It's a subject no one wants to think about, but for each of us,
our lives must come to an end. As medical progress prolongs our
lives, the end can linger, draining patients and loved ones
alike. So, more and more people are turning to hospice care.
Hospice is not just for the elderly or cancer patients. Children
receive hospice care, as do patients with neurologically
progressive degenerative diseases like Lou Gehrig's disease,
Parkinson's disease, and HIV. This holistic approach to the end
of life treats pain and disease symptoms to make the patient as
comfortable and functional as possible. Counseling helps
patients and families come to terms with the process. Three
decades after hospices spread to the U.S. from Britain, more
than 1.3 million Americans receive hospice care each year,
according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care
Organization (NHPCO). Medicare, Medicaid, and most health plans
cover hospice programs. A patient can enter hospice care when a
doctor assesses that the patient has a termin