When someone you love is seriously ill, it helps to understand your options. These guides explain hospice and palliative care in plain language, so you can make decisions with confidence. If you would rather talk to someone, call 1-800-HOSPICE (1-800-467-7423).
What is hospice?
What hospice provides, who it is for, where it happens, and common myths.
Read the guideWhat is palliative care?
Comfort care at any stage of a serious illness, and how it differs from hospice.
Read the guideWho pays for hospice?
Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, the VA, TRICARE, and private insurance.
Read the guideFind a hospice provider
Enter a ZIP code or city to see which provider in our network serves that area.
Find a providerHelpful articles for families
- When is it time for hospice?
- What hospice pays for
- How long will Medicare pay for hospice?
- Continuous hospice care during a crisis
- Caregivers shouldn’t feel guilty about calling hospice
- Hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
- How to compare hospices on Medicare’s website
- Navigating end-of-life conversations
Hospice terms explained
- Advance directive
- Written instructions about the medical care a person wants if they cannot speak for themselves. A living will and a health care power of attorney are both types of advance directive.
- Living will
- An advance directive that describes the treatments a person does or does not want near the end of life.
- Health care power of attorney (health care proxy)
- A document naming someone to make medical decisions for a person who can no longer make them.
- DNR (do not resuscitate) order
- A doctor’s order telling medical staff not to perform CPR if a person’s heart or breathing stops.
- POLST
- A medical order, signed by a clinician, that turns a seriously ill person’s wishes about treatment into instructions that travel with them. The name varies by state.
- Palliative care
- Care focused on relieving symptoms and stress at any stage of a serious illness, alongside other treatment.
- Hospice care
- Comfort-focused care for people whose life expectancy is six months or less, provided wherever the patient lives.
- Curative treatment
- Treatment meant to cure or control the illness itself, such as chemotherapy or dialysis.
- Hospice election
- The patient’s choice, made in writing, to receive hospice care under Medicare or another plan.
- Election statement addendum
- A written list, required from October 1, 2026, of the items, services, and drugs a hospice will not cover because it considers them unrelated to the terminal illness.
- Plan of care
- The written plan the hospice team builds with the patient and family, covering symptoms, visits, and goals.
- Levels of care
- Medicare hospice has four: routine home care, continuous home care during a crisis, general inpatient care for symptoms that cannot be managed at home, and inpatient respite care.
- Respite care
- A short inpatient stay, up to five days at a time under Medicare, that gives a family caregiver a rest.
- Hospice medical director
- The hospice physician who oversees medical care and certifies that a patient qualifies for hospice.
- Bereavement support
- Grief support the hospice offers the family, for up to a year after a death.
Talk to someone
If you have questions about hospice for someone you love, call 1-800-HOSPICE (1-800-467-7423). We will connect you with a hospice provider that serves their area.