Why Is End-of-Life Spending So High? Evidence from Cancer Patients
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19317136 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dan Zeltzer (0000-0002-4140-7531, Tel Aviv University), Liran Einav (0000-0003-3349-5356, Stanford University and NBER), Amy Finkelstein (0000-0002-9941-6684, MIT and NBER), Tzvi Shir (Clalit Health Services), Salomon M Stemmer (0000-0002-8733-3929, Rabin Medical Center and Tel Aviv University), Ran D Balicer (0000-0002-7783-6362, Clalit Health Services and Ben Gurion University) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 105 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 511-527 |
| Publication date | 2023-05-09 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Review of Economics and Statistics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0034-6535 • E-ISSN: 1530-9142 |
| Publisher | MIT Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1162/rest_a_01066 |
| OpenAlex | W3203372460 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 17 |
We study the sources of high end-of-life spending for cancer patients. Even among patients with similar initial prognoses, spending in the year postdiagnosis is over twice as high for those who die within the year than those who survive. Elevated spending on decedents is predominantly driven by higher inpatient spending, particularly low-intensity admissions. However, most such admissions do not result in death, making it difficult to target spending reductions. Furthermore, end-of-life spending is substantially more elevated for younger patients, compared to older patients with similar prognoses. Results highlight sources of high end-of-life spending without revealing any natural “remedies.”
Cancer · Demography · Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life · Healthcare Policy and Management · Internal Medicine · Medicine · Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues · Gerontology
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |