Caring, Not Killing: No to Assisted Suicide-Please Contact the NH Legislature to Oppose this Bill

Caring, Not Killing: No to Assisted Suicide

Once again, an assisted suicide bill is being introduced in Concord. Cornerstone Action will be there to say that New Hampshire can do better. Caring, not killing, is the right approach when we’re faced with terminal illness.

Unlike last year’s “study” bill, this year’s HB 1659-FN would directly legalize assisted suicide. The sponsors of the bill use all kinds of words to avoid saying suicide: “death with dignity,” “patient directed care,” “autonomy,” “end of life decisions.” 

We find more clarity in the bill’s Statement of Purpose, which contains a legislative finding clearly stating that everything the bill would authorize is to be considered a type of medical care. 

This is not authentic compassion for anyone suffering from a terminal illness. Furthermore, a pro-suicide agenda will affect everyone in New Hampshire. Here are some of the unintended consequences of assisted suicide legalization.

• Exploits medically vulnerable individuals. Once assisted suicide becomes a form of medical care, there is no telling how many medically, psychologically, and financially vulnerable Granite Staters would get the message that suicide is cheaper than supportive services.
• Undermines suicide prevention efforts. Suicide in New Hampshire, especially among veterans and teens, is rightly recognized as a public health problem to be solved. Passing an assisted suicide law sends a confounding and false message to anyone considering suicide: your life is only as valuable as you think it is.
• Opens the door to broader availability. Regardless of the so-called protections that  to limit assisted suicide’s use to people with terminal illnesses, “mission creep” is inevitable. Oregon’s assisted suicide law has been in effect since 1997. The 2018 annual report on the law’s effect, published by the state of Oregon, lists diabetes and arthritis among the “terminal conditions” that made patients eligible for assisted suicide. (See footnote 3 of the Oregon report, page 13.)
• Pain is often not why individuals request assisted suicide. You only need to look to this Oregon study to see that most individuals sought assisted suicide because they feared “being a burden.” This puts individuals with chronic illness or disability who need support at risk and further marginalizes and devalues them. 
• No one can accurately predict end of life — not even a physician. This opens the door to death under a wrong assumption or even unintended tragedy because of an inaccurate diagnosis.
• Assisted suicide creates a culture of death rather than one of help-seeking.  The purpose of medical care is to treat illness and improve life, not to facilitate death. By making assisted suicide part of the discussion and a treatment “option,” especially when someone has a chronic illness, it’s only a matter of time before personal choice becomes a “duty to die.” 

New Hampshire is stronger when assisted suicide isn’t part of the culture. We will stand with other New Hampshire advocates for the dignity of human life in opposition to HB 1659-FN.

Jimmo Settlement-CMS.Gov-Why is this NOT Enforced???

Home - Centers for Medicare

Important Message About the Jimmo Settlement

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reminds the Medicare community of the Jimmo Settlement Agreement (January 2013), which clarified that the Medicare program covers skilled nursing care and skilled therapy services under Medicare’s skilled nursing facility, home health, and outpatient therapy benefits when a beneficiary needs skilled care in order to maintain function or to prevent or slow decline or deterioration (provided all other coverage criteria are met).  Specifically, the Jimmo Settlement Agreement required manual revisions to restate a “maintenance coverage standard” for both skilled nursing and therapy services under these benefits:

Skilled nursing services would be covered where such skilled nursing services are necessary to maintain the patient's current condition or prevent or slow further deterioration so long as the beneficiary requires skilled care for the services to be safely and effectively provided.

Skilled therapy services are covered when an individualized assessment of the patient's clinical condition demonstrates that the specialized judgment, knowledge, and skills of a qualified therapist (“skilled care”) are necessary for the performance of a safe and effective maintenance program.  Such a maintenance program to maintain the patient's current condition or to prevent or slow further deterioration is covered so long as the beneficiary requires skilled care for the safe and effective performance of the program. 

The Jimmo Settlement Agreement may reflect a change in practice for those providers, adjudicators, and contractors who may have erroneously believed that the Medicare program covers nursing and therapy services under these benefits only when a beneficiary is expected to improve.  The Jimmo Settlement Agreement is consistent with the Medicare program’s regulations governing maintenance nursing and therapy in skilled nursing facilities, home health services, and outpatient therapy (physical, occupational, and speech) and nursing and therapy in inpatient rehabilitation hospitals for beneficiaries who need the level of care that such hospitals provide.

