A new approach to Advance Directives.
OBJECTIVE
To martial arguments for listing simplified Advance Directives on the Medicare card.
Literature review shows that 90% of patients do not have advance directives, that patients and doctors are both remiss in discussing end-of-life issues, and that Medicare, insurance companies, and hospitals do little to remedy this lapse.


CONCLUSIONS
A case is made for listing simplified Advance Directives on the Medicare card.
Pollack
S
S
Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
D016223:Advance Directives / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D004282:Documentation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D006278:Medicare / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014481:United States