In this review, we document end-of-life medical spending: its level, composition, funding, and contribution to aggregate medical spending. We discuss how end-of-life expenses affect household behavior and economic evidence on the efficacy of medical spending at the end of life. Finally, we document recent trends in health and chronic disease at older ages and discuss what they might imply for end-of-life spending and medical spending in the aggregate.
Authors
Eric French
Eric is the Montague Burton Professor of Industrial Relations and Labour Economics at the University of Cambridge and Professor of Economics at UCL.
Elaine Kelly
Elaine works in the Public Finance and Pensions sector and she joined the IFS in 2009 and became a member of the research staff in 2011.
Jeremy McCauley
Jeremy is a Research Associate at IFS and an Assistant Professor at the University of Bristol with particular interest in public economics and health.
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