Important Links

Additional Information

In essence, the Jimmo Settlement Agreement clarifies
Medicare’s longstanding policy that coverage of skilled nursing
and skilled therapy services in the Skilled Nursing Facility
(SNF), Home Health (HH), and Outpatient Therapy (OPT)
settings does not turn on the presence or absence of a
beneficiary’s potential for improvement, but rather on the
beneficiary’s need for skilled care.

For ready reference, this CMS web page serves to provide
access, in one location, to various public documents related to
the Jimmo Settlement Agreement. Included in those public
documents is an FAQ document for easy access. The
Jimmo Settlement Agreement does not alter or supersede any
other applicable coverage requirements beyond those
involving the need for skilled care, such as Medicare’s overall
requirement that covered services must be reasonable and
necessary to diagnose or treat the beneficiary’s condition, or
existing statutory limitations on the amount or duration of
Medicare benefits.

Jimmo Settlement Agreement approved by the court on January 24, 2013 (PDF)  

Jimmo v. Sebelius Settlement Agreement – Program Manual Clarifications (Fact Sheet) - Updated 2/3/2014 (PDF)

Jimmo v. Sebelius Settlement Agreement (Fact Sheet) - 4/4/2013 (PDF)

MLN Matters® Article MM8458 (PDF) : Manual Updates to Clarify SNF, HH, and OPT Coverage Pursuant to Jimmo v. Sebelius Settlement Agreement

CR 8458 (PDF): Manual Updates to Clarify SNF, HH, and OPT Coverage Pursuant to Jimmo v. Sebelius Settlement Agreement

CR 8644 (PDF): Manual Updates to Clarify Skilled Nursing Facility Advanced Beneficiary Notice (SNF ABN) Requirements Pursuant to Jimmo v. Sebelius Settlement Agreement

MLN Connects® Call materials - December 2013

Medicare Benefit Policy Manual - Chapters 1, 7, 8, 15

Additional Questions

Providers and Suppliers:  Contact your Medicare Administrative Contractor

Beneficiaries:  Please call 1-800-Medicare

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs (August 2017)

Today is the 34 month Anniversary of the ILLEGAL Medical Murder of my beloved Husband Bill Knightly by St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua, NH

Today is the 34 month Anniversary of the ILLEGAL Medical Murder of my beloved Husband Bill Knightly. Still NO prosecutions! Still fighting for Justice! Still sitting in limbo, waiting for OUR Government to step in and do something about my husband's murder, along with ALL of our Loved ones Medically Murdered by the Medical UN-professionals we "Once" trusted. Medical UN-professionals who no longer care about the people they were "once" trained to care for, which is no longer the norm. Real Medical care no longer exist's. Maybe for the elite it does, but not the rest of us. The medical profession has turned into a big money business. No compassion anymore. REAL Doctor's are few and far between. We are nothing more than dollar signs, written off by Death Monger's, Satan's spawn, who find it easier to kill us off than to abide by their Hippocratic Oath. An oath that probably no longer exist's. 
The Murderers will NEVER forget my Husband's name or the fight I'm giving them. They messed with the family of a truly amazing man. A man who was worth his weight in gold. A man loved by everyone, whose loss is just too much to bear. Every day is worse than the day before. It doesn't get any easier just knowing Medical Murderer's get a free pass. Whatever happened to "Thou shalt NOT kill"? These are crimes against humanity, but our Government does NOTHING to stop them. The land of the free and the home of the brave. That is if you can survive being Medically Murdered! Euthanasia is most definitely being practiced in New Hampshire! Fact!!! Where NON-consensual Hospice/Palliative care are UN-KNOWINGLY forced on patients and UN-Ethical Medical UN-professionals force DNR's on patient's who REFUSE. Ask the New Hampshire Medical Board. They are the ones who admitted the DNR on My Husband was ILLEGAL. Due to Miscommunication! So does that give these scumbags the right to walk free and continue Murdering people?  The Murderers have free rein! What does that tell you about the State of NH? If you want REAL Medical Care, stay away from NH! The Murderers are STILL here killing off our Loved Ones!

