Yet for all its successes, the hospice movement faces challenges that will far outstrip the resources now dedicated to palliative care, even in the richest countries.

ECONOMIST: End-of-life care

And because the principle of the hospice movement is neither to hasten nor to postpone death, the Medicare hospice benefit pays only for symptom management and pain control.

ECONOMIST: On death and dying: The final hurry | The

The much-praised hospice movement may now be asked to help patients decide not how to die but when to die.

ECONOMIST: Doctor-assisted suicide