Researchers from the University of California, San Diego Medical School, found that living wills had little impact on the type and expense of medical treatment provided to dying patients. The researchers studied 204 gravely ill patients at two San Diego, California, medical centers, half of who had filled out advance directives. Among the 00 who died, the group of living wills incurred charges of $9,502 in their last month of life, while the hospital bills for the others was almost identical: $9,700. The author of the studies said living wills alone did not solve the problem of curbing treatment that extends life without enhancing it.