Questions people ask
What does hospice provide, and what does it not?
Hospice provides everything in the plan of care that is related to the terminal illness and aimed at comfort: the team's visits, medicines for symptoms, equipment, supplies and short inpatient stays. It does not provide treatment meant to cure the illness, a caregiver in the home around the clock, or care unrelated to the illness, which stays with regular Medicare. Here is the list people ask about, one by one.
Medically reviewed by Oscar Chien, MD, Medical Director, October 19, 2026
On this page (4 sections)
Does hospice provide it? The list
Yes, no or it depends, with what each answer means in practice. Every row follows the same rule: hospice covers what is in the plan of care, related to the terminal illness and aimed at comfort.
| Families ask | Answer | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| A hospital bed, wheelchair, walker or commode | Yes | Equipment in the plan of care is delivered to the home, usually within a day of admission, and picked up afterwards (42 CFR 418.202). |
| Oxygen | Yes | When it is ordered for breathlessness related to the illness, the hospice supplies the concentrator or tanks. |
| A hospice aide for bathing and personal care | Yes | Scheduled visits, usually a few times a week, set in the plan of care. Not a caregiver who stays all day. Read the hospice team. |
| 24-hour care at home | No, as a standing service | Hospice does not provide a caregiver who stays day and night. During a short symptom crisis, continuous home care can bring nursing to the bedside for 8 hours or more a day until it settles. Read 24-hour care. |
| Incontinence supplies, gloves, pads | Yes | Supplies related to the illness and in the plan of care are part of the benefit. |
| Wound care | Yes | Nursing visits and supplies for wounds related to the illness or to being bedbound. |
| Medicines for pain and other symptoms | Yes | Medicines for the terminal illness and related conditions, aimed at comfort. Read the comfort kit. |
| IV fluids | It depends | Not as routine hydration at the end of life, when fluids can add swelling and breathing trouble without adding comfort. The hospice physician may order short-term fluids for a specific comfort reason. |
| Antibiotics, by mouth or IV | It depends | Yes when they relieve a symptom, for example a painful urinary infection. Not when the aim is to cure the terminal illness or prolong life against the plan of care. The team decides case by case with you. |
| Physical or occupational therapy | Yes, for comfort and safety | Therapy that helps with transfers, positioning or safe movement is covered in the plan of care (42 CFR 418.202(h)). Therapy aimed at recovery is not. |
| Lab tests and X-rays | Rarely | Only when the result would change comfort care. Routine monitoring stops. |
| Dialysis | It depends | If kidney failure is the terminal illness, dialysis stops when hospice begins. If it is unrelated to the terminal illness, it can continue under regular Medicare, arranged with the hospice. Read hospice and kidney failure. |
| Chemotherapy or radiation | Not to cure | Treatment meant to cure or control the terminal illness is not covered. Radiation to relieve pain from a tumor is sometimes arranged for comfort; ask the team. |
| Blood transfusions | Rarely | Case by case, when a transfusion would relieve a symptom. Not as ongoing treatment. |
| A pacemaker or an ICD (defibrillator) | The pacemaker usually stays on | An ICD's shock function can be turned off so it does not shock a person who is dying. The hospice and the cardiology team arrange it with the person's consent (Heart Rhythm Society consensus statement). |
General information, not a benefits determination. What is covered for one person is decided in the plan of care, which the hospice team writes with the person and family and reviews at least every 15 days (42 CFR 418.56).
Who pays for the things hospice does not provide?
Care for conditions unrelated to the terminal illness stays with regular Medicare, with its usual deductibles and coinsurance. Room and board, wherever the person lives, is paid by the person or family, long-term care insurance, or Medi-Cal for eligible nursing facility residents. A hired caregiver in the home is private pay, or through IHSS for people who qualify. Read paying for care.
When you elect hospice, the hospice must tell you in writing which items, services and drugs it has decided are unrelated to the terminal illness and will not cover, if you ask for that list (the election statement addendum, 42 CFR 418.24). Ask for it.
Related questions
Does hospice provide a caregiver?
No. Hospice brings visits from the nurse, aide, social worker and chaplain, and a nurse by phone 24 hours a day. The daily care between visits is done by family, by hired caregivers, or by the staff of the facility where the person lives.
Can I ask for something that is not on this list?
Yes. The team decides by the plan of care and tells you why. If you disagree, you can ask for the decision in writing and raise it with the hospice's administrator or with Medicare.
Does hospice take away medicines?
It reviews them and, with you, stops the ones that no longer help or that add side effects, such as some cholesterol or blood pressure medicines. Nothing is stopped without a conversation, and medicines for comfort are added.
Can I keep my own doctor on hospice?
Yes. Your doctor can stay on as the attending physician and work with the hospice physician. Visits to that doctor for the terminal illness are billed to Medicare in the usual way.
What if the person has Medi-Cal, not Medicare?
Medi-Cal's hospice benefit covers the same kinds of care. Read Medi-Cal and hospice.
Read more
What hospice provides, 24-hour care, the comfort kit and paying for care.
About this page
- Written by
- Beta Hospice care team
- Medically reviewed by
- Oscar Chien, MD, Medical Director
- Last reviewed
- October 19, 2026
- Next review
- April 19, 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 on non-covered items (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)
- Heart Rhythm Society: 2010 expert consensus statement on the management of cardiovascular implantable electronic devices in patients nearing end of life or requesting withdrawal of therapy (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 (877) 258-7129 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