureaucrats who want to have total control over our “health care” so as to expedite our demise. This is one of those times.

[Dr. Paul Byrne, whose work has been noted on this website numerous times (see, for example, No Room In The Inn For Jahi McMath, Every Once In A While, Dr. Paul Byrne on Brain Death, Stories That Speak For Themselves, Headless Corpses?, First-Hand Evidence Of Fraud, Why Should Death Of Any Kind Get In The Way?, Grand Illusion, Every Once In A While, Canada's Death Panels: A Foretaste of ObamaCare, Someone Was Killed To Keep "J.R." Alive, Trying To Find Ever New And Inventive Ways To Snatch Bodies, Dispensing With The Pretense of "Brain Death", Good Rule Of Thumb: Reject What Conciliarists Promote, To Avoid Suffering In The Name Of Compassion, Just Obey God, Death To Us All, Choosing To Live In States Of Apoplexy, ObamaDeathCare, Dr. Byrne's Jahi is alive -- praise the Lord and pass the ammunition and an article that attorneys recently tried to use against Dr. Byrne in court in Reno, Nevada, Dr. Paul A. Byrne's Refutation), has prepared detailed information about proposed regulations, which have been published in the Federal Register, the official publication of the government of the United States of America to provide legal notifications of pending changes to bureaucratic rules and regulations and/or to seek to implement new ones, that gives physicians financial incentives to counsel each of their adult patients, no matter how young or old, on “end of life.” In other words, death panels are for real.

[We are at a situation in the supposedly “civilized” United States of America, many of whose officials, whether elected or unelected, are openly hostile to any law, including the Divine Positive Law and the Natural Law, that is above their own supposedly “infallible” decisions that must be obeyed at all costs. A civil law that is contrary to God’s laws, however, is no law at all, and it must be opposed and denounced as illicit, null and void of any binding authority upon human consciences.

[Dr. Byrne’s call for comments to be placed with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the United States Department of Health and Human Services about two Orwellian “Current Procedural Terminology Codes” that will be used to pressure the unsuspecting to becoming complicit in their own murders.

[Please take the time to read Dr. Paul Byrne’s information and to act with alacrity upon it.

[I will have a commentary on all of this tomorrow, tying it with developments in the case of the courageous Rowan County Clerk, Kim Davis, who has chosen jail over issuing marriage licenses to those who are committing the sin of Sodom. Oh, by the way, the judge who ordered Miss Davis to jail indefinitely, David Bunning, is the son of former United States Senator James Bunning (R-Kentucky) and was appointed to the Federal bench by none other than President George Walker Bush. Bunning says that he is just following “the law.” So will those “end of life professionals” who are about to be unleashed upon us all.

[Please pray three Hail Marys for Dr. Paul Byrne and the valiant work that he is doing at the age of eighty-two to alert Catholics and others to the dangers of so-called “palliative” care and to the proactive measures taken to kill innocent human beings.]

FROM DR. PAUL BYRNE

IMPORTANT

FEDERAL REGS COMMENT DEADLINE IS SEPT 8 AT 5PM

(Who needs legislation? Death Panels Back By Government Fiat!)

Dear all,

We have been paying attention to these issues for quite awhile. A "Notice and Comment Rulemaking" period is currently under way with a deadline of September 8, 2015, 5pm Eastern. After that deadline next Tuesday, an important change in how medicine will be practiced will take place unless CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) receives serious negative comments from the general public. This affects everyone, not just Medicare and Medicaid patients. It also affects those with private insurance and no insurance, but less dierectly.

Here is what has happened. Please continue to read. This is important!!

Two new CPT Codes (Current Procedural Terminology Codes, registered trademard of the American Medical Association) can be used by healthcare professionals starting Jan 1, 2016 to record Advance Care Planning Services (ACP) and apply for reimbursement from the federal government for these "services."

These Advance Care Planning talks will record wishes pertaining to medical treatment and record them in an advance care document such as 1) healthcare proxy, 2) healthcare power of attorney, 3) living will and 4) POLST/MOST/POST/MOLST form. (You know, the POLST form that become doctor's orders!)

These codes are 99497 for the first 30 minutes of advance care planning discussion and form completion with the patient by the physician or other qualified health professional, and 99498 for any additional minutes spent with the patient for that purpose. 

PLEASE, take a moment right now to tell the federal government that you oppose this regulatory change. (See the list of suggested points which you could make, below) (Also see Draft of Model letter.)

You can submit comments electronically, by regular mail, or by express or overnight mail. Use only one method. Please comment IMMEDIATELY.

_____________________________________________________________

1. By electronic mail. Here are two direct links:

Info & instructions:

http://tinyurl.com/CMS-1631-P-info

Comment form:

http://tinyurl.com/CMS-1631-P-comment

2. By regular mail. You may mail written comments to the following address ONLY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services, Attention: CMS-1631-P, P.O. Box 8013, Baltimore, MD 21244-8013.

