Does Medicare Cover Hospice Care? Your Complete 2026 Guide

Medicare's hospice benefit is one of the most comprehensive benefits in the entire Medicare program. Once you elect hospice, nearly all services related to your terminal illness are covered with little to no out-of-pocket cost. The benefit is provided under Medicare Part A, so you must be enrolled in Part A to receive hospice coverage.

Hospice care is delivered wherever you live. This can be your home, a family member's home, an assisted living facility, or a nursing home. Hospice is not a place; it is a philosophy of care focused on comfort, dignity, and quality of life rather than curing the illness. A team of professionals comes to you.

The hospice team includes a physician (the hospice medical director), registered nurses, home health aides, social workers, chaplains or spiritual counselors, trained volunteers, and bereavement counselors for your family. This interdisciplinary team creates a personalized care plan and coordinates all services related to your terminal condition.

Medicare continues to cover treatment for conditions unrelated to your terminal illness. For example, if you are in hospice for terminal cancer but break your arm, Medicare will still cover the emergency room visit and orthopedic treatment. You also retain the right to see your primary care physician for non-hospice conditions.

To qualify for Medicare hospice benefits, you must meet three requirements. First, you must be enrolled in Medicare Part A. Second, your doctor and the hospice program's medical director must certify that you have a terminal illness with a life expectancy of six months or less if the disease runs its normal course. Third, you must sign a statement choosing hospice care (comfort care) instead of routine Medicare-covered treatments intended to cure your terminal illness.

The six-month prognosis is an estimate, not a guarantee. Many hospice patients live longer than six months. If you are still alive after six months, you can continue receiving hospice care as long as the hospice medical director recertifies that you remain terminally ill. There is no maximum time limit on Medicare hospice benefits.

Hospice coverage is organized into benefit periods. The first two benefit periods are 90 days each. After that, you receive an unlimited number of 60-day benefit periods. At the start of each new benefit period, the hospice medical director must recertify your terminal prognosis.

Common terminal diagnoses that qualify for hospice include advanced cancer, end-stage heart failure, end-stage COPD, end-stage renal disease (when dialysis is declined), advanced dementia or Alzheimer's disease, end-stage liver disease, ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), and advanced HIV/AIDS. However, any terminal illness qualifies. There is no list of approved diagnoses.

To find a Medicare-approved hospice provider in your area, visit Medicare.gov's Care Compare tool or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). Your doctor can also provide referrals to local hospice programs.

Hospice care and palliative care are related but distinct. Understanding the difference is important because they have different eligibility requirements, different coverage rules, and can be used at different stages of illness.

Palliative care focuses on relieving symptoms and improving quality of life for people with serious illnesses. It can be provided at any stage of illness, alongside curative treatments. You do not need a terminal diagnosis to receive palliative care. Medicare Part B covers palliative care services (doctor visits, pain management, counseling) with standard Part B cost-sharing (20% coinsurance after the deductible).

Hospice care is specifically for people with a terminal illness and a life expectancy of six months or less. When you elect hospice, you agree to forgo curative treatment for the terminal illness and focus on comfort. Medicare Part A covers hospice with almost no cost-sharing. Hospice provides a much broader range of services than palliative care alone.

You can receive palliative care for months or years before transitioning to hospice. Many patients start with palliative care while still receiving curative treatment, then transition to hospice when curative options are exhausted or they choose to focus entirely on comfort. Your doctor can help determine the right time for this transition.

Medicare Advantage plans must cover hospice through Original Medicare (Part A), but they may offer additional palliative care benefits as a supplemental benefit. Some MA plans now include in-home palliative care programs that go beyond what Original Medicare covers.

Medicare hospice care has remarkably low cost-sharing compared to other Medicare benefits. For most hospice services, you pay nothing. The two exceptions are outpatient prescription drugs and respite care.

Prescription drugs: You may pay a copay of up to $5 per prescription for outpatient drugs for pain and symptom management. The hospice may charge less or nothing. Drugs administered by the hospice nurse during a visit are covered at no cost to you.

Respite care: If your primary caregiver needs a break, Medicare covers up to 5 consecutive days of inpatient respite care in a Medicare-approved facility. You pay 5% of the Medicare-approved amount for respite care. In 2026, this works out to approximately $10 to $20 per day depending on the facility.

Room and board: Medicare does not pay for room and board (rent, food, utilities) in your home or an assisted living facility. If you live in a nursing home, Medicare does not cover the room and board charges. However, if you are a dual-eligible beneficiary (Medicare and Medicaid), Medicaid may cover nursing home room and board during hospice.

If you have a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) plan, it will cover the 5% respite care coinsurance and may cover drug copays, reducing your out-of-pocket costs to zero. Medicare Advantage enrollees receive hospice through Original Medicare Part A, so their MA plan does not apply cost-sharing to hospice services.