Hospice care became a recognized benefit under Medicare in 1983, and approximately 90% of all hospice programs are Medicare certified. As 28% of all Medicare costs go to persons in their last year of life, and 50% of such costs are expended during the last 2 months of life, (more…)

At a certain point, one’s perceptions of aging become inter- twined with perceptions of oneself. In the experience of aging, my credentials get better every day! As a pastoral theologian, I live in a creative tension between the established dogma and practice of my personal faith on the one hand, and the more generic, encompassing spiritual dimension that is presented here without any primary or specific religious connotation on the other hand. (more…)