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Some of the most vulnerable patients in Texas could enjoy better protections in the future, as the Texas House Public Health Committee has advanced a bill that would nix the current ticking time bomb that begins when a hospital decides to pull the plug. The bill, HB 2609, takes aim at the so-called 10-Day-Rule which allows hospitals to form a medical committee to determine whether to continue providing life-sustaining medical care to a patient. When doctors and patients are at an impasse, the committee can decide to withdraw treatment for any reason, including “quality of life.” The patient’s family then has 10 days to seek another provider willing to provide care. If no care is found, the hospital will simply withdraw the medical treatment that is deemed “inappropriate” (including nutrition and hydration).As Texas Right to Life points out, “Even if the patient is conscious, coherent, and actively requesting the continuation of life-sustaining treatment, the 10-Day-Law gives the hospital the power to overrule the patient’s wishes.”The pro-life bill’s language demotes the role of medical committees to mere advisory bodies that provide recommendations but which no longer have the power of life and death. Under the revised language, the hospital must continue to provide care for a patient regardless of the recommendation of the attending physician and/or medical committee.
And who is going to pay for this?That is what that this boils down to. Are hospitals charities that have to provide care regardless of ability to pay for the resources used?Is the state going to reimburse the hospital?Life is hard and not fair.
