Abstract

Insights from government policy for child care can inform policy for end-of-life care and lead to a better understanding of the effect that hospice has on the end of life. The methodology consists of trend analysis to better understand the elder care choices of adult children who have elderly parents or relatives that need hospice care. The focus of the study is married households, and the data source was the Current Population Survey (CPS). According to the US Census Bureau and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Current Population Survey (CPS) is the primary source of labor force statistics for the population of the United States. The results of the study support the posit that married households in the middle-income bracket are less likely to bring their elderly relatives into their homes as long as the Medicare hospice benefit remains a viable alternative to the demands that hospice care at home may impose on household income and in labor participation. Trend analysis of median household income and Child and Dependent Tax Credit demonstrate that the tax code can be a key tool in promoting hospice care at home. Government policy in the form of the Medicare hospice benefit may have evolved into a health program that counters rather than supports the axioms of the hospice philosophy and may, in fact, undermine the hospice care philosophy or self-determination and dying on our terms.