The final hurry

ALMOST nine out of ten healthy Americans agree that to die at home, in relative comfort, is the ideal. Even so, they are more likely to die in a hospital bed, hooked up to machines. There are two reasons for this. First, many of the terminally ill will try almost any kind of treatment to hang on. Second, federal policies inadvertently limit the use of hospice services, which provide pain-relief and advice to the dying, usually in their homes.