There are roughly 46 million Americans are living with serious illness and functional impairment, and that number will soon swell, given demographic trends.  Palliative care is an added layer of support that relieves the pain, symptoms and stresses of serious illness, appropriate at any age and any stage of illness, ideally concurrent with treatment. Multiple studies demonstrate that the resulting improvements in quality of life translate directly into reductions in avoidable ED and hospital utilization.  SOA sat down with Dr. Diane Meier, founder and director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) to learn more about what palliative care is, who benefits, and what health plans and population health managers can do to improve care for those facing serious illness.