Guide
Paying for hospice
Many people who use hospice in the United States do so through the Medicare hospice benefit. Medicaid and some private plans also cover hospice. The notes below are general. Confirm current rules with Medicare, Texas Medicaid, or the insurer, and with the agency itself.
The Medicare hospice benefit
Hospice is a defined benefit under Medicare Part A for people who meet the eligibility rules and elect hospice care. Official consumer information is on Medicare’s hospice coverage page. In broad terms, the benefit is meant to cover hospice nursing and aide visits, medical equipment and supplies related to the terminal illness, medicines for pain and symptom management related to that illness, social work and counseling, short-term inpatient care when medically necessary, and short-term respite care.
Medicare may still ask for a small amount toward some outpatient drugs and toward inpatient respite care. Those amounts can change. We do not publish a dollar figure here. Check the current Medicare page or call 1-800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227).
The Medicare hospice benefit generally does not pay the room-and-board charge of a nursing home or assisted living community, except in limited inpatient or respite situations that Medicare defines. Families are often surprised by this. Ask the facility and the hospice, in writing if you can, who will bill for what.
Medicaid and other coverage
Texas Medicaid can cover hospice for people who qualify; the rules and the paperwork are not the same as Medicare’s. People who have both Medicare and Medicaid may have a different mix of coverage. A private insurer or a Medicare Advantage plan may also have a hospice benefit, with its own network and prior-authorization rules. Veterans and people treated in VA facilities sometimes have additional options through the VA. None of those paths can be verified from the license roster, so this site does not mark agencies as “accepting Medicaid” or “in a particular plan.”
What we do not do
HospiceLookup does not bill anyone, sell insurance, or estimate a family’s out-of-pocket cost. If a number matters to a decision, take it from an official source or from a written explanation by the agency or plan. For how the care itself is organized, see how hospice works.