It's a real problem. The cost is about $1,200 a day for palliative care in the hospital. Most hospitals are very limited in the number of beds they have. There's a real logjam, and trying to even get a bed is problematic.
The cost depends on when the palliative care begins; it can begin even a year or two in advance of the end of life. The only studies that have been done came out of Ontario, saying that in hospital you could be spending $200,000 to $300,000 on a patient, whereas you could reduce that cost by 80% or 90% by providing home care or hospice care if it was available.