Coverage & costs
The Medicare Hospice Benefit, in plain English
If your loved one has Medicare, hospice is covered at 100% — the care team, the medications, the equipment, the support. Here's exactly what that includes, what it doesn't, and how the paperwork works.
Covered at 100%
- Visits from nurses, aides, social workers, and chaplains
- Hospice physician oversight of the care plan
- Medications related to the hospice diagnosis and comfort
- Medical equipment — hospital bed, oxygen, wheelchair, commode
- Medical supplies — dressings, briefs, gloves, and more
- 24/7 on-call nursing, with urgent home visits
- Physical, occupational, and speech therapy when part of the comfort plan
- Short-term inpatient care when symptoms need it
- Respite care — up to 5 days so family caregivers can rest
- Grief support for the family for 13 months after a loss
Not covered by the hospice benefit
- Treatment intended to cure the terminal illness (you can revoke hospice any time to pursue it)
- Room and board in a facility for routine care (hospice services there are covered; the facility's rent is not)
- Emergency room or hospital care not arranged by the hospice team
- Care from a second hospice you didn't choose through a transfer
Full details in our guides to hospice costs and room and board.
How to elect the benefit (we do the paperwork)
- 1. The hospice physician and the patient's doctor certify eligibility — a life expectancy of six months or less if the illness runs its normal course.
- 2. The patient (or their representative) signs an election form choosing comfort-focused care.
- 3. Care begins. Engrace handles billing directly with Medicare — families never see a claim form.
Patients can leave hospice at any time and return later if still eligible. Read about benefit periods or check eligibility guidelines.
Frequently asked questions
Coverage questions? We answer them every day.
Medicare, Medicaid, Advantage plans, private insurance, VA — call and we'll sort out exactly how your loved one is covered.