Health Insurance and Out-of-Pocket Costs in the Last Year of Life Among Decedents Utilizing the ICU.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Use of intensive care is increasing in the United States and may be associated with high financial burden on patients and their families near the end of life. Our objective was to estimate out-of-pocket costs in the last year of life for individuals who required intensive care in the months prior to death and examine how these costs vary by insurance coverage.

Design

Observational cohort study using seven waves of post-death interview data (2002-2014).

Participants

Decedents (n = 2,909) who spent time in the ICU at some point between their last interview and death.

Interventions

None.

Measurements and main results

Two-part models were used to estimate out-of-pocket costs for direct medical care and health-related services by type of care and i

SUBMITTER: Khandelwal N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6522316 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature