End-of-Life Warning at $618,616 Makes Me Wonder Was It Worth It

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=avRFGNF6Qw_w

by AdamN • 16 years ago

59 68 16 years ago

Solid long-format article about the costs of healthcare for a dying husband.

hapless• 16 years ago

Seems pretty clear that it was worth it. The actual bill was closer to $250,000 -- $618,000 was without any discounts.

We work and save and pay premiums for decades specifically so that we CAN have someone pay $250,000 to extend our lives by 17 months. That is the PURPOSE of a health insurance policy.

It's hard to see this one as an example of our (admittedly terrible) healthcare costs.

houseabsolute2• 16 years ago

Based on the conclusion of the article it seems that she agrees.

jcdreads• 16 years ago

Right, but her point is that had they (the author and her late husband) actually understood the costs at the time that they were making treatment decisions they might have made different ones. On the other hand, as you note, in a very real sense they'd already paid for the treatment in the form of decades of premiums.

bobbyi• 16 years ago

Also, the money that was spent didn't just go to extending his life. A lot of that money was spent on pharmaceuticals where he was an "early adopter". People like him covering the massive costs of developing those pharmaceuticals are paving the road for the day when they can be available as cheaply as the vaccinations the article talks about.

Confusion• 16 years ago

People like him covering the massive costs

You mean people like us, the ones that pay the premiums, subsidizing the research of pharmaceutical companies?

noonespecial3• 16 years ago

The real problems start not when "end of life" becomes very expensive (which it has) but when technology advances to the point where it is possible to keep someone alive indefinitely but at geometrically increasing costs. We've set it up so that everyone will feel entitled to that one extra week, no matter what the cost.

houseabsolute2• 16 years ago

I doubt that costs can increase geometrically for any significant period of time. The technological ramp would have to be enormous. Unless your belief is that current technologies will remain at their current prices and new technologies will be built at exclusively higher prices.

noonespecial3• 16 years ago

Its not about any particular technology, per se. It was cheap to die in 1600 no matter what killed you simply because there was very little that could be done.

Each year we add more and more expensive interventions from ECMO machines to artificial hearts. Put this together with the "if it can be done, it should be done, damn the cost" attitude we've trained ourselves to expect and we could find ourselves in for a severe reality check.

Medical technology seems strangely resistant to Moore's law (witness the price of a CT scan over time), but even if it weren't, the improvements in individual areas might not be enough to offset the growth of intervention technology in general.

pw0ncakes11• 16 years ago

That's unlikely to happen. If nanotech and anti-aging succeed, they'll push back the costs. If they don't, there's going to be a lot of scaling back on things that don't work or aren't proven.

orangecat• 16 years ago

If nanotech and anti-aging succeed, they'll push back the costs.

Yes, anti-aging is the best possible research we could be funding. Unfortunately most people shut down when it's brought up, because thinking about your own decline and death isn't pleasant.

If they don't, there's going to be a lot of scaling back on things that don't work or aren't proven.

How will the "scaling back" be accomplished? Governments can and should stop paying large amounts for treatments that don't do much, but unless private services are banned, lots people will spend whatever they have to try to keep themselves or their loved ones alive.

giardini5• 16 years ago

Even oncologist question their utility today when they can offer the average cancer patient only meager life extension, and those are often pain-filled years at that.

But it's a good business model: people will often spend their net worth to extend the life of themselves or their child a few months. But in the end they almost always die the same miserable death. So I expect even more "childrens' cancer centers" to open and rake in millions.

sp332• 16 years ago

Oncologists offer significant resources in pain management, which is very important. Life extension isn't the only thing doctors are good for.

giardini5• 16 years ago

Yes, but an oncologist is unnecessary for this. Pain management becomes the single most important thing to the patient until, finally, they reach the level where no legal painkiller can do anything for them. Then they lapse into a drug-induced coma-like state and die an excruciating death.

But before this, the patient is negotiating for something, anything, that will relieve his suffering. And money ceases to become an object.

Skip the oncologist, pass the drugs.

enjo• 16 years ago

This is an emotionally charged issue for me, I lost my mom to ovarian cancer. My bet is that you, quite frankly, have no damn idea what your talking about.

My mom was supposed to live 6 months longer (at best). Instead she made it more than 2 years. Where they difficult years? Yep. However, they where still valuable ones. She got to see me marry. She met the future mother of her grandchildren. She got to see and do things she always wanted to do. She saw her estranged family again.

The value of those oncologists simply can't be discounted. It's an incredibly difficult profession, one in which most of your patients die. However, the ability to extend lives...even by a few months... and manage to make those last days as painless and productive as possible makes them angels in my book. Not profiteers.

It was interesting getting to know her oncologist. He clearly struggled with the emotions of his job. In the wake of her death he couldn't bring himself to attend her funeral (understandable). There was hardly a human being who knew her better in those last two years... and for that I'll be eternally grateful to him.

giardini5• 16 years ago

Your anger is misguided. I have weathered the deaths by cancer of several whom I care about very much. I found it grueling, relentless and painful for everyone. In every case much money changed hands in a very short period of time, always to the benefit of the oncologist and associated institution.

Your wishes aside, most doctors are profiteers. Take the profit out and most would find another professions. Don't you remember the attitude of hopeul medical-school bound students in college? Very few go to medical school for noble causes.

Your mom's oncologist likely attended very few, if any, of his patients' funerals.

As for: "It was interesting getting to know her oncologist. He clearly struggled with the emotions of his job. In the wake of her death he couldn't bring himself to attend her funeral (understandable).There was hardly a human being who knew her better in those last two years... and for that I'll be eternally grateful to him."

I must call you on your claims. Oncologists necessarily don't spend much time with each patient and it is very unlikely that

- you "got to know her oncologist",

- he "struggled with the emotions",

- he "knew her better" than anyone else .

The only way the last could be true is that your mother had no friends. Was she wealthy also? Oncologists do make exceptions for wealthy patrons.

mrkurt2• 16 years ago

People don't see it as spending their net worth. The article opened with that, in fact. People expect that the insurance their companies provide pay for anything under the sun, and they sometimes get it at the expense of everyone else in the group.

giardini5• 16 years ago

Yes. And the cancer centers don't care where the money comes from, as long as it keeps on coming.

AdamN• 16 years ago

I like the “That moron Bush” quote when he can't remember anything but the response to who the president is.

danteembermage• 16 years ago

I think a partial solution to this is to require some small portion of health care costs to be covered by the patient. Would she have spent 5% of $40,000 if he was probably going to die overnight? If if she could afford it she probably wouldn't have. What about the previous two times when there was more hope? Probably so.

Alternatively, she paid higher premiums under the assumption that some extreme end of life dollars would be nearly wasted by some policy members, but that's okay because that's what they chose to pay for so that they would never have to make a cost benefit analysis in their own care. I don't think she needs to wring her hands about it, that's what she bought.

axod5• 16 years ago

>> "I think a partial solution to this is to require some small portion of health care costs to be covered by the patient."

What the hell??? Health care should be a right. Something you don't have to ever worry about. If my kid is lying in hospital sick, I'm not going to make a decision based on money, because I'd always say "Yes take all my money", and that puts me in a very vulnerable position indeed. One that could be exploited by evil companies if given the chance.

Health should always be far far far more important than money, but to prevent evil companies making a ton of money out of desperate people, it should be provided by the government.

Why is there such a disconnect in America between socialized war mongering, and socialized health care?

jrockway4• 16 years ago

"American exceptionalism". We are too good to get free stuff that is good for us, and we are too good to not impose our views on the rest of the world. I don't think this, of course, but that's why I am not elected to a public office.

Relevant painting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Progress_of_America,_by_Do...

noonespecial3• 16 years ago

Free speech is a right. When I speak freely, I don't diminish your ability to do so. Healthcare can never be a "right" in the same way because it is bounded by scarcity. There is some point at which when I consume more, it leaves less for everyone else.

We can decide to ration what we have fairly. (How to do this is a matter of great debate). I'd argue that facing this problem in a clear-eyed, rational manner is almost a rite of passage for civilization, but calling it a "right" clouds the issue considerably.

anamax4• 16 years ago

> Health should always be far far far more important than money,

I'm pretty sure that your own behavior proves otherwise. (I'm not claiming that your choices are wrong, but they do show that health isn't always your highest priority.)

