Both sides misfiring on reform

With two health care items on tap, Washington opted to pursue the one that will make no difference, and abandon the one that would. Such is the sorry state of national politics.

The House voted last night to repeal health care reform, even though that will never happen. Meanwhile the Obama administration has chickened out on letting Medicare pay doctors to talk with patients about end-of-life treatment options.

Republicans promised to repeal "Obamacare." So, politically, it's a vote they had to take. But the Senate won't go along, and if it did President Barack Obama would veto it. The House is just spinning its wheels. Unfortunately, so is the administration on end-of-life care. Pay for the consultations was dumped from the 2009 reform bill in a firestorm over "death panels." After mismanaging it politically, the administration just dropped the proposal, even though it would have resulted in more humane care and helped control fruitless spending in the last months of life.

The Obama administration resurrected it last month via regulation. But apparently worried about giving a second wind to the big lie of "death panels pulling the plug on grandma," they quickly abandoned the provision again.

When government is driven by the futile and the fanciful, the public is ill-served. hN