Final Choice

Before hi-tech medicine, death was a member of the family, something families nearly always chose to have happen at home.  Today, 8 out of 10 Americans die in hospitals, surrounded by strangers.  Often alone in webs of wires and tubes.  Hospice care gives the terminally ill a chance to live a near normal life, until they die.  A quarter of million Americans at the end of their lives have checked themselves out of hospitals and into hospice programs.  In 1974 there was one hospice in America.  Twenty years later there were 2,000.  Mostly staffed by volunteers.  That keeps costs low.  On average, about $80 a day. Nearly 10 times cheaper than some hospital stays.  Add in Medicaire and Medicaid, the out of pocket cost — $16 bucks a day. Nine out of ten hospice programs are in people’s homes.  For those whose final choice is to go gently, they will not be forced to do otherwise.