Wednesday, September 24, 2008

The Cost of Dying

From the Chicago Tribune:
It costs more to die in Illinois, where an average patient in the last six months of life will see a doctor 33 times and spend four days in intensive care, at a cost of more than $26,000. In Oregon, a state with a history of talking more openly about end-of-life care and legalized doctor-assisted suicide, the same patient sees a doctor 17 times and spends two days in an ICU. That average tab runs $19,500.
In my experience, these are very conservative estimates.

-Wes

2 comments:

  1. In the Canadian election this year there are 4 main parties. The Green Party has roughly 5% of the vote and their health policy seems to rely heavily on 'alternative care'.

    But...they also include end-of-life treatment and domestic violence control in their health policy to control costs. Maybe not a bad idea?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Might as well save for services that gives you more days of living like those International Air Ambulance Service that we have.

    ReplyDelete

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