One-quarter of Medicare funds spent on the dying

Caught in the middle of the partisan debate over what to do with out-of-control spending on Medicare are issues such as the availability of hospice care in any given region and the demands of patients’ family members for costly treatments regardless of the outcome. Complicating matters is the public’s stance against cutting Medicare; a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found 78 percent opposed to cutting the program to help balance the federal budget.

While it may be understandable that family members of dying patients want doctors to do everything possible to save their loved ones, the entire health care system would benefit from a more honest and practical approach to the treatment of terminal seniors. As the Dartmouth study authors put it, “in addition to its effects on patients’ quality of life, unnecessarily aggressive care carries a high financial cost.”