Rising Health Subsidies are Creating Perverse Incentives for Government to Promote Assisted Suicide

Speaker Mike Johnson recently condemned the United Kingdom’s newly enacted assisted suicide law, which permits doctors to aid terminally ill patients in ending their lives.

“A society that dismisses the truth about life as a gift from our creator and embraces a culture of death … is on the path to disintegration,” Johnson (R-La.) cautioned.

He is correct. Unfortunately, certain regions in America already endorse assisted suicide.

Currently, eight states and Washington, DC, have legalized medically assisted death for residents.

This year, Maryland debated a bill regarding assisted suicide.

Moreover, Oregon and Vermont allow physicians to assist patients from other states in ending their lives.

Since Oregon first legalized it in 1997, approximately 8,700 Americans have died by assisted suicide.

The increasing acceptance of assisted suicide is troubling. When governments bear the financial responsibility for their citizens’ healthcare, they might have a twisted financial motive for encouraging premature death.

Take the example of the Netherlands, the first country to legalize assisted suicide in 2002.

Assisted death is now a common practice there, with over 9,000 Dutch citizens choosing assisted suicide last year—about 5% of national deaths; 33 couples opted to die together.

Not all individuals who seek medically assisted death are terminally ill.

Dutch law permits patients experiencing “unbearable suffering with no chance of improvement”—regardless of whether that suffering is physical or emotional—to request assisted suicide.

For instance, a 29-year-old Dutch woman passed away in May with medical assistance after years of battling mental illness, having been told her suffering had no hope of improvement, according to the Free Press.

Additionally, two healthy seniors chose to end their lives together in June. The husband had back issues, while the wife was experiencing early-stage dementia.

They left behind a son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren.

Canada also has similar narratives, having legalized assisted suicide in 2016. Since then, nearly 45,000 Canadians have opted for doctor-assisted dying.

This figure is increasing rapidly. In 2022, over 13,000 Canadians chose to end their lives with a physician’s assistance, representing about 4% of the nation’s total deaths.

The rationale behind assisted suicide presents a financial incentive for the Netherlands, Canada, and other countries with socialized healthcare systems.

When governments are responsible for citizen healthcare costs, they can benefit from the earlier deaths of severely ill patients.

In fact, evidence indicates that nations might weigh costs when devising and enacting life-and-death policies.

In a 2017 study, researchers from the University of Calgary in Alberta forecasted that Canada’s new assisted suicide law could “reduce annual healthcare spending by between $34.7 million and $138.8 million,” surpassing the direct costs related to its implementation, which range from $1.5 million to $14.8 million.

Canada appears to have taken these forecasts seriously. A report from Ontario’s Chief Coroner indicated that vulnerable and low-income Canadians may encounter “potential coercion or undue influence” to choose medically-assisted death, even if they would not have selected that path on their own.

For example, a man in his 40s with inflammatory bowel disease decided on assisted suicide after a psychiatrist informed him of MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying) and presented the option.

A MAiD provider then escorted him to his death. His family had reservations about his request for MAiD, as noted in the report.

Another case involved a father with young children who sought assisted suicide after a car accident rendered him a quadriplegic.

Although the U.S. has not fully embraced socialized medicine as much as Canada or Britain, the government manages a significant portion of healthcare, often more than is apparent.

This year, Medicare is set to cover over 61 million seniors. Medicaid and the related state Children’s Health Insurance Program serve nearly 80 million individuals. Additionally, more than 21 million people obtain health insurance via government-run Obamacare exchanges.

Together, Medicare and Medicaid represent nearly 40% of national health expenditures, totaling more than $1.7 trillion.

Those figures are staggering. In the near future, medical assistance in dying could become an attractive option for the government as a means to evade costs associated with expensive procedures for patients in need.

When the state is tasked with covering an individual’s healthcare, its incentives can diverge from those of its citizens.

If you are facing suicidal thoughts or are in a mental health crisis and reside in New York City, please call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can contact the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or visit SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.

Sally C. Pipes, president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute, is the author of “False Premise, False Promise: The Disastrous Reality of Medicare for All.”

Twitter: @sallypipes.