60 minutes ran a story Sunday night Aug. 6, 2010 (originally published on Nov. 22, 2009). The Cost of Dying: End-of-Life Care . It started with the statement “Every medical study ever conducted has concluded that 100 percent of all Americans will eventually die. This comes as no great surprise, but the amount of money being spent at the very end of people’s lives probably will.” They also reported, that last year, Medicare paid $55 billion just for doctor and hospital bills during the last two months of patients’ lives. That’s more than the budget for the Department of Homeland Security, or the Department of Education.
This piece created a lot of emotions for me. I don’t think it was an accident that I related to this story, considering that I have been working with colleagues who are experts in the field of eldercare and life coaching.
When I first decided to add this story to my blog; it seemed like an easy angle to write about our role in the debate as medical billers. (If you have any thoughts on what role we play, please comment.) After reporter Steve Kroft asked Dr. Elliott Fisher, a researcher at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy “How do so many people end up in the hospital?” and Fisher replied “It’s the path of least resistance”. I realized I was about to take the same path with this blog–so here goes the harder way.
Perhaps we as a country need to take a step back and as hard as this is to say “decide how we want to die”.
Most Americans don’t like to focus on morbid thing like this, but I have to agree with the point of view held by Dr. Byock who leads a team that treats and counsels patients with advanced illnesses: “This is a hard time in human life. But it’s just a part of life. Collectively, as a culture, we really have to acknowledge that we’re mortal,” Dr. Byock said. “Get over it. And start looking at what a healthy, morally robust way for people to die looks like.”
Dale Carnegie once said “Prepare for the worst that can possibly happen” then “calmly try to improve upon the worst.”
I think that we should put some thought today into how we what to die, to maintain some control of our last days. I have deeper understanding of how working with my end-of-life colleagues could help us live a better life. Attorney Craig Andreoli an estate planning expert, Stephanie Ethe long term insurance specialist and Jean Summit-Riker life coach can help us plan and ask ourselves the hard questions now so that we’re better prepared for death.
Jean Summit-Riker said “Life is a journey we all travel, but the choice to take the path to peace and happiness is yours alone.” I think this is our chance to collectively leave a legacy to our children and grandchildren and show them that it is important to prepare for death and that is possible to do it gracefully.
I've had the distinct pleasure of working directly with Bill and his executive team over the better part of 2010 and have to say I'm having a blast! Bill's got the charisma, he's got the desire, he's got the integrity, and best yet, he's got the smarts to continue to make a huge impact on the Medical Billing arena for Healthcare providers of all sizes... I've seen him do it.
I think you hit the nail on the head. So often I hear so many people talk about healthcare and rising medical costs. The news is filled with stories about the constant debate on healthcare costs and quality of care at the government level and yet very few see that we as Americans can make an impact in all of these areas by properly preparing for death and by getting involved in making decisions that will affect end of life costs, our family and ourselves.
Great thoughts….Thanks,
Laura
Like so many other things in life, we can pave the path we walk with proper planning. While life will always throw a curveball or two, the majority of people will benefit from pre-planning. Is a plan in place to pay for hospitals and long term care? Is a plan in place to deal with the emotional side of end of life situations? In my job, I see all types of situations and those people that have planned as best they could for the inevitable, make it easier on themselves and their families. When my grandmother passed away this year, she left specific instructions as to what she would be buried in, what each child, grandchild and great grandchild would receive and what she wanted to say to each one of us privately. She let us know that she had a wonderful life, but it was now time to join my grandfather. Our family obviously missed her, but she left no loose ends, which made it easier. She passed at age 93.