The current Medicare operation—reimbursing medical goods and services to a growing number of people without basing the reimbursement benefit on the actual cost of the services—is unsustainable, but there are some possible remedies.
Increased use of emergency departments for primary care puts undue burden on EDs; however, EMTALA obligates EDs to provide care to patients regardless of their ability to pay.
An ethical case explores a 70-year-old man diagnosed with pancreatic cancer who wants to have his pacemaker turned off in order to hasten what he fears may be an unpleasant death.