Home health or hospice: which one does Medicare cover for your situation?
Published August 2, 2026 · Last updated August 2, 2026
What Medicare covers under home health
Home health care is skilled care given where you live. Medicare Part A or Part B pays for it. You have to be homebound and need part-time or intermittent skilled care. A doctor or other provider must see you face to face before certifying that you need it. A Medicare-certified home health agency has to provide the care.
Medicare lists these as covered home health services:
- Part-time or intermittent skilled nursing care.
- Physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech-language pathology.
- Medical social services.
- Part-time home health aide care, but only alongside skilled care.
- Durable medical equipment and medical supplies for use at home.
Medicare says it does not pay for these:
- Care around the clock at your home.
- Home meal delivery.
- Homemaker services such as shopping and cleaning.
- Custodial or personal care, when that is the only care you need.
Source: Medicare.gov, Home health services, read 2026-08-02.
What Medicare covers under hospice
Hospice is comfort care for an illness that cannot be cured. Medicare Part A pays for it. Your hospice doctor and your regular doctor must certify that you are terminally ill. That means a life expectancy of six months or less. You then sign a statement choosing hospice instead of treatment meant to cure the illness.
Your hospice team builds a plan of care with you and your family. Medicare says the hospice benefit should cover what that plan needs. It does not cover treatment intended to cure the terminal illness. It does not cover drugs meant to cure it either. It does not cover room and board where you live.
Source: Medicare.gov, Hospice care, read 2026-08-02.
Side by side: the rules Medicare applies
The two benefits ask different questions about the same patient. This table puts them next to each other.
| Question | Home health | Hospice |
|---|---|---|
| Which part of Medicare pays | Part A or Part B | Part A |
| Goal of the care | Get better, hold steady or slow decline | Comfort, not cure |
| Do you have to be homebound | Yes | No |
| Who certifies you | A doctor or other provider, after a face-to-face visit | Your hospice doctor and your regular doctor |
| Prognosis required | None | Six months or less to live |
| Can you keep treatment aimed at a cure | Yes | No, not for the terminal illness |
| How long it runs | Unlimited visits while you still qualify | Two 90-day periods, then unlimited 60-day periods |
| Room and board | Not covered | Not covered |
Every row is read from the two Medicare.gov coverage pages linked above, as published on 2026-08-02.
What each one costs you
Both benefits cover their own services at no cost to you. The differences sit around the edges.
| Cost | Home health | Hospice |
|---|---|---|
| Covered services from an approved provider | Nothing | Nothing |
| Durable medical equipment | 20% of the Medicare-approved amount, after the Part B deductible | Arranged by the hospice team as part of your plan of care |
| Drugs for pain and symptom control | Not part of the home health benefit | A copayment of up to $5 for each prescription |
| Inpatient respite care | Not part of the home health benefit | Up to 5% of the Medicare-approved amount |
| Room and board where you live | Not covered | Not covered |
Cost rows come from the same two Medicare.gov coverage pages, as published on 2026-08-02. Amounts change; check the source before you rely on one.
Can you have both at the same time?
Not for the same illness. Choosing hospice replaces treatment meant to cure your terminal illness. Medicare still pays for problems that are not part of that illness. You would owe the usual deductible and coinsurance on that care. You may change your hospice provider once during each benefit period.
Source: Medicare.gov, Hospice care, read 2026-08-02.
How many providers you can choose from
We index every Medicare-certified provider CMS publishes. The counts below are read from our own database as this page loads.
| What we hold | Count |
|---|---|
| Active Medicare-certified home health agencies | 12,413 |
| Active Medicare-certified hospices | 6,463 |
| Active Medicare-certified nursing homes | 14,692 |
| Nursing homes with a published CMS overall rating | 14,560 |
| ZIP codes served by at least one home health agency | 34,842 |
Read at page-render time from the same aggregate this site serves at /api/national-averages. The counts move whenever CMS republishes.
CMS also publishes national average star ratings for home health. These are the averages across the agencies in our copy of the CMS release.
| National average, home health | Stars |
|---|---|
| CMS quality of patient care star | 3.2 out of 5 |
| HHCAHPS patient survey summary star | 4 out of 5 |
Averages of the CMS-published star ratings across agencies in our copy of the CMS release, computed when this page loads. CMS publishes the stars; we only average them.
How to check quality before you choose
Every rating on this site comes from CMS Care Compare. Nothing is rated by us alone. No provider can pay to change a number. Advertising here is a flat monthly fee and is always labeled. It never changes a rating and never changes a search position.
A missing star rating is a data gap, not a bad grade. CMS holds back ratings built on too few patients or too few surveys.
- Compare home health agencies by state
- Compare hospices by state
- How the scores work
- Where the data comes from
What we cannot tell you
This page is information, not medical advice. We cannot say which benefit is right for your family member. That call belongs to the treating doctor and the care team. Ask the hospital discharge planner to walk you through both options. Then use the ratings here to compare the providers they name.
Questions families ask
Can Medicare pay for home health and hospice at the same time?
Not for the same illness. Hospice replaces treatment meant to cure your terminal illness. Medicare still covers unrelated health problems. You pay the usual deductible and coinsurance on that other care.
Do you have to be homebound to get hospice?
No. Homebound status is a home health rule, not a hospice rule. You can get hospice at home, in an assisted living facility or in a nursing home.
What does hospice cost under Medicare?
You pay nothing for covered hospice care from a Medicare-approved provider. You pay a copayment of up to $5 for each outpatient prescription for pain and symptom control. You may pay 5% of the Medicare-approved amount for inpatient respite care.
How long can the Medicare hospice benefit last?
Two 90-day benefit periods come first. After that come an unlimited number of 60-day periods. A hospice doctor has to recertify that you are still terminally ill each time.
How many Medicare-certified home health agencies and hospices are there?
Our database holds 12,413 active Medicare-certified home health agencies and 6,463 active hospices right now. The counts are read from our copy of the CMS release when this page loads.