How to choose a hospice

A simple way to compare hospices

1. Step 1

   Make a short list

   Ask the doctor, hospital case manager, friends and your faith community for names. Add any hospice you have heard of that serves your city. Two or three is enough.

2. Step 2

   Verify each one

   Check the state license and Medicare certification yourself. It takes a few minutes. Our guide on how to verify a hospice walks through the California and Medicare lookups.

3. Step 3

   Look at Care Compare

   Read what Medicare publishes about each hospice, and know its limits. See the section below.

4. Step 4

   Call and ask the same questions

   Use the list on this page. Notice how the call feels. Are answers clear? Does anyone rush you?

5. Step 5

   Decide, and know you can change

   Pick the hospice whose answers fit your situation. Nothing about the choice is permanent.

Questions to ask any hospice

Print this list and use it with every hospice you call, including us. Good hospices welcome these questions.

• Are you licensed by the California Department of Public Health and certified by Medicare? What is your Medicare provider number so I can look you up?
• Do you serve my city, and how far away is your office and your on-call nurse?
• Who answers the phone at 2 am: a hospice nurse or an answering service? If I need a visit at night, who comes?
• Who will be on our team, and will we see the same nurse most of the time?
• How often does the team usually visit, and how does that change as needs change?
• How soon after we say yes can care begin, and when do equipment and medicines arrive?
• If symptoms get out of control, what can you do at home, and where do you provide short-term inpatient care?
• Do you offer respite care so the caregiver can rest? Where?
• Can we keep our own doctor involved?
• Do you have experience with this illness? What about this facility, if the person lives in one?
• What will we pay for, if anything? What is not covered?
• What languages does your staff speak?
• What grief support do you offer the family afterward, and for how long?
• Who owns the hospice, and how long has it been serving this area?
• How do I make a complaint, and what happens if we want to change hospices?

How to use Medicare Care Compare honestly

Care Compare is Medicare's public lookup tool at medicare.gov/care-compare. Search for hospices by ZIP code or name. It is the most reliable public source, and it has real limits.

For-profit and nonprofit hospices

Hospices can be for-profit companies, nonprofit organizations or government programs. In California most are for-profit, and many are small. Care Compare lists the ownership type of each one.

All Medicare-certified hospices must follow the same federal rules, provide the same required services and are paid by Medicare under the same rate system. Ownership type alone does not tell you how good the care will be. There are strong and weak hospices of every type. Ask who owns the hospice, how long it has served your area and who the medical director is, and weigh the answers along with everything else.

Red flags

California has seen serious hospice fraud. The FBI, the California Attorney General and Medicare have all warned consumers. Be careful if anyone:

• Offers gifts, cash, groceries, gift cards or household help in exchange for signing up for hospice
• Comes to your door, calls or approaches you in a store or clinic when you did not ask for information
• Asks for your Medicare number before you have decided anything, or as part of a survey or giveaway
• Says hospice is a home helper program or an extra benefit, and does not explain that it is for people with a terminal illness
• Pushes you to sign papers the same day, or will not leave copies of what you signed
• Does not explain that choosing hospice changes how Medicare pays for treatment of the terminal illness
• Promises results, a set number of visits, or things that sound too good to be true

Common questions