Survey: Nearly 25M Americans over 50 report unwanted medical treatment

 

Nearly 24 percent of Americans older than 50 say that either they or a family member have experienced excessive or unwanted medical treatment, the equivalent of about 25 million people, according to a survey conducted by Purple Insights, the research division of Purple Strategies.

The survey polled 1,007 Americans over the age of 50 years.

Here are five key findings from the survey:

•    Sixty-one percent of those polled support reimbursing doctors for end-of-life consultations.
•    Nearly 65 percent support withholding payment to healthcare providers who fail to honor their end-of-life medical wishes.
•    Around 66 percent say they would "take political action to protect patients' rights to their own choice in end-of-life care."
•    Forty-one percent say they would "take legal action" and 40 percent say they would "not pay for the treatment" in response to unwanted medical treatment.
•    Forty-seven percent are very confident that emergency rooms and intensive care units would honor those wishes.

"We cannot put the entire burden on consumers, especially on seniors, to protect themselves from unwanted care during a medical crisis. We need carrot-and-stick policies that encourage medical providers to learn their patients' end-of-life healthcare wishes, and to honor them," said Mickey MacIntyre, chief program officer of Compassion & Choices, organization working to improve care and expand choice at the end of life.

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