NEW YORK TIMES: …The 507-page report, “Dying in America,” said its recommendations would improve the quality of care and better satisfy more patients and families. It also said the changes would produce significant savings that would help make health care more affordable.
“If you meet their needs, treat their pain, treat their depression, get them some help in the house, your costs plummet,” said Dr. Diane E. Meier, a committee member and the director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care. Fewer patients would end up in emergency rooms getting expensive care they do not want, she said, adding, “It’s a rare example in health policy of doing well by doing good.”…
Leonard D. Schaeffer, a panel member who founded the insurance company WellPoint and is a professor at the University of Southern California, said the committee’s most “radical conclusion” was that there should be a more pronounced shift away from fee-for-service medicine, which promotes an emphasis on medical interventions in part by reimbursing doctors based on procedures rather than for talking with patients. “That’s all got to be changed,” he said at a public briefing. “And if you can’t do it with current law, guess what? You’ve got to change the law… (more)
EDITOR: Why must we torture people when we know they are dying? Most of us would prefer to go with our dignity in tack.
