What is end of life care?

Financial experts regularly give out advice on how to plan for major life milestones, like your kids’ college education and retirement. But what about the cost of dying? Creating a financial plan for the final stages of life, or end of life care, may not be fun to think about, but it can help save a lot of headache and heartache when you and your family are already going through a tough time.

From end of life care expenses to funeral costs, it’s important to be informed about how much it costs to die and how life insurance can help provide your family with the necessary financial support when that time comes. While end of life care decision making can be challenging, it’s also a form of caregiving in that it can help take the burden off of your loved ones. And on a personal level, it can help create peace of mind for you knowing that should the time come that you fall ill, you’ll be able to focus on spending quality time with loved ones.

End of life care, also known as palliative care or hospice care, is a specialized component of healthcare that focuses on providing support and comfort to individuals who are nearing the end of their lives. This type of care is designed to enhance the quality of life for both the patient and their families by addressing physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. 

End of life care is typically provided by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals and may include a range of services tailored to meet the unique needs of each individual.

​​Key components of end of life care can include:

• Pain and symptom management to help the patient live out life more comfortably
• Emotional and psychosocial support for both the patient and their caregivers to cope with the end stages of life
• Spiritual and cultural support to provide another layer of comfort
• Respite care for caregivers to prevent them from experiencing burnout 
• Hospice care once the life expectancy is reduced to just a few months or less
• Bereavement support in the immediate aftermath of the person’s passing

What is the cost of end of life care?

End of life care expenses can reach into the tens of thousands depending on the health situation and how long a person requires care before they pass away. In fact, in 2019, 10% of all healthcare costs in the U.S. were spent on end of life expenses, for a grand total of $365 billion. 

When someone becomes ill with a severe illness, they typically enter palliative care. This step is a precursor to hospice care, which typically begins when there’s a six-month or less life expectancy. Palliative care costs can include things like managing symptoms and pain caused by a disease or chronic illness (such as cancer or heart disease). 

There can be vast variation in the cost of end of life care costs, depending on what type of treatments are done as part of doctor visits or hospitalizations versus at-home care. Your health coverage can play a role in reducing some of the expenses, but if you’re expecting it to cover all end of life expenses, that’s rarely the case. 

Depending on the situation, you should expect substantial out-of-pocket costs for end of life care. For example, Medicare doesn’t always cover at-home palliative care, especially when the individual isn’t in hospice with a limited life expectancy. Additionally, even if your health insurance or Medicare covers some palliative care treatments, you still likely need to pay a deductible and copays, all of which can get more expensive as you age.