The economics of dying — the illusion of cost savings at the end of life

For more than a decade, health policy analysts have noted — and some have decried — the high cost of dying¹–⁷. With the acceleration of pressures on health care costs and calls for reform, considerably more attention has been focused on proposals to control costs at the end of life⁸. One proposal would require persons enrolling in a health care plan to complete an advance directive⁹,¹⁰. Others would require hospitals to establish guidelines to identify and reduce futile care¹¹–¹³. Similar ideas have been expressed by members of President Bill Clinton's Health Care Task.