How to find a hospice you can actually trust.

What Medicare-Certified Hospice Actually Covers

The Medicare Hospice Benefit covers virtually all care related to a terminal illness — physician services, nursing visits, aide services, social work, chaplaincy, medications related to comfort, and bereavement support for the family after death. What it does not cover is curative treatment for the terminal diagnosis. That trade-off is the central decision families need to understand before electing hospice.

Five Questions to Ask Before You Choose a Hospice

• 1

  Are you Medicare-certified and in good standing?

  Verify at medicare.gov/care-compare. A legitimate hospice will welcome this question. One that deflects it is a warning sign.

• 2

  What is your average length of stay and live discharge rate?

  Abnormally long stays and high live discharge rates are two of the primary fraud indicators tracked by CMS. Ask for actual numbers, not approximations.

• 3

  Who will be my primary contact, and what is the after-hours response process?

  Families should have a named nurse case manager and a clear protocol for nights and weekends. If the answer is vague, that's a problem before care begins.

• 4

  Who owns this hospice, and how long has it been operating?

  Most fraudulent hospices are newly formed, for-profit entities. Ownership transparency is a basic marker of legitimacy.

• 5

  Can I speak with families you currently serve?

  Reputable hospices maintain relationships with the families they've served and will facilitate references. Hesitation here is meaningful.

Electing Hospice — What Happens Next

When a patient elects the Medicare Hospice Benefit, they sign a statement acknowledging they are choosing comfort-focused care over curative treatment for their terminal condition. A physician must certify that the patient has a prognosis of six months or less if the illness runs its normal course. The patient can revoke hospice at any time and return to curative treatment — that right cannot be waived.