Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 3 October 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying

Assisted Dying in the United States: Discussion

Dr. Tom Jeanne:

I thank the Senator for the questions. I am not sure I would agree with that. There are a lot of variables here. Regarding insurance, it is true the percentage of participants in our Act who are dying using these medications has gone down. The percentage with private insurance has gone down. That means the percentage with public insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid, has gone up. Part of that has to do with increasing coverage in Oregon. We have made great strides in reducing the number of people who are uninsured. Part of it may be that our median age of participants has gone up slightly so more are on Medicare, which is our insurance covering people over 65 in general.