As people become seniors, especially if they are dealing with various serious ilnesses, worry about end-of-life care. Their families worry about it, too. This is not just dealing with funerals. It is the cost of taking care of an individual and keeping them as healthy as possible as long as possible so that they can have a full life or at least a pain free life as the end nears.
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
Dying Hispanics and black Americans have much higher treatment costs than whites, because they get more costly, intensive treatments as they near death, say researchers who analyzed data from the last six months of life of almost 160,000 Medicare patients.
The average cost for Hispanic patients in those final months of life was $31,702, compared with $26,704 for blacks and $20,166 for whites. Compared to white patients, costs were about 30 percent higher for blacks and almost 60 percent more for Hispanics, the Associated Press reported.
The study was published Monday in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.
The reason: studies show that throughout their lives, minorities are less likely than whites to get aggressive medical care. In addition, minorities have less access to adequate health care througout their lives and especially as they get older - for a myriad of reasons including transportation, lack of local neighborhood doctors, clinics and hospitals, and lack of funds. These findings suggest that medical resources for minority patients are far too often "misallocated over a lifetime," with minority patients receiving more treatment and more extensive and expensive treatment when their illness has become extreme due to lack of care and when there's little chance of improving or extending their lives.
Let us hope that putting partisan politics aside, lawmakers will work with the President and with each other to come up with a plan that helps everyone so that instead of suffering needessly at the end of life and spending enormous amounts of government/taxpayer's money, individuals will have heathcare that will help keep them healthier longer and allow them to die with dignity.
It has been known for a long while that not all healthcare is equal. In fact, whether you are on Medicare or Medicaid, have no benefits at all or are self-paying, studies show that most often the quality of healthcare has to do with the area you live in and your economic status among other things.
For instance, diabetes testing, breast cancer screening and other essential tests are not provided as often in low-income situations as in areas that have higher income levels, more doctors and hospitals and less Medicare and Medicaid restrictions. Aside from lack of essential tests and treatment, the results end up being more leg amputations, kidney failure and eye disease leading to blindness.
It is not that low income individuals and families that have some sort of assistance from Medicare or Medicaid do not work, are not legitimately disabled or don’t deserve to be treated as well as others who need medical attention. The issue is how to provide quality services to everyone who needs them, regardless of their income or neighborhood.
Studies have shown that the differences in care levels are not just simple; they are dangerously different and uneven throughout the country. This disparity begins with BASIC care to keep people somewhat well or medically stable. We are not talking about complicated, high priced procedures; this is basic medical care, which could save money, taxes and, more importantly, lives.
One example is that one in three women receiving Medicare did not receive a mammogram in the two year period between 2004 and 2005. Black patients were less likely to receive mammograms than white patients.
Diabetic patients are not receiving essential blood tests necessary to monitor and maintain safe blood sugar levels. Black patients are losing legs at a rate of 4 to 1 above whites. Heart and vascular issues are not being addressed. And the disparities are even greater between different states than they are between blacks and whites. There is also a disparity between those beneficiaries who have regular primary care physicians and those who do not.
These disparities are beginning to be addressed in the hope that raising awareness will begin to eliminate the disparities – or at least start working on them. It will take forward thinking and planning, plus incentives for doctors and hospitals to serve in underserved areas and to realize the importance of preventative and maintenance care, rather than reactive care that leads to amputations, blindness, heart failure, decreased quality of life, and often, death.
