End-of-life issues not costly for Medicare
End-of-life issues not costly for Medicare
Aggressive care for elderly patients at the end of life is not a costly component of the nation’s health care expenditures. But it’s not an area for potential savings, either, according to a recent study completed by the Washington, DC-based Alliance for Aging Research, a bipartisan group consisting of several national organizations.
The study, titled Seven Deadly Myths: Uncovering the Facts About the High Costs of the Last Year of Life, found that average Medicare costs for people age 85 and older were the lowest of any Medicare age group during the last year of life. In fact, Medicare expenditures in the last year of life decline sharply after age 65. Health care costs in the last year of life for people age 85 and older were almost one-third less than for people age 65 to 74.
Costs come from routine visits
Another finding from the study is that costs associated with caring for end-of-life patients are not from high-tech acute care. Medicare expenditures in the last year of life are devoted to routine hospital and nursing home care, according to study data. "The oldest of the old may be the least of our worries in controlling health care," says Daniel Perry, director of the Chicago-based Alliance for Aging Research. Providers are not taking very old frail people with Alzheimer’s disease and cancer and giving them cardiac bypass operations, Perry suggests.
Subscribe Now for Access
You have reached your article limit for the month. We hope you found our articles both enjoyable and insightful. For information on new subscriptions, product trials, alternative billing arrangements or group and site discounts please call 800-688-2421. We look forward to having you as a long-term member of the Relias Media community.