Fact or Fiction? The Truth About Four Health Care Fears

Aug. 13, 2009— -- The scrabble over health care reform reached a new level of volume and vitriol as crowds confronted members of Congress at town hall meetings across the country. As the health care debate rages, so too does speculation about what proposed legislation will mean for Americans' health care choices.

Among the most hotly discussed issues have been charges that the proposed legislation would create so-called "death panels" to ration care for the old and infirm; that it would use taxpayer dollars to fund abortions; that its passage would mark the end of Medicare; and that it would open the door to socialized medicine.

But how accurate are the assumptions? The White House says some are completely false. It has set up a website it says is designed to separate fact from fiction when it comes to the potential changes in the country's health care system. Still, those on both sides of the political spectrum continue to trade blows over the perceived language of the bill.

To help clear up the confusion, ABC News Chief Medical Editor Dr. Timothy Johnson talked to Chris Cuomo on today's Good Morning America about four of the most commonly expressed worries over the proposed health care legislation now being mulled by Congress.

Verdict: Fiction

One of the most controversial claims in the health care debate is that the health care reform bill would provide for "death panels" to decide whether sick seniors and children with birth defects should receive medical care.

But Johnson said there is no evidence of any such provision in the text of the health care bill. The most likely explanation, he said, is that the rumors of such a provision spring from a misinterpretation of a proposal to offer Medicare patients an optional service known as "advanced care planning consultation."

Such a service would help patients and their families discuss the potentially uncomfortable subject of end-of-life care with their doctors. But it would not represent a "death panel."

"This provision makes clear this is entirely voluntary for patients; it is not mandatory," Johnson said. "Most surveys show seniors want this desperately from their doctors, and only very few get it... I think when seniors find out what this is really about, they'll welcome it."