What Families Should Ask Before Choosing a Hospice Provider

The most important questions to ask a hospice provider cover six things: whether the hospice is Medicare-certified and how its quality ratings look, how often the team will visit, what happens when you call at night, what you'll pay, how the team supports the family (including after a death), and whether you can switch if it isn't working. The full list is below, along with what a good answer sounds like.

You get to choose. A doctor, hospital or nursing home may recommend a hospice, but your family can pick any Medicare-certified hospice that serves your area. And it helps to ask early. In 2024, the median hospice stay was just 19 days, and more than a quarter of patients enrolled only in their last week of life, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). Many families end up choosing in a hospital hallway with a discharge planner waiting. Reading this list now gives you more room to choose well.

Before You Call: Look the Hospice Up on Medicare Care Compare

Medicare runs a free tool called Care Compare that lists every Medicare-certified hospice. Search by ZIP code and look for the Family caregiver survey rating. That one-to-five-star score comes from a national survey sent to family members after their loved one died in hospice care. It asks whether the team communicated well, showed up on time, treated the patient with respect, and helped with pain.

Some useful numbers to compare against: at the median hospice nationwide, 85% of family caregivers said they would definitely recommend the hospice, and about 75% gave top marks for help with pain and symptoms, according to MedPAC's March 2026 report.

A missing star rating isn't automatically a bad sign. Medicare explains that small or newer hospices may not have enough completed surveys to be rated. If you see no rating, ask the hospice why.

Questions About Certification and Quality

Is your hospice Medicare-certified and licensed in our state?

This should be a quick yes. Medicare certification is what lets your loved one use the Medicare hospice benefit. Texas and New Mexico each license hospices separately, so a provider serving both El Paso and Las Cruces should hold both.

Are you accredited?

Accreditation is voluntary. It means an outside organization, such as the Community Health Accreditation Partner (CHAP), The Joint Commission or ACHC, has reviewed the hospice against national standards on top of what the state requires.

What are your Care Compare scores, and what are you working on?

A good hospice knows its own numbers and will talk about its lowest score as easily as its highest. If the person on the phone doesn't know what Care Compare is, that tells you something.

Questions About the Care Team and Visits

Who will be on my loved one's care team?

Medicare requires every hospice to provide care through a team that includes a physician, a registered nurse, a social worker and a spiritual or pastoral counselor. Most also include hospice aides for bathing and personal care, trained volunteers and bereavement staff. Ask how the team shares information so you aren't repeating the same story to five people.

How often will the nurse and hospice aide visit?

This is one of the most useful questions you can ask, and many families don't think to. For patients receiving routine home care, hospices made an average of 3.9 in-person visits per week in 2024: about 1.8 nurse visits, 1.9 aide visits and a social worker visit every few weeks, according to MedPAC. Your loved one's schedule should be built around their needs, so it may be more or less than that. What you want to hear is a specific plan and a promise that visits increase as needs change.

Will we usually see the same nurse?

Continuity matters at the end of life. A nurse who has seen your mother every week will notice changes a stranger would miss. Ask how the hospice assigns nurses and what happens on weekends.

How much experience do you have with my loved one's illness?

Dementia, heart failure, COPD, cancer and ALS each follow a different path near the end. Ask how many patients with that diagnosis the team cares for, and whether the nurses have specific training for it.

Questions to Ask About After-Hours and Crisis Care

These are the questions families most often wish they had asked. They're also good questions to ask a hospice nurse directly during the first visit.

What happens if we call at 2 a.m.?

Hospices must offer support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Ask who actually answers: a nurse, or an answering service that relays a message? How quickly does a nurse call back? Will someone come to the house at night if your loved one is in pain or struggling to breathe?

Do you provide all four levels of hospice care?

Medicare defines four levels of hospice care: routine home care, continuous home care during a crisis, general inpatient care when symptoms can't be managed at home, and inpatient respite care so a caregiver can rest. Every Medicare hospice is required to be able to provide all four. Ask where your loved one would go for inpatient care and how the hospice decides when a crisis calls for nurses to stay in the home.

How soon can care start?

When a doctor has already recommended hospice, waiting several days can feel like forever. Ask how quickly a nurse can do the first visit and when equipment like a hospital bed or oxygen will arrive.

Questions About Medicare, Insurance and Cost

What will our family have to pay?

For most families, the answer is close to nothing. Medicare Part A covers hospice care from a Medicare-certified provider. There may be a copay of up to $5 for prescriptions for pain and symptoms, and inpatient respite care can cost up to 5% of the Medicare-approved amount. One cost that catches families off guard: Medicare doesn't pay room and board in a nursing home or assisted living community.

My loved one has a Medicare Advantage plan. Does that change anything?

Once someone elects hospice, Original Medicare generally pays the hospice, even if they have a Medicare Advantage plan. The plan can still cover care that isn't related to the hospice diagnosis. A good hospice will walk you through this.

