I mean the healthcare economists have been pointing to the extreme costs of care in the six months preceding death since the 1960's. This suggests its own solution: Figure out when someone is going to die and off 'em six months prior. Problem solved.
Next I shall take on world peace.
From the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation:
Medically assisted deaths could save millions in health care spending: Report
Across Canada, journal calculates up to $136.8 M in savings
New research suggests medically assisted dying could result in substantial savings across Canada's health-care system.Maybe it's just me but those projected savings don't seem all that big.
Doctor-assisted death could reduce annual health-care spending across the country by between $34.7 million and $136.8 million, according to a report published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Monday.
The savings exceedingly outweigh the estimated $1.5 to $14.8 million in direct costs associated with implementing medically assisted dying.
"The take-away point is that there may be some upfront costs associated with offering medical assisted dying to Canadians, but there may also be a reduction in spending elsewhere in the system and therefore offering medical assistance in dying to Canadians will not cost the health care system anything extra," said Aaron Trachtenberg, an author of the report and a resident in internal medicine at the University of Calgary.
Cost has to be a part of the discussion
The researchers used numbers from the Netherlands and Belgium, where medically assisted death is legal, combined with Canadian spending data from Ontario. Trachtenberg stressed that means the work is theoretical and needs to be readdressed when Canada starts collecting large scale data at home....MORE
