End of Life Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures for Dually Eligible Beneficiaries

In 1995, combined Medicare and Medicaid spending in the last year of life for dually eligible beneficiaries was more than $40,000 per beneficiary. Medicaid's share, primarily for long -term care, constituted about 40 percent of the total. Beneficiaries under age 65, Black persons, and individuals who died in a hospital had higher than average expenditures.