Medicare’s end-of-life counseling policy may find acceptance

WASHINGTON (AP) — Six years ago, a plan for Medicare to cover end-of-life counseling touched off a political furor that threatened to stall President Barack Obama’s health care law as Congress debated it.

Wednesday, when Medicare finally announced it will make the change, reaction was muted.

At the time, former Alaska Republican Gov. Sarah Palin’s charge that voluntary counseling could lead to “death panels” dictating the fate of seniors was widely discredited.

But for the Obama administration, end-of-life counseling remained politically toxic, even as the idea found broader acceptance in society.

Dr. Joe Rotella, chief medical officer of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, called Medicare’s move a “little miracle.”

Rotella said this time he thinks society is going to “see the good” in the idea.