Hurry Up and Die

Some hospice patients are living longer than their prognosis, and it has some government agencies concerned. But the apostle Paul has quite a different take on the situation.

The federal government recently attempted to bust a crime wave in upstate New York.

The suspected criminal ring wasn't gigantic ... it was geriatric. Most of the people under investigation were in their 80s and 90s.

No SWAT Team maneuvers were needed. There wasn't even a raid by local police. In fact, the post office handled the bust just fine. Six ominous letters were delivered to people in the area around Plattsburgh, New York. Under the bold title "Medicare Fraud Investigations," the United Government Services warned recipients that they were under scrutiny for cheating the government. The upshot: Each of them might owe the U.S. government tens of thousands of dollars.

So who were these suspects? Hospice patients who had beaten the odds. Their crime: living longer than anyone expected, and continuing to draw Medicare reimbursement of $88 a day.

One suspect was Rosie DesParois, an 87-year-old who had entered hospice with advanced breast and endometrial cancer, and was still alive four...