Hospice guides for families

Short, sourced answers from Medicare.gov, CMS and the federal hospice rules. General information, not medical advice.

• What Medicare's hospice benefit covers, and what it does notMedicare Part A pays for hospice care for people with a terminal illness. Here is who qualifies, what is included, what is left out, and what a family pays.
• The four levels of hospice careMedicare pays hospices for four levels of care. Most days are routine home care. The other three are for a crisis at home, a caregiver who needs rest, or symptoms that cannot be managed at home.
• Hospice and palliative care: how they differBoth focus on comfort and quality of life. The difference is when they apply, and whether treatment to cure the illness continues.
• How to switch hospice or stop hospice careChoosing a hospice is not a final decision. You can change to another hospice, or stop hospice care, and Medicare's rules spell out how.
• Questions to ask a hospice before you chooseHospices must meet the same Medicare rules, but they work in different ways. These questions help you hear how a hospice will care for your family, and each one ties to what Medicare requires.
• How to read CMS hospice ratings and measuresCMS publishes two kinds of numbers for each hospice: what families said in a survey, and measures built from Medicare claims. Here is what they mean and where they fall short.