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 Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer
IME they just want their health. While dying, you tend to not think about money
This change of preference is very true, and it is not involved with any shift away from seeking the most cost-effective option.
Even when unhealthy and dying, a $3000 treatment with 30% rate of success is preferred to a $3000 treatment with 25% rate of success. Given those parameters, the unhealthy and dying patient will choose the more cost-effective option (the one with 30% success rate). In fact, according to fundamental economic theory, patients will ALWAYS choose the most cost-effective treatment given their perceptions and preferences.
There are a bunch of things to discuss regarding problems in healthcare, but it is not the case that a patient will ever say "hey doc give me the least promising, more expensive treatment" (unless his preference is to get sicker or to waste money or something like that).
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