Medicare spending on dying patients

A new report says the difference is mostly a result of patients getting more hospital care, but not necessarily better care

By: Associated Press | WSLS
Published: April 07, 2008

» Comments | Post a Comment

WASHINGTON (AP) - For chronically ill patients in their last two years of life, Medicare spends an average of more than $59,000 in New Jersey but only around $33,000 in North Dakota.
A new report says the difference is mostly a result of patients getting more hospital care, but not necessarily better care.
The national average for spending on such chronically ill patients was over $46,000. Virginia came in at $38,735.
The report comes out every two years. This time, researchers looked at the records of 4.7 million patients who died from 2001 to 2005.
Researchers at Dartmouth Medical School say vast differences in spending patterns nationally point to why policymakers need to focus on volume when it comes to reining in costs, not just on the price of a particular service or on expanding health coverage to the uninsured.