What is known about the economics of end-of-life care for medicare beneficiaries?
OBJECTIVE
This article reviews the state of science on the economics of end-of-life care for Medicare beneficiaries and outlines the research needed to fill gaps in that literature.


METHODS
Searches of the medical, health services, and economics literature were conducted. Key topics examined were studies of spending on end-of-life care and financial, organizational, and nonfinancial barriers to high-quality end-of-life care.


RESULTS
Studies have documented poor quality of care, dissatisfaction with care, and limitations in the coverage of end-of-life care for Medicare beneficiaries. However, critical gaps in our knowledge about how to design a better end-of-life care system for Medicare beneficiaries remain.


CONCLUSIONS
Further research on how treatment decisions at the end of life are made and prospective studies of costs, satisfaction, and outcomes are needed.
Buntin
Melinda Beeuwkes
MB
RAND Corporation, Arlington, VA, USA. buntin@rand.org
Huskamp
Haiden
H
D000368:Aged; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006302:Health Services Research; D006738:Hospices / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage; D006278:Medicare; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000191:economics*; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States