"Death panels" was absurd because it's a hyperbolic description of what private "insurers" already did. If you're a corporate bureaucrat tasked with reducing he

"Death panels" was absurd because it's a hyperbolic description of what private "insurers" already did. If you're a corporate bureaucrat tasked with reducing healthcare expenditures ... I agree that Canada's pushing for classifying suicide as medical treatment is worrying. Suicide is a human right, but making it part of the medical system's all-encompassing paternalism is regressive. In general we need less intermediation between individuals and medical care, not more. And the "insurance" cartel is one hell of an intermediary. The concept of the HMO is a complete failure, and they should be made illegal for their basic anti-competitiveness.