As palliative care and hospice use grow and cost pressures continue, new studies probed variation in care and referrals — and found opportunity.

A higher BMI means a lower chance of a good-quality death, a new study of people with and without obesity finds. That also means higher costs for the Medicare system.

Medicare pays thousands more for the end-of-life care of black and Hispanic people than for whites. A new study tries to find out why.