Does Medicare pay for hospice?

Yes. If you have Medicare Part A and a doctor certifies a terminal illness, Medicare covers hospice care with $0 for most services. You may pay a small copay -- up to $5 per prescription for comfort drugs and 5% for short inpatient respite stays.

What's the difference between hospice and palliative care?

Both focus on comfort. Palliative care is for anyone with a serious illness, at any stage, and can happen alongside treatment meant to cure. Hospice is comfort care for a terminal illness when curative treatment has stopped and the prognosis is about six months or less.

Who qualifies for hospice?

A person whose hospice doctor and regular doctor certify is terminally ill, with a life expectancy of about six months or less, and who chooses comfort care over treatment aimed at a cure. Coverage renews as long as a doctor recertifies the illness.

Does choosing hospice mean giving up?

No. Hospice is a change in the goal of care -- from cure to comfort and quality of life. It brings a whole team (nurse, aide, doctor, social worker, chaplain) to manage pain and support the family, most often right at home.

Can you leave hospice if you get better or change your mind?

Yes. You can stop hospice at any time and return to regular Medicare coverage, and you can re-elect hospice later if you become eligible again.

Where does hospice care happen?

Usually wherever the person lives -- their own home, a family member's home, an assisted living facility, or a nursing home. Local hospices also run hospice houses for short inpatient stays when symptoms need closer care.

Home › Care at home › Hospice & palliative care

Hospice and palliative care: comfort-focused help

When the goal shifts from cure to comfort, hospice brings a whole team to you -- and Medicare covers nearly all of it. Here's the plain difference between hospice and palliative care, what Medicare pays, and the local nonprofit hospices that serve all three counties.

Last reviewed: August 10, 2026

The short version:

Hospice is comfort care for a terminal illness (about six months or less), focused on quality of life, not a cure.
Medicare pays almost all of it. Most hospice services cost $0, with only tiny copays (up to $5 per comfort drug, 5% for short respite stays).
Palliative care is different. It eases symptoms for any serious illness, at any stage, and can run alongside treatment meant to cure.
You're in control. You can start hospice, pause it, or leave and return -- it's your choice.
Local nonprofit hospices serve all three counties, mostly right in your own home.

Common questions

Does Medicare pay for hospice?: Yes. With Medicare Part A and a doctor's certification of a terminal illness, Medicare covers hospice with $0 for most services. You may pay up to $5 per comfort prescription and 5% for short inpatient respite.
What's the difference between hospice and palliative care?: Both focus on comfort. Palliative care is for anyone with a serious illness, at any stage, and can happen alongside curative treatment. Hospice is comfort care once curative treatment has stopped and the prognosis is about six months or less.
Who qualifies for hospice?: Someone two doctors certify is terminally ill, with about six months or less to live, who chooses comfort care over a cure. Coverage keeps renewing as long as a doctor recertifies.
Does choosing hospice mean giving up?: No. It changes the goal from cure to comfort, and brings a full team to manage pain and support the family, usually at home.
Can you leave hospice?: Yes, any time -- you return to regular Medicare, and can choose hospice again later if you qualify.
Where does hospice happen?: Usually where the person lives -- home, a relative's home, assisted living, or a nursing home. Local hospices also have hospice houses for short inpatient stays.

What Medicare's hospice benefit covers

Under Medicare, a hospice team manages care related to the illness at no cost to most families. That includes nurses, a hospice aide, the hospice doctor, medicines for comfort, medical equipment and supplies, a social worker, a chaplain, short-term respite for the caregiver, and grief support for the family afterward. You keep regular Medicare for anything unrelated to the terminal illness.

Coverage runs in two 90-day periods, then unlimited 60-day periods, each recertified by a hospice doctor. There's no set limit as long as the person still qualifies.

Hospice vs. palliative care, plainly

	Palliative care	Hospice care
Who it's for	Anyone with a serious illness, any stage	A terminal illness, about 6 months or less
Alongside a cure?	Yes -- can run with curative treatment	No -- comfort care instead of a cure
Main goal	Ease symptoms and stress	Comfort and quality of life at the end

How to start

Ask the doctor for a hospice or palliative-care referral, or call a hospice directly -- you don't have to wait for the doctor to bring it up. The hospice will confirm eligibility and set up care, often within a day or two. It's common to wish you'd called sooner.

Local nonprofit hospices

These serve the Nature Coast. Numbers are from each organization's own site (August 2026).

Hospice	Serves	Phone
HPH Hospice (Chapters Health) -- nonprofit since 1982	Pasco, Hernando & Citrus	866-940-0962
Gulfside Healthcare Services -- nonprofit	Pasco (and nearby)	800-561-4883

To compare every hospice in your area, use Medicare's Care Compare tool, or ask the Elder Helpline for a referral.

Sources

Medicare -- Hospice care coverage. https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/hospice-care
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services -- Hospice. https://www.cms.gov/medicare/payment/fee-for-service-providers/hospice
Medicare -- Care Compare (find & compare hospices). https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/
HPH Hospice / Chapters Health System (Pasco, Hernando, Citrus). https://www.chaptershealth.org/care-support/hospice-care/hph-hospice/
Gulfside Healthcare Services (Pasco). https://www.gulfside.org/

Please read: Nature Coast Senior Home is an independent guide, not a medical provider or hospice, and this is general information, not medical advice. Coverage rules and provider details change -- confirm with Medicare, the hospice, and your doctor. We list local nonprofits for your convenience; this is not an endorsement. We don't collect or sell your information.