Majikthise is so right (and cute) when she writes:

The Republicans seem awfully blase about medical care for the disabled patients who want to live…

Doctors Lobbying to Halt Cuts to Medicare Payments

WASHINGTON, April 3 – Doctors are mobilizing a nationwide lobbying campaign to stave off cuts in their Medicare fees as Congress hunts for ways to rein in the soaring cost of the insurance program.

Because of a quirk in federal law, Medicare will cut payments to doctors by 4 percent to 5 percent in each of the next six years, Bush administration officials say.

"This is a very difficult problem," Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, said last week. "Unless something changes, there will be quite substantial reductions in physician fees."

Doctors said that if the cuts took effect, they would be less likely to treat Medicare patients because the payments would not cover the costs of care.

Dr. Nancy H. Nielsen, the speaker of the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association, said the cuts "would have a devastating effect on access to care" for elderly and disabled patients.