February 25, 2015

Going, Going, Gone!

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Per capita spending on older people goes up with age. Does it ever stop? See post this weekend.
February 22, 2015

Goals, Goals, and then What?

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Last week’s New England Journal of Medicine asked readers to weigh in on who should initiate a conversation about goals of care with the pa...
February 19, 2015

The Goal of Goals

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Why have a discussion about goals of care? See post on Sunday.
February 15, 2015

Is the ICU Good for Your Health?

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Your goals of care determine what kind of medical treatment makes sense for you—or they should. If you want any treatment, however painful ...
February 11, 2015

The Road to Ruin

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If you are old and frail, an ICU stay may be hazardous to your health--coming Sunday.
February 08, 2015

Medicare at Fifty

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The Medicare program will turn 50 this year, as a short piece in the New England Journal of Medicine reminds us. Well, not exactly—Lyndon ...
February 05, 2015

Happy Birthday, Medicare!

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It's Medicare's 50th birthday! Read what we have to celebrate in Sunday's blog post.
February 01, 2015

The Benefit of Medicare and the Medicare Benefit

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When Congress first introduced a hospice benefit into the Medicare program in 1982, it did so out of the recognition that patients who are ...
January 28, 2015

Paying the Piper

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What would a new benefit package for the frail, known as intermediate care, cost? How could we pay for it? See next blog post.
January 25, 2015

Doing the Right Thing

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For the third time in a 50 years, it’s hip to talk about dying (except, perhaps, if you are in the middle of dying yourself). Interest seem...