Re:End-of-Life Warning at $618,616 Makes Me Wonder Was It Wo...
by jrockway on Thursday March 04, 2010 @05:09PM
(#1168187)
Would she have spent 5% of $40,000 if he was probably going to die overnight?
There are unintended consequences, of course. If a patient had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in care that ultimately failed, the incentive for his family to sue for malpractice is much greater. This raises the price of malpractice insurance, which makes medical care more expensive for people that aren't at the end of their life; people with routine problems that are easily treatable.
Also, you could agree to pay and just not pay. If I was going to die in an hour, and someone asked, "will you pay us a million dollars to use a new treatment", I would easily answer yes. I won't be needing the money if I die, and if I live, I can just change my name and not pay it. When you're broke, there are ways out. When you're dead, you're dead. That's it. Forever.
There are unintended consequences, of course. If a patient had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in care that ultimately failed, the incentive for his family to sue for malpractice is much greater. This raises the price of malpractice insurance, which makes medical care more expensive for people that aren't at the end of their life; people with routine problems that are easily treatable.
Also, you could agree to pay and just not pay. If I was going to die in an hour, and someone asked, "will you pay us a million dollars to use a new treatment", I would easily answer yes. I won't be needing the money if I die, and if I live, I can just change my name and not pay it. When you're broke, there are ways out. When you're dead, you're dead. That's it. Forever.