The American Medical Association has proposed a new Medicare billing code for physicians who provide counseling for patients who want to write end-of-life directives, the New York Times reports. CMS will rule on the new billing code, which was attacked as setting up “death panels” when first proposed five years ago, later this fall.
A number of private insurance companies, who cover about a quarter of the nation's 50 million elderly beneficiaries through Medicare Advantage plans, already provide coverage of end-of-life medical planning.