A hotline for end-of-life care

Imagine you're at home. Maybe that's in Florida, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, wherever. You have cancer. You just had another round of chemo, and the phone rings. "My name is Kate. I'm a healthcare counselor," the gentle voice says from her cubicle in Cherry Hill, N.J. This is no telemarketing call … it's about the end of your life. Kate Schleicher, 27, is a licensed clinical social worker, who knows almost as little about you as you do about her. Except she knows your phone number, your insurance provider, and that you are pretty sick.