> but to prevent evil companies making a ton of money out of desperate people, it should be provided by the government.

In what universe can govts provide unlimited healthcare?

The current US healthcare "reform" includes significant cuts in Medicare spending on certain conditions. Folks who have those conditions will get less care. You know, pre-existing conditions....

Feel free to provide a checkable citation to any govt healthcare system that doesn't limit the amount of care.

mrkurt2• 16 years ago

It can't be a "right". You might ask for it to be a "limited" right, but medical care is expensive and a constant struggle between cost and benefit.

The tough part is admitting that either some disinterested third party should specify what's worth doing, or people should be responsible for their own care. My personal belief is that a properly functioning market (ie: something vastly different than what we have now in the US) allows for more nuanced and personal decisions regarding what's worth paying for than a blanket set of policies. I also happen to think that letting people allocate their own resources between competitive providers is the best way to find that lovely equilibrium where prices are as low as they can be for a reasonable level of quality.

Assuming you disagree with me, you still can't consider unlimited healthcare an achievable human right. If your kid is sitting in a hospital, someone is making a decision based on money. I'd rather I be in control at that point. I also assume that in such a happy fairytale of a free market, I'd have planned for such an occurrence and purchased a reasonable level of medical insurance to cover that sort of event.

Be careful not to paint America with such a broad brush. Most of us are "victims" of fearmongering and policies that are well outside of our control. It's a sad byproduct of a dysfunctional system that's grown well outside the bounds of what it was originally designed for.

lionhearted• 16 years ago

> Health should always be far far far more important than money,

Currently, I've got mild damage in my left elbow, both knees, and one of my teeth is very slightly chipped from a martial arts match. I could afford treatments to all of these, but I choose not to because there's other stuff I value more with my money. I like that I can make that choice for myself.

I also like that no one has any say in what I do with my life - I can eat horrible fried foods, or not, I can drink loaded-with-fructose beverages, or not, I can smoke cigarettes and drink vodka, or not, and so on - and no one else has a say, because I pay for my own medicine and medical treatment. If everyone had to pay for my medicine, then logically they'd want a say in how I lived my life. I don't want to pay for someone who gets a preventable disease because of lifestyle choices, and I don't want someone to pay for mine. I'm happy that I get choice over my own life, and others don't get a say in how I live it, and I don't want a say in how others live their lives.

jrockway4• 16 years ago

Would she have spent 5% of $40,000 if he was probably going to die overnight?

There are unintended consequences, of course. If a patient had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in care that ultimately failed, the incentive for his family to sue for malpractice is much greater. This raises the price of malpractice insurance, which makes medical care more expensive for people that aren't at the end of their life; people with routine problems that are easily treatable.

Also, you could agree to pay and just not pay. If I was going to die in an hour, and someone asked, "will you pay us a million dollars to use a new treatment", I would easily answer yes. I won't be needing the money if I die, and if I live, I can just change my name and not pay it. When you're broke, there are ways out. When you're dead, you're dead. That's it. Forever.

twstdroot• 16 years ago

They did pay a small portion... between 3% and 4%

"The entire medical bill for seven years, in fact, was steeply discounted. The $618,616 became $254,176 when the insurers paid their share and imposed their discounts. Of that, Terence and I were responsible for $9,468 -- less than 4 percent."

dustingetz4• 16 years ago

ice cold alert.

what was gained by keeping him alive, in a bed, not creating value, for 400k? the family suffered with him while he died.

let him die, grieve, get on with your lives.

and save the rest of us the 400k.

jrockway4• 16 years ago

Will you be this cold when you are dying? What about when your wife and kids are dying?

Maybe I am just a hopeless optimist, but personally, if my wife/kid is dying, I am probably not going to say "BAI!1!", rip the cord out of the electrical outlet, and grin as I watch his/her eyes close for the last time. Ever. Instead, I am going to spend a lot of money to hopefully avoid ever seeing that. Because while you can always make more money, we can't clone people yet.

pw0ncakes11• 16 years ago

My own death doesn't scare or disturb me. It might happen suddenly tomorrow, or in 50 years, or in a million (if anti-aging succeeds). I'm sufficiently curious about what happens next not to be upset about the concept. (Although death is weird; I've never done it before.)

