The Bible, itself, does not fear death, although some of it's writers do. Certainly some of our most conservative Christian friends and neighbors have a paranoid fear of a sudden and unexpected death when it arrives before they have had time to set things right with God (to beg forgiveness for the sins of the last ten minutes?).

Then, again, there are those whose faith perspective requires that they always be perfect in thought and behavior to avoid burning in hell. By that perspective death is something to fear for, by that definition, there is only one human in heaven and the rest of humanity, to the last one, will burn in hell since, being human, none of us are capable of such perfection

Perhaps some of our youngsters are growing up with healthier perspectives. Albus Dumbledore says, "After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure." Gandalf, in the recent movie Return of the King describes the experience of moving from this life to the next in beautiful and moving terms.

If we believe what I take to be the healthiest of our faith perspectives claim, that death is not the end of anything but only the path through which we move from this life to the next and that Jesus (or some other religious figure of our choice) has conquered death and now owns that path, it's far easier to face the reality that we can't, nor should we want to live forever IN THIS LIFE!

When we realize that death is absolutely inevitable and is nothing to fear, then we can discuss end of life issues rationally and, with the help of that particular facet of this new health care bill so much in question, all people will have the resources to do so with experts who can help them plan for what they would like to happen when they reach the natural ending of their own lives here on earth.

There's nothing scary about that at all. It holds the promise of being a beautiful and wonderful and sensitive way of dealing with the reality that we all face sooner or later.

Have the luxury of worrying about whether they might be able to pay for tests and procedures of such dubious value that they would not be paid for by a government plan.

Most Americans are far more worried about whether or not their existing Health Insurance covers even the most basic requirements of good health care, whether or not their policy will be retroactively rescinded should they develop a health problem, and whether it will even be possible to find health insurance of any kind after what will now become a "pre-existing condition" gets them dumped by their previous insurer.

For most folks who are turned down for needed medical coverage, the option of paying for it themselves simply does not exist. Whether or not they'll be able to find someone who will provide the newest, least tested, most experimental (and most expensive) meds or procedures for them is not an issue. Having basic medical care available on an as-needed basis IS an issue.

For those with resources, there will always be somewhere in the world to which they can fly in their private jets to get whatever treatment they want or need. The rest of us will not likely miss them too much while they're gone.

Nothing causes more turmoil in families than when the threatened end of a person's life arrives suddenly and unexpectedly (young or old) and that person has left no indication regarding what type of medical care they would have liked at that point.

In their shock and grief, many families elect to keep mom or dad or son or daughter alive for hours, days or even weeks after it's clear that what's lying in that hospital bed on all those machines is never going to be able to relate to them or to life in any way. (Thankfully, I have known some doctors and hospitals that strongly discouraged this futile course of action, but more that do not.)

Although I have known a few exceptions, most of these folks being kept alive by their family member's wishes, on life support or going through multiple, high-risk, low outcome procedures, would much preferred to have been allowed to leave quietly without the expense of hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent for little purpose but to allow their families to adjust to the idea that they're dying.

The thing is... if the end-of-life consultations described in at least one version of the current healthcare bill were left in place and folks were encouraged to think about and plan for such occasions as I've described above, these wonderful folks would be allowed to rest in peace when the time comes instead of going through extended hospitalizations for no good purpose.

I can't help but wonder, however, if the real rub isn't this... some hospitals, doctors, anesthesiologists, and medical equipment and supply companies are making an amazing amount of money (most of it at medicare expense), off what's done in those last few futile hours or days of a person's life.

If grandma, herself, has long since left instructions to cut the heroics and let her go, which she almost always does when given the opportunity in my experience, it's possible a huge amount of profit will be lost. Furthermore, treatment at the very end stage of life is risk free... the patient is going to die anyway, so medical errors, inappropriate or unnecessary courses of treatment, etc. are all likely to go unnoticed.

Isn't it at least possible that trying to get rid of this provision is about protecting a huge source of medical industry profits, largely paid for by the government?