Do you have any idea, how much does it cost to die in America ? I suppose no, as most of us try to figure out, what is our monthly budget, like how much we spend on groceries, medical, housing and day to day expenses. One thing that we never estimated, is that, how much we need to spend when we die.
As per National Bureau of Economic Research, the average cost for an American to die is around $11,750 and those expenditure can come from varied sources. As life is tricky, we never know our death can be complicated not just by untimely medical expense, but also by care facilities, medicines, cremation and funeral expenses.
As the age progresses, we begin our planning, both in terms of finance and emotions, thinking what needs to be left behind and not to burden your loved ones with that extra stress at difficult time.
But, what would you do?, if death rings your door bell before time, catching families to deal with unplanned expenses. And that is why, this article will focus on what costs you can expect and what options you’ll have at each stage of the journey.
Following are few types of care and the costs associated with each.
Hospitalisation:-
As the life is uncertain, a sudden and unexpected illness may arise due to which you may get hospitalised . As per recent survey, every 6 out of 10 Americans prefer to die at home but only 24% of them do. Many deaths take place under ICU ( Intensive Care Unit ) and average bill comes to $ 34,790 at the last month of life.
Palliative Care:-
Its a care which improves the quality of life of patients and their families who are facing life threatening illness. This care focuses on emotional support, stress buster classes and assistance in alleviating symptoms with a goal to improve the over all quality of life. You can read more about palliative care here. As per the report, the palliative care can reduce the medical expenses. An average saving of $2950 per patient during hospital stay when compare to those patients who did not received this care.
Hospice Care:-
This care comes into effect, when all option for treatments are exhausted . Hospice treatment are usually done at home and goal is to manage pain, not prolong life. Around 1.4 million Americans took hospice care and the average spending was $ 11,650. You can see the data in the below chart.
Funerals And Burials :-
This is in fact the last stop for everyone of us. Funeral and burials expenses are sky rocketing in America, as the average cost for funeral and burial service comes to $12500 and may go beyond that, while cremation is less expensive and as per American Funeral Association, more than 45% of US population now prefer cremation. One more report stated that, funeral expenses have risen to more than 200% . So, families are now cremating their loved ones and storing their cremated remains in a secured urn . Below chart compares funeral and cremation cost in United States for past 30 years.
End of life decision is very hard, so, being armed with information about the death cost in America can actually help you and your loved ones make the best, most-compassionate decisions for your family . I hope this article gives you a grim picture about the cost and other hidden expenses that one needs to bear when he or she dies in America.
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