Influence of age on Medicare expenditures and medical care in the last year of life.

摘要

CONTEXT: Expenditures for Medicare beneficiaries in the last year of life decrease with increasing age. The cause of this phenomenon is uncertain. OBJECTIVES: To examine this pattern in detail and evaluate whether decreases in aggressiveness of medical care explain the phenomenon. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: Analysis of sample Medicare data for beneficiaries aged 65 years or older from Massachusetts (n = 34 131) and California (n = 19 064) who died in 1996. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Medical expenditures during the last year of life, analyzed by age group, sex, race, place and cause of death, comorbidity, and use of hospital services. RESULTS: For Massachusetts and California, respectively, Medicare expenditures per beneficiary were