Are there Financial issues in Physician Assisted Suicide?
The financial and societal dangers; assisted suicide may become the only choice for some patients. There is concern nationally and within Oregon regarding the rising costs of health care. Financial conditions may lead to assisted suicide as an answer to those rising costs. Oregon Medicaid, the Oregon Health Plan, covers the costs of assisted suicide with state dollars, but it does not cover the costs for curative or local medical treatment for patients with cancer with a less than 5% chance of living 5 years, even when that treatment can prolong valuable life. In 2003, the Oregon Health Plan stopped paying for medicines for 10,000 poor Oregonians; this included patients with AIDS, bone marrow transplants, mentally ill and seizure disorders. In 2004 and the first half of this year, an additional 75,000 Oregonians were cut from the Oregon Health Plan, to keep the state budget balanced. Assisted suicide may become the “only choice” for some vulnerable patients. Even if a patient has Medic
