Latinos and blacks are less likely to seek out medical care throughout their lives, leading to increased costs at the end of life which far outweigh what is spent by white patients, according to a new report published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Dying Hispanics and black Americans have much higher treatment costs than whites, because they get more costly, intensive treatments as they near death, say researchers who analyzed data from the last six months of life of almost 160,000 Medicare patients.

The average cost for Hispanic patients in those final months of life was $31,702, compared with $26,704 for blacks and $20,166 for whites. Compared to white patients, costs were about 30 percent higher for blacks and almost 60 percent more for Hispanics, the Associated Press reported.

According to U.S. News & World Report, researchers have concluded that the reason for this is the lack of medical care received by black and Latino patients throughout life who, upon becoming terminally ill, receive “more treatment when there’s little chance of improving or extending their lives.”

Via / U.S. News & World Report