Which medications, supplies and equipment do you cover?

Hospice covers medications, supplies and equipment related to the terminal diagnosis. Ask for a clear explanation of what's covered and what isn't, especially if your loved one takes a long list of medications today.

Do you accept VA benefits, TRICARE or private insurance?

If your loved one isn't on Medicare, or has more than one kind of coverage, ask the hospice to review it with you before care starts.

Questions About Support for the Family

Will you teach us how to care for our loved one at home?

Family members do most of the hands-on caregiving between visits. You should leave the first week knowing how to reposition someone in bed, give medications and recognize signs that call for a phone call. On the national caregiver survey, training families scored lower than most other measures, with about 76% of caregivers at the median hospice giving it top marks. Ask how the team will teach you.

What if I need a break?

Ask about respite care and whether volunteers can sit with your loved one so you can run errands or sleep. Caregiver exhaustion is real, and a good hospice plans for it. Our family and caregiver support resources are a good place to start.

What grief support do you offer, and for how long?

Medicare requires hospices to offer bereavement support to families. Ask what that looks like in practice (phone calls, support groups, one-on-one counseling) and how long it lasts after a death.

Can our faith and traditions be part of care?

A hospice chaplain should support your family's beliefs, not replace them. Ask whether the team can coordinate with your own priest, pastor or faith leader.

Questions About Language and Culture

Can we talk with the team in Spanish?

In El Paso and Doña Ana County, this question matters. About two-thirds of El Paso County residents speak a language other than English at home. End-of-life conversations are hard enough without a language barrier. Ask whether nurses and social workers speak Spanish, and whether consent forms and care instructions come in Spanish.

This isn't a small detail. Nationally, about 40% of Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries who died in 2024 used hospice, compared with about 53% of all beneficiaries, according to MedPAC. Researchers point to gaps in access to information as one possible reason. A hospice that explains things clearly in your family's language helps close that gap.

Questions for Veterans and Their Families

Are you a We Honor Veterans partner, and at what level?

We Honor Veterans is a national program created by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Partners are recognized at levels one through five, and Level 5 is the highest. Ask how the team recognizes military service, whether staff are trained to notice service-related needs like PTSD, and whether they can help the family apply for VA benefits. Learn more on our veteran healthcare page.

Can You Change Hospice Providers?

Yes. Choosing a hospice isn't a lifetime contract. Under Medicare, you can change hospice providers once during each benefit period by signing a statement that names the new hospice and the date of the change. You can also stop hospice at any time, for example if your loved one's health improves or they decide to try a new treatment. They can return to hospice later if they qualify.

Red Flags to Watch For

Most hospices are run by people who chose this work because they care. But hospice fraud is a real problem, and federal agencies have been warning families about it. In June 2026, the FBI issued a public warning about scammers who go door to door offering free house cleaning or meals, as long as the person signs up with a specific hospice. Texas is one of four states where Medicare added extra oversight of new hospices after rapid growth in the number of providers.

Be cautious if:

• Someone offers gifts, groceries, cash or free housekeeping in exchange for a Medicare number or a signature. Medicare warns never to accept perks for signing up.
• A hospice representative shows up uninvited, calls or texts out of the blue.
• No doctor has talked with your loved one about prognosis. Only a doctor can certify that someone qualifies for hospice.
• You're pressured to sign today or nobody explains what choosing hospice means for other treatment.
• You can't get a straight answer about visit schedules or who answers the phone at night.

If something feels off, call 1-800-MEDICARE.

How Tender Care Answers These Questions in El Paso and Las Cruces

We'd encourage you to ask us every question on this list. Here's a quick look at some of our answers.

Tender Care has served El Paso, Las Cruces and the surrounding communities of West Texas and Southern New Mexico since 2006, nearly two decades. We're accredited by the Community Health Accreditation Partner (CHAP). Our home health agency holds a CMS Five-Star Quality Rating and was named one of Newsweek's America's Best Home Health Agencies for 2026.

We're the only Level 5 We Honor Veterans partner in El Paso. For veterans in our hospice care, we can hold a pinning ceremony at home with family and friends, and our social workers help families access VA benefits.

Our team includes a hospice medical director, nurses, hospice aides, social workers, a chaplain and volunteers, all working from one care plan. Bilingual, Spanish-speaking staff are available in both El Paso and Las Cruces. A nurse is on call 24/7. Once the doctor's order is in place, care usually starts within three days, and sometimes the same day. We offer grief support to families for up to 13 months after a death.

And because Tender Care also provides palliative care, home health and primary care at home, your loved one can keep the same trusted provider if their needs change.

You Don't Have to Make This Choice Alone

Choosing a hospice is one of the hardest decisions a family makes, and you deserve straight answers. Call or text us with your questions, even if you're just starting to think about hospice. Asking doesn't commit you to anything.

El Paso: (915) 581-3345 Las Cruces: (575) 522-3076

Or contact us online, and our care team will get back to you.