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The High Cost of Dying
The cost of the inpatient care of decedents is much higher than that of survivors at all stages of life. The differential is significantly higher for those residing in rural areas, staying longer in hospitals, utilising private health facilities and suffering from chronic diseases. The difference is due to physicians in private hospitals prescribing more expensive drugs, subjecting patients to more clinical tests and higher charges on utilisation of amenities and facilities. The findings support the absolute income hypothesis that the economically better-off spend more on healthcare and the end-of-life care hypothesis that healthcare expenditure on efforts to save life is high.