I can sort of buy that, but I think it might be complex to determine what is cheapest overall, if that is really the main goal to minimize. For example, someone

I can sort of buy that, but I think it might be complex to determine what is cheapest overall, if that is really the main goal to minimize. For example, someone dying of a heart attack in their home is much cheaper than someone dying of cancer after a prolonged 2-year battle. So it would actually cost more money if you successfully prevented the heart attack only for the same person to die of cancer 10 years later: preventative medicine can't keep someone from dying entirely, so it doesn't always necessarily save money, if it pushes back the death to one that turns out to be more expensive than the earlier death would've been. What you want cost-wise is for all ends to be quick and with minimal intervention, whether they're earlier or later ends (actually that's what some might want as the person in question too, but that's a much bigger debate).