Health care reform is a scary subject for ordinary Americans and this is not been helped by the tone of the current national debate on this issue which has turned terrible nasty. One of the most heated concerns to have emerged recently relates to end-of-life conversations. End-of-life conversations are difficult at the best of times and made all the more difficult in these uncertain days of economic upheaval when many Americans have lost their jobs, health care insurance and homes. Unfortunately, some public figures and national leaders have chosen to offer their critique of the proposed health care reforms using only the most inflammatory language possible. The tenor of this debate does not bode well for the American public in terms of any real substantial change to a health care system which is too costly to sustain and unequal in terms of access. These difficult days call for true leadership which does not fail for lack of nerve to embrace the courage of change in the best interests of all in the culture. End-of-life conversations invite everyone involved in the conversation to figure out the right thing to do in each individual case and to have the courage to follow through on the difficult decisions reached. In the same way the American public needs national leaders who will engage the health care reform debate with the same gravitas as those loved ones involved with end-of-life decisions.
George Hankins Hull
George Hankins Hull
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