On the other hand, I'd fight for a child or a (healthy, not doomed to die soon) relative with everything I've got. Which is why it surprises the hell out of me that health insurance companies aren't getting the Joseph Stack treatment all over the place over rescissions and life caps.

steveklabnik2• 16 years ago

Some people are different. If I was that dude, I would have hoped my wife would have just pulled the plug and saved everyone the money.

Living in a hospital bed is not living.

dustingetz4• 16 years ago

but you're talking about spending your own money, not mine! euthanize you, and donate the money to a charity helping starving 3rd world kids get a chance at a whole life.

pw0ncakes11• 16 years ago

What if a new technology had come online in 2006 that would have given him 20 or 30 years?

dustingetz4• 16 years ago

horrible gamble. but obviously correct when you don't have to pay.

aresant• 16 years ago

The 17 months he lived could have taken him 17 months closer to a breakthrough cure - holding on to hope is often times what people attribute this insane struggle to, and I dont blame them.

awa• 16 years ago

From the article it seems he was teaching for a lot of the time after the initial diagnosis... Also, he took the chance to complete some of his lifelong dreams (visiting Pompeii). And the bill was actually 250k after negotiations.

dustingetz4• 16 years ago

i'm all for giving a dying man his dreams, but we spend comparatively zero on dying kids in 3rd world countries. that much dough could allow a bunch of children a chance at a whole life.

steveplace• 16 years ago

I'm sure we can find ways to view the US healthcare issue as "Hacker News," but please let me have some sanctuary.

pw0ncakes11• 16 years ago

It's of relevance to anyone in the US who is considering working for startups, since anyone who does so runs the (admittedly low-probability) risk of being murdered due to unaffordable or inadequate health coverage.

nandemo• 16 years ago

I think steveplace covered that when he wrote 'we can find ways to view the US healthcare issue as "Hacker News"'.

In that sense, almost any political news can be made to be "relevant" to HN. The California budget deficit, Iraq, the tax code, the next elections, you name it.

And when the topic is politics, even though people here tend to remain civil, the level of discourse inevitably goes down.

For instance, consider your superlative usage of "murder". This sort of thing practically precludes any further fruitful discussion: anyone who disagrees with you is automatically in the uncomfortable position of "abetting murder".

dhyasama2• 16 years ago

Some friends lived with me for a few months while their daughter was in the NICU because she was born extremely prematurely. I don't know the final tally, but at some point the calculated the total cost to be just north of $2,000,000. I don't think it is possible for me to rationally discuss if is worth it because I'm emotionally involved (they now have a beautiful, healthy little girl), but it's easy to see that it doesn't take many cases like hers to jack insurance premiums up pretty high.

As our medical skills are improving we can keep people alive that used to die. Unfortunately our medical skill isn't advanced enough to do it cheaply. Perhaps the luxuries of time and money will get us there one day.

dtby• 16 years ago

It seems unlikely that medical technology will not continue to advance. As such, there will always be new techniques which are, by their very nature, expensive relative to older proven means. So, yes, we'll be able to provide today's state of the art medical care "cheaply" in the not too distant future... but that will no longer be the standard by which emotionally-involved people judge "good enough" care.

vaksel• 16 years ago

the same 2 million dollar treatment probably costs 3-5 grand in Mexico or India. Personally I think health tourism is going to be much more popular soon, since the healthcare costs in the states are getting less and less affordable.

sokoloff• 16 years ago

Are you honestly suggesting that someone would travel to Mexico or India to put their premie in newborn intensive care unit there? Really; that seems remotely reasonable (or even possible) to you?

delackner• 16 years ago

Since the article is talking about examining the detailed costs of the long, drawn-out process of his slow decline, it is important to note that she says he was an overweight ex-smoker, which made him (she says) a prime candidate for kidney cancer.

The biggest cost in western-style health care is not end of life care, it is lifestyle-induced illness that leads to an explosion of totally preventable terminal diseases.

pw0ncakes11• 16 years ago

Cancer is not "totally preventable". Non-smokers die of lung cancer (and other cancers) too.

End-of-Life Warning at $618,616 Makes Me Wonder Was It Worth It

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