End-of-Life Healthcare Expenditure for the Elderly in Japan

End-of-life healthcare expenditure does have certain decisive impacts on the total healthcare expenditure. An upward shift of per capita healthcare expenditure for the very old elderly in recent years has again increased the concerns regarding end-of-life healthcare expenditure for the elderly in Japan. We analyzed healthcare expenditure for deceased elderly during the one year prior to death, using the National Database of Health Insurance Claim Information and Specified Medical Checkups. The average healthcare expenditure for the deceased elderly during the one year prior to death was 3.3 million yen, and it decreased rapidly with age increase: from 4.5 million yen for age group 65-69 to 2.2 million yen for age group 95+. Monthly healthcare expenditure increased slowly and started rising rather rapidly for just 2-3 months prior to the death month, and it persistently decreased as age increased. As a percentage of annual healthcare expenditure for the elderly as a whole, the elderly who died during the year concerned accounted for about 10 percent. End-of-life healthcare expenditure is certainly expensive, but the efficiency of the healthcare system in general is required to contain the total healthcare expenditure.