In the US, hospice is part of the basic Medicare benefit. They have a fairly consumer-friendly <a href=http://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/02154.pdf>publication available </a> [publication available](http://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/02154.pdf) that discusses what hospice is, what's covered, who pays what, etc. For more real-life discussions about end-of-life care, I can't recommend enough the following two essays: (1) <a href="http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2011/11/30/how-doctors-die/ideas/nexus/">How [How Doctors Die</a> Die](http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2011/11/30/how-doctors-die/ideas/nexus/) from Zocalo Public Square, and (2) <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/02/100802fa_fact_gawande">Letting Go</a> [Letting Go](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/02/100802fa_fact_gawande) from the New Yorker.

In the US, hospice is part of the basic Medicare benefit. They have a fairly consumer-friendly <a href=http://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/02154.pdf>publication available </a> that discusses what hospice is, what's covered, who pays what, etc. For more real-life discussions about end-of-life care, I can't recommend enough the following two essays: (1) <a href="http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2011/11/30/how-doctors-die/ideas/nexus/">How Doctors Die</a> from Zocalo Public Square, and (2) <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/02/100802fa_fact_gawande">Letting Go</a> from the New Yorker.