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Article: Last six months of life biggest cost factor in health care. (Health).(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Community Action
- Article date:
- March 18, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Community Action Publishers. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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OTTAWA -- The high cost of dying has more to do with soaring health care costs than the aging population does, according to the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.
In its submission to the Romanow commission on the future of health care, the institute said that 30 to 50 per cent of total lifetime health care expenditures occur in the last six months of life. Noting the sensitivity of the subject, the group suggested greater use of less expensive palliative care and living wills.
The debate on health care cannot move forward without a recognition that about 30 per cent of spending currently comes from the private sector, the institute said. That sector ...