Hospice, Palliative Care & Advance Planning

Medicare Part A covers hospice when a doctor certifies a life expectancy of 6 months or less and your parent chooses comfort care. Hospice services are free apart from up to $5 per prescription and 5% for respite care, and you can change hospice providers once per benefit period.

When to use it: Use when doctors suggest hospice or treatments are no longer helping.

Medicare hospice does not pay room and board in a nursing home or assisted living, so those bills continue.

24/7, except some federal holidays

Medicare's tool to find hospice agencies serving your parent's area and compare quality measures and family survey results.

When to use it: Use when choosing a hospice agency so you are not just taking the first name offered.

Your parent can choose any Medicare-approved hospice, including one that serves their facility.

24/7, except some federal holidays

Free plain-language guidance on hospice, palliative care, caregiving, advance directives and grief from the national hospice and home care association.

When to use it: Use when you are learning what hospice or palliative care involves and how to pick a provider.

Guidance on choosing and finding a hospice, including what a hospice team should include and the 24/7 phone line families should expect.

When to use it: Use when comparing hospice agencies.

A searchable directory of more than 10,000 hospice, home health, home care, Medicaid home and community-based and palliative care agencies. This is the successor to the old NHPCO hospice locator.

When to use it: Use to build a list of hospice or home care agencies near your parent, then check them on Care Compare.

It is run by a trade association, so it may not list every agency; confirm Medicare certification on Care Compare.

Explains palliative care, which is extra support for pain, symptoms and stress that can be given alongside treatment at any stage of serious illness, and has a directory of palliative care providers by location plus a short quiz.

When to use it: Use when your parent has a serious illness but is not ready for hospice.

Free starter guides that help families talk about wishes for end-of-life care, choose a health care proxy, and a special guide for caregivers of people with Alzheimer's and other dementias. Available in multiple languages.

When to use it: Use before a crisis, or now, to learn what matters most to your parent.

POLST is a portable medical order signed with a clinician that tells emergency and medical teams what treatment a seriously ill or frail person wants, such as CPR or hospitalization. States use different names (MOLST, POST, MOST); the map shows your state's form.

When to use it: Use when your parent is seriously ill or very frail and you want their wishes to be followed by EMS and hospitals.

A POLST is for people with serious illness or frailty and does not replace an advance directive naming a health care agent.