I Love you My Knight and always will! 
Extremely Pissed Off Wife of Bill Knightly, Murdered by NON-consensual Hospice/Palliative care at St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua, NH

Today is the 33 Month Anniversary of My Husband Bill Knightly's Medical Murder by St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua, NH

                                                         Me and My Knight

Today makes 33 month's since the needless, senseless death of My Husband, thank's to St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua, NH. And no, life has not gotten any easier. It's worse than ever. When you're with someone for 42 and a half year's, it's extremely hard trying to live without them. Life just isn't the same and never will be. He made life worth living. No more fun times, only sorrow, for all of us.
He is so dearly loved and missed. I don't know how I've made it thus far. Just going through the motion's of life, trying to do what I can to get by. To try my best to take care of what I have to do. Not what I want to do. What I HAVE to do. So much sadness. Too much sadness.
So for whoever reads this, PLEASE stay away from this Hospital. They do whatever they want WITHOUT CONSENT, which includes ILLEGAL DNR's. If you want to die, then this is the Hospital for you. The Hospital of Death, Sepsis Central. You'd think a Catholic Hospital would try to save it's patient's. Not this one! I can't wait to see this dump go down the tubes. And it will.

I Love you My Knight and always will! 
Extremely Pissed Off Wife of Bill Knightly, Murdered by NON-consensual Hospice/Palliative care at St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua, NH

Everything You Should Know About Sepsis – 'The Most Deadly Condition In The World'

As estimates of death from sepsis double, we look at the symptoms you need to look for.

New research today claims that sepsis is now the most deadly condition in the world, killing 11 million people a year – more than even cancer. In the year studied, 2017, sepsis was responsible for almost a fifth of all deaths.

11 Most Common Mistakes Nurses and APPs Make When Preventing and Treating Sepsis

11 Most Common Mistakes Nurses and APPs Make When Preventing and Treating Sepsis
Sepsis just surpassed cancer to become the second-leading cause of death globally, according to a new study. Analyzing 109 million individual death records, its researchers observed that sepsis was responsible for roughly 20 percent of deaths globally. While data on the global burden of sepsis has been limited, this finding is double previous estimates.

Today Would Be My Knight's 69th Birthday Had He Not Been Murdered by St. Joseph Hospital

Today My Husband, My Knight, would be 69 years old if he hadn't been MURDERED by St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua, NH at the age of 66 years old. Now each year we have to celebrate his Birthday without him thank's to Illegal Hospice/Palliative Care responsible for his death, forced on him unknowingly, WITHOUT consent. Illegal as this is, the State of New Hampshire does absolutely NOTHING. Another Birthday without the Love of My Life. Thank's for NOTHING St. Joes. I hope you go down the tubes. You no longer care for your patients. You kill them off instead!
If any of you believe this couldn't happen to you, THINK AGAIN! It's happening daily to our Loved Ones thank's to Obamacare. Death Panels DO Exist whether you believe it or not! Hospitals call them Ethic's committees. They literally choose whether you live or die. If they believe treating your illnesses would cost more than killing you off, you're dead. Written off from the start. And Medicare is the culprit. It's all about money, the root of all evil. And the Hospital knows how to fraudulently bill Medicare, claiming the patient wasn't on Hospice/Palliative Care, only because no consent forms were signed, yet all Hospital documentation  proving the patient was on Hospice/Palliative care is submitted and bill's from Hospice/Palliative care were paid by Medicare in My Husband's case. Pretty sneaky. Medicare pay's less money for Hospice care than they do standard care, so of course the Hospital is going to lie and CMS fall's for it.
And then don't forget the ILLEGAL DNR that was NEVER consented to. The New Hampshire Board of Medicine admitted My Husband was ILLEGALLY DNR'D, yet the State of New Hampshire STILL does Nothing! My Husband was MURDERED by the Hospital he trusted with his life. All for F***ing MONEY! Fraudulent MONEY!

I Love you My Knight and always will! 
Extremely Pissed Off Wife of Bill Knightly, Murdered by NON-consensual Hospice/Palliative care at St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua, NH