NOTE: Please allow sufficient time for mailed comments to be received before the close of the comment period which is Sept 8, 2015 at 5pm.

2. By express or overnight mail. You may send written comments to the following address ONLY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services, Attention: CMS-1631-P, Mail Stop C4-26-05, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244-1850.

____________________________________________________________________

If the comment period goes according to the Big Death lobby's hopes and aspirations these codes will become "active" which means that the new codes can start being used and the government will start paying for these End-of-Life consulting "services" in the near future. (Reference is in the Federal Register of Wednesday, July 15, 2015, Vol. 80, No. 135, p. 41773)

At the end of this email are suggested discussion points you can make in your individual letters. In summary, expect these ACP talks to be conducted using a one-size-fits-all framework of boxes to check which will become doctor's orders, the POLST form!

Paul A. Byrne, M.D.

pab@lifeguardianfoundation.org

P.O. Box 167845

Oregon, OH 43616

 

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Here are some suggested points to make in your letter:

  • These 2 codes (99497 and 99498) are not about paying for traditional medicine. They encourage End-of-Life (EOL) discussions.Most doctors go to medical school to preserve life, not to conduct EOL discussions. These codes are for a new type of medicine called palliative medicine. Palliative medicine is a vehicle of the Right to Die movement to legitimize the hastening of death. The root of palliative is pall, which means to cover up. I ask, what do they cover up, and more, who do they cover up?
  • Use of these 2 codes means that only End of Life (EOL) discussions occurred, not diagnosis or curative treatment.
  • These two can be used over and over. This rule change will encourage those who are trained to persuade the patient to choose life limiting choices to come back again and again so long they don't "succeed." What right does the patient have to say, "Go away!"
  • These Advance Care Planning (ACP) "talks" that are paid for by these 2 codes are recommended for all adults, not just seniors. The culture of death wants to bring death awareness into every fabric of healthcare.
  • These 2 codes will pay for talks not only with physicians but also with "other qualified professionals." Who are these "other qualified professionals"? It is not hard to figure this out. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) funds training of POLST "facilitators." High on that list of groups who funded by Obamacare are the Respecting Choices conversation specialists who trained using a curriculum developed by Bud Hammes in LaCross, WI. Respecting Choices professionals are emerging members of the palliative care team.
  • The government will have the power to set quality measures for Advance Care Planning "talks." Use of these 2 codes will imply use of a standardized approach to Advance Care Planning. The conversation language will be to motivate the patient to participate in the Advanced Care Planning (ACP) "process" and to fill out the POLST form.
  • After the advance care wishes are known and recorded (electronically) non-compliance with those wishes will be considered a "safety issue" and will need to be "investigated." 
  • The long run plan for these 2 codes is to give government power to decide what constitutes an "acceptable discussion" about EOL decisions. Doctors will be penalized if they do not conform. Socialized medicine for sure.
  • Doctors will be pressured to make their quota of patients with advance directives.
  • These 2 codes will override doctors who want to protect their patients. The "facilitators", i.e. "other qualified professionals", will quickly be given control over most of the ACP talks.
  • We know already that some private insurers are paying for ACP talks. These 2 codes will be supported by most private insurers because by paying for these end-of-life discussions private insurance companies can cut the costs they might have to spend later on for the sickest patients.
  • These 2 codes will encourage the use of the POLST form across all states, even those who do not have a developed POLST program. See the letter written by the National POLST Paradigm Task Force to CMS about this rule change a couple weeks ago here.
  • With access to Electronic Health Records, computers can be taught to recognize who doesn't have an Advance Care Plan. Then comes the nurse manager to call you up and offer a community healthcare worker to spend time with you and get paid using these 2 codes.
  • Having the Advance Care Plan talk may cause moral distress for some providers, clinicians and patients. After all, we are taught to make decisions about our health care at the moment and with the knowledge that we are obligated to preserve and protect our life which is a gift from God.
  • The Gunderson Health System has been training Respecting Choices (RC) facilitators for decades. There are other "facilitators" being trained by community organizations. Community Conversations on Compassionate Care (CCCC) offers group discussions by trained lay and health professionals. Both RC and CCCC define "success" in ACP talks as the choice to prevent unwanted life-sustaining treatment.  

In summary, Respecting Choices and Community Conversations on Compassionate Care people will become clinical micro systems integrated into routine care through these 2 codes to shape physician behavior.

DRAFT OF MODEL LETTER:

                     This letter is submitted in opposition to two (2) codes within the CMS Proposed rules change on payment policies for physician fee schedules: Code 99497 and Code 99498.

                     As viewed from a patient's perspective, the use of "fees" or monetary incentives and rewards to doctors for consulting with patients on end-of-life, or any medical procedure, is little more than bribery. Any doctor hoping to receive a fee for consultation time to promote and encourage patient compliance with the government's (or insurance companies) predestined desire for each patient not to be treated but to hasten death is contrary to the training of a medical professional. This is a very utilitarian approach to the practice of medicine that is little more than a contract between two parties to end life.