For funeral homes
Hospice bereavement programs and how funeral homes can work alongside them
Every Medicare hospice must offer grief support to families for up to a year after a death. Many funeral homes run aftercare too. Working together means families get steady support, not two sets of calls.
Checked against the sources listed below on October 20, 2026. General information, not legal advice. Rules differ by state; check yours.
What Medicare requires of a hospice
- An organized bereavement program, supervised by someone with experience or education in grief or loss counseling.
- Bereavement services available to the family, and others in the bereavement plan of care, for up to 1 year after the death.
- Services that reflect the needs of the bereaved, and a bereavement plan of care that says what will be offered and how often.
- Bereavement counseling can extend to residents of a nursing facility when appropriate.
The work starts before the death. When a patient is admitted, the hospice assesses the family's bereavement needs, looking at social, spiritual and cultural factors that may affect how they cope. Medicare requires bereavement counseling but does not pay separately for it.
Where a funeral home fits
- Ask the hospice what its bereavement program offers: calls, mailings, support groups, memorial events, and for how long.
- Tell families at the arrangement conference that the hospice's grief support is theirs for up to a year, and how to reach it.
- If your funeral home has an aftercare program, agree with the hospice who contacts the family and when, so families are not called by both in the same week.
- If a family is struggling, encourage them to call the hospice's bereavement team rather than trying to counsel them yourself.
- If the hospice holds a remembrance service and wants help, offer it.
Source: [1]
Keep it about the family
Bereavement support is not a sales channel. Do not use hospice grief groups or memorial events to sell services, and do not offer the hospice anything of value for access to families. State funeral laws treat soliciting families and paying for funeral business as grounds for discipline. Texas, for example, defines solicitation as contact a family did not start that could influence their choice of funeral home.
If you host a hospice support group or event at your funeral home, keep it open to the community, keep a simple written agreement, and do not tie it to referrals. Hospices may use volunteers in their programs; if you volunteer, do it through the hospice's normal process. See the rules on referrals.
Common questions
How long does hospice bereavement support last?
Medicare requires hospices to make bereavement services available for up to 1 year after the patient's death.
Does Medicare pay for hospice bereavement counseling?
Bereavement counseling is a required hospice service, but Medicare does not pay separately for it.
Can a funeral home run aftercare for a hospice family?
Yes. Agree with the hospice who contacts the family and when, so the family gets steady support rather than duplicate calls.
Sources
- 42 CFR 418.64: Core services (bereavement counseling) (eCFR (42 CFR Part 418))
- 42 CFR 418.54: Initial and comprehensive assessment of the patient (eCFR (42 CFR Part 418))
- 42 CFR 418.204: Special coverage requirements (eCFR (42 CFR Part 418))
- 42 CFR 418.78: Volunteers (eCFR (42 CFR Part 418))
- California Business and Professions Code, sections 7694 to 7697 and 7716 to 7718 (Laws and Regulations, 2023 edition) (California Cemetery and Funeral Bureau)
- Texas Occupations Code chapter 651: Funeral directors and embalmers (651.001, 651.454) (Texas Legislature)
See the hospices around your funeral home
Enter your ZIP code, city or address. The free market tool shows every Medicare hospice within 10, 25 or 50 miles on a map, who owns each one, how many Medicare patients it cared for, and which are growing. If you want it on paper, the partnership report is a free PDF; we ask only for an email address to send it.
Open the hospice market tool