End-of life medical spending and care pathways in the last 12 months of life: A comprehensive analysis of the national claims database in France.

Diagnoses and care trajectories, including repeated hospital stays, are the main drivers of the last year of life expenditures. Our data suggests that early identification of patients requiring palliative care and community-based end-of-life service delivery is feasible and could better support patients, families and caregivers with constant or reduced costs.