Guide
How hospice works
Hospice is a kind of care, not a place you have to go. It focuses on comfort, dignity, and support when a serious illness is no longer being treated with the hope of a cure.
A hospice team usually includes nurses, aides, a doctor who works with the person’s own physician, a social worker, and someone who can offer spiritual care if that is welcome. Grief support for the family is commonly part of the same program. The details vary by agency; the license list does not describe every service a particular team provides.
Where the care happens
Most visits happen at home, or in a nursing or assisted living community. That is ordinary hospice care, and it is the subject of our page on hospice care at home. Some agencies also have an inpatient setting for short stays when symptoms are difficult to manage, or when a caregiver needs a brief rest.
Who it is for, in general terms
Under the Medicare hospice benefit, a person is typically eligible when two physicians (or a physician and a hospice medical director) certify that, if the illness runs its expected course, life expectancy is six months or less, and the person chooses hospice care. That is a clinical judgment, not a stopwatch. People can live longer than six months and remain on hospice if they are recertified. This is a general sketch; only a clinician and the official Medicare rules can say whether someone qualifies.
Choosing, and changing your mind
Electing hospice is a decision. In Medicare, it usually means choosing comfort care for the terminal illness instead of treatment meant to cure that illness. Care for unrelated conditions can still be covered in the usual way. A person can stop hospice (often called revocation) and return to other coverage if their goals change. Ask the agency and confirm with Medicare or the insurer; we do not give medical or coverage advice.
What this directory can and cannot tell you
We can show that an agency is on the Texas license roster, the status of that license, whether a Medicare number is listed, and — when CMS data joins to that number — the measures CMS publishes. We cannot tell you which agency is “best,” whether they have a bed today, or whether they offer a separate palliative program. For that last question, see hospice and palliative care.
When you are ready, you can search the directory, read about paying for hospice, or take a printable list of questions.