Those advocates commend the Carter family for demonstrating the realities of aging, dementia and death.... The concept was developed after World War II and has been part of the Medicare program since the early 1980s.... Private insurance plans also typically cover hospice.In 2021, 1.7 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in hospice at a taxpayer cost of$ 23.1 billion, according to the federal Medicare Payment Advisory Commission( MedPAC)....