Read Kim's full piece on American Society on Aging's website.

Over the past several decades we’ve made remarkable advances in medical treatments and preventive care for serious and terminal diseases. As a result, people are living longer, often with a better quality of life. However, when it comes to how we die, our public policies have not kept pace, and consequently, the end of one’s life is often riddled with far too much unnecessary suffering.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the inadequacies in our nation’s end-of-life care policies. For example, a lack of awareness and attention placed on advance care planning leaves doctors and loved ones to make uninformed, agonizing life-altering decisions. People with terminal illnesses are spending precious time at endless doctor’s appointments for care that could be effectively delivered remotely. A lack of truly informed decision making is often resulting in endless treatments that unintentionally and unknowingly rob people of meaningful quality of life.

And the worst part: these treatments have little to no impact on how long one lives. Inadequacies in our healthcare system are even more pronounced among racially and ethnically diverse communities, and must be addressed.

As the new Administration charges forth in its first 100 days, we offer three critical ways it can immediately, positively impact end-of-life care for all populations, particularly those that are medically vulnerable:

Support legislation that makes permanent key healthcare provisions from the ‘‘Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act’’  or “CARES Act” (H.R. 748).

Continue reading on ASA's website.