"The country's system for handling end-of-life care is largely broken and should be overhauled at almost every level, a national panel [appointed by the Institute of Medicine, the independent research arm of the National Academy of Sciences,] concluded ... Many of the report's recommendations could be accomplished without legislation. For example, the panel urged insurers to reimburse health care providers for conversations with patients on advance care planning.... But some recommendations -- like changing the reimbursement structure so that Medicare would pay for home health services instead of emphasizing hospital care, and so that Medicaid would provide better coverage of long-term care for the frail elderly -- would require congressional action."  MORE >>