The New York Times printed an article last week that addressed end-of–life talks between doctors and patients.  The Times article introduces the concept of doctors being reimbursed by Medicare for services of “advanced care planning” conversations with their patients.  Doctors would converse with their patients on how they would want to spend their final days.  The American Medical Association proposed to The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reimbursement for end-of-life conversations with a newly created billing code for the services.  If the proposal is adopted, then, according to the article, this will set the standard for private insurers.  In fact, there are already a few private insurance companies that cover end-of-life conversations between patients and health care workers. If our medical professionals are paid by Medicare to discuss end-of-life issues, this could be problematic for Americans.  Ben Cosman wrote an...(Read Full Article)