Hospice care
What hospice provides
Hospice provides a care team, medicines for comfort, medical equipment and supplies, all related to the terminal illness and all set out in a written plan of care. The team visits on a schedule and a nurse is reachable by phone at any hour. Hospice does not provide a caregiver who stays in the home, and it does not pay for room and board. You have the right to a written list of anything the hospice will not cover.
Reviewed by our medical director, September 24, 2026
On this page (6 sections)
The hospice team
Medicare requires every hospice to provide care through a team that includes a doctor, a registered nurse, a social worker and a counselor. The team meets regularly to review each person's plan of care.
Registered nurse case manager
Your main contact. Assesses pain and symptoms, adjusts medicines with the doctor, orders equipment and supplies, and teaches the family what to do and what to expect.
Hospice doctor
Certifies eligibility, oversees the plan of care and works with the person's own doctor, who can stay involved as the attending physician.
Hospice aide
Helps with bathing, skin care, dressing and changing bed linens, and shows family caregivers safe ways to move and position someone.
Social worker
Helps with family stress, caregiver planning, advance directives, benefits questions and community resources.
Chaplain
Spiritual support for any faith or none. Visits only if wanted, and can work with your own clergy.
Volunteers and grief counselors
Companionship and short breaks for caregivers, and bereavement support for family before and after a death.
Dietary counseling, and physical, occupational or speech therapy, are included when the plan of care calls for them, usually for comfort or safety rather than rehabilitation. Names and credentials of Beta's leadership are on our care team page.
How often does the hospice team visit?
There is no single schedule. Visit frequency is set in each person's plan of care and changes as needs change. Visits are usually more frequent at the start, when symptoms change, and in the last days of life. In calmer periods they are fewer.
Here is the honest picture. A nurse visit is a focused clinical visit, not a shift. An aide visit is long enough for a bath and personal care. Between visits, family members, facility staff or hired caregivers provide the day-to-day care. A hospice nurse answers the phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and can visit when needed. When you talk with any hospice, ask what the expected visit pattern would be for your situation and who comes after hours.
Medicines, equipment and supplies
| Category | Common examples | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Medicines | Medicines for pain, shortness of breath, anxiety, nausea, constipation, secretions and agitation | Covers medicines for the terminal illness and related conditions. There can be a copay of up to $5 per prescription. Many families receive a small comfort kit to keep at home for urgent symptoms, with nurse instructions |
| Equipment | Hospital bed, pressure-relieving mattress, oxygen, wheelchair, walker, bedside commode, shower chair, over-bed table | Delivered and set up by a medical equipment company the hospice arranges, and picked up afterward |
| Supplies | Incontinence briefs and pads, gloves, wound dressings, catheter supplies, mouth care swabs | Supplied in amounts that match the plan of care |
What is provided depends on the person's needs and the plan of care. If you think something is missing, ask your nurse. Beta's medicines, equipment and supplies come through ASAP Pharmacy. In-stock items are delivered within two hours of the order; the nurse verifies the order, destination and expected arrival, and urgent or unavailable items are escalated through the clinical team.
What hospice does not include
Families tell us the surprises matter more than the brochure. These are the limits of the hospice benefit, stated plainly.
- A caregiver in the home all day and night. Hospice visits. It does not staff the home. Someone else needs to provide daily care: family, friends, facility staff or a hired caregiver.
- Room and board. Medicare does not pay room and board where you live, whether that is an assisted living community, a board-and-care home or a nursing facility. See paying for care.
- Treatment meant to cure the terminal illness. Some treatments continue if their purpose is comfort. The hospice doctor decides this case by case.
- Care the hospice did not arrange. Emergency room visits, ambulance rides and hospital stays for the terminal illness are generally not covered unless the hospice team arranged them. Call hospice first, at any hour.
- Medicines the hospice finds unrelated or no longer helpful. Medicines for unrelated conditions stay with your Medicare drug plan or other coverage. Some long-term medicines may be stopped if they no longer help.
What stays covered outside hospice?
Choosing hospice does not end your other coverage. Medicare continues to cover care for conditions that are not related to the terminal illness, with the usual deductibles and coinsurance. If you are in a Medicare Advantage plan, you can stay in it for extra benefits and unrelated care. Tell every provider that the person is on hospice, and call the hospice before scheduling tests or treatment so bills do not come as a surprise.
Common questions about what hospice provides
What hospice won't tell you?
A careful hospice tells you all of this before you sign: the team visits but does not stay in the home, room and board is not covered, treatment to cure the terminal illness stops, and you should call hospice before going to an emergency room. You can also leave hospice at any time, change hospices, and ask for a written list of what is not covered.
Why is lorazepam given at the end of life?
Lorazepam is a medicine for anxiety. In hospice, small doses are used to ease anxiety, restlessness and agitation, the panic that can come with shortness of breath, and sometimes nausea or seizures. The goal is comfort. Used as directed, it is not given to hasten death. The nurse explains each medicine in the comfort kit, and you can always call before giving a dose.
Does hospice give morphine to everyone?
No. Medicines are chosen for the person's symptoms. Morphine and similar medicines are common in hospice because they work well for pain and for the feeling of breathlessness. Doses start low and are adjusted to the symptom. If the person or family has concerns about any medicine, the nurse and doctor will talk them through and look at other options.
Does the hospice take away the person's regular medicines?
Not as a rule. The hospice doctor and nurse review every medicine. Those that help comfort or treat the terminal illness and related conditions are covered by hospice. Medicines for unrelated conditions can continue under your other drug coverage. Some may be stopped if they no longer help or have become hard to swallow. You are part of that conversation.
Who takes care of the person between visits?
Family, friends, facility staff or hired caregivers. The hospice team teaches you how to give medicines, move and clean someone safely, and what changes to call about. If there is no one able to give daily care, tell the social worker early. They can help you look at paid caregivers, facility placement and respite stays. See levels of care.
What happens to the equipment afterward?
The hospice arranges pickup of rented equipment such as the bed and oxygen. The nurse will also explain how to dispose of leftover medicines safely, which is especially important for opioid medicines. If you are still deciding about hospice, see is it time for hospice.
About this page
- Written by
- Beta Hospice care team
- Clinically reviewed by
- our medical director
- Last reviewed
- September 24, 2026
- Next review
- March 24, 2027
How we write and review this site
Sources
- 42 CFR 418.202: Covered hospice services (opens in a new tab)
- 42 CFR 418.24: Election of hospice care, including the addendum (opens in a new tab)
- 42 CFR 418.56: Interdisciplinary group, care planning and coordination of services (opens in a new tab)
- Medicare.gov: Hospice care coverage (opens in a new tab)
These sources support the general information on this page. For one personās care and coverage, talk with the hospice team.
You do not have to decide alone.
Call (909) 347-7000 any time, or leave your number and someone from Beta's hospice team will call you. No decision is needed to call. Most families start with a question.
Only a hospice doctor, together with the personās own doctor, can confirm hospice eligibility. A website cannot.
- A nurse answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- You can stop hospice at any time
- You have the right to choose your hospice