How Much Does Hospice Cost?
This is a painful time to be reading about prices, and you should not have to fight paperwork to get a straight answer.
Sources: CMS Transmittal 13976, FY 2027 hospice payment rates, effective October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027; Medicare.gov hospice coverage page; CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025, released March 2026; accessed October 2026.
What Medicare pays, and what it does not
This page covers dollars only, and it answers how much does hospice cost, not who qualifies. For eligibility and benefit rules, read does medicare cover hospice.
Medicare pays the hospice provider directly, at a fixed daily rate called a per diem, a fixed payment for each day of care. The family owes nothing for the covered hospice services themselves, and there is no deductible for hospice services, a deductible being an amount you must pay before coverage starts.
The family side has only two charges. The first is a copayment, a fixed amount you pay for a service, of up to $5 per prescription for drugs that control pain and other symptoms. The second is coinsurance, a percentage share of an approved amount, of 5% of the Medicare approved amount for inpatient respite care, a short planned facility stay that gives a family caregiver a break. If you are weighing hospice against other comfort care, read palliative care vs hospice.
The four levels of care, priced per day
Medicare pays hospice at four levels of care, and the daily rate depends on which level your parent receives on a given day. The rates below are the CMS FY 2027 national base rates, effective October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, for hospices that submit the required quality data. They are base rates before the wage index, a local wage adjustment, so a local payment can differ. These are payments to the provider, not bills to the family.
| Level of care | What it means | Medicare payment per day |
|---|---|---|
| Routine home care, days 1 to 60 | Regular hospice visits at home or in a facility | $236.33 |
| Routine home care, day 61 onward | The same regular visits after day 60 | $186.33 |
| Continuous home care | Nursing care for most of a day during a short crisis | $1,726.16 for a full day |
| Inpatient respite care | A short planned facility stay so a caregiver can rest | $545.93 |
| General inpatient care | A facility stay for symptoms that cannot be managed at home | $1,231.51 |
Routine home care is the level most hospice days fall under. Medicare pays $236.33 per day for days 1 to 60, then $186.33 per day from day 61 onward. The step down after day 60 changes the provider payment, not what the family owes. Continuous home care costs far more because a nurse is present for most of the day, and general inpatient care pays for a facility bed during a symptom crisis.
The monthly figure
How much does hospice cost per month? For the family, a month of hospice services under Medicare costs nothing beyond the two small charges, no matter how many days of care fall in that month. For the provider, a month of routine home care at the CMS FY 2027 national base rates works out to $7,089.90 for a 30 day month at the early tier (236.33 times 30) and $5,589.90 for a 30 day month at the later tier (186.33 times 30).
A month that mixes levels pays Medicare more, but still costs the family the same for services. A few days of continuous home care at $1,726.16 per full day, or of general inpatient care at $1,231.51 per day, raise the provider payment sharply. The family still owes nothing for those days, except respite coinsurance when the level is inpatient respite care. When a program talks about monthly cost, ask which total it means.
Hospice at home
How much does home hospice cost the family? Under Medicare, the same as hospice anywhere else for services: nothing beyond the drug copayments and any respite coinsurance. Home hospice means the hospice team comes to your parent, with scheduled nurse visits, aide help, equipment such as a hospital bed, and medicines for symptom control, all paid through the daily rate.
Your parent keeps paying the household costs they already paid before hospice, rent or mortgage, utilities, and food, because those are living costs, not hospice charges. Home hospice does not mean a nurse in the house all day. Routine home care means scheduled visits, and gaps are covered by family or by paid help the family arranges. For what paid home help costs on its own, read home care costs, and for planned caregiver breaks, read respite care cost.
The room and board gap
How much does hospice room and board cost is the question that catches families by surprise, because Medicare does not pay it. Room and board, the facility charge for a room, meals, and daily living help, stays with the resident when hospice happens inside a facility, except during general inpatient care or inpatient respite care, when Medicare pays the facility stay itself.
To size that gap, use the CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025 median for assisted living, released March 2026, of $6,200 per month, which works out to $74,400 for a full year (6,200 times 12). That median is a comparison anchor for the facility charge, not a hospice price and not a quote for any one community. For the full assisted living price picture, read how much does assisted living cost. If money is short, read paying for care before the bill grows.
Medicaid changes this picture for people who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid, a group called dual eligible, a term for people who qualify for both programs. For those residents in a nursing home, Medicaid can pay room and board during hospice, which closes the main gap in the Medicare benefit. Start that paperwork early, and ask the facility business office to confirm the split in writing.
Without insurance
How much does hospice cost without insurance has no single honest answer, and this page will not invent one. Private pay hospice rates are set by each provider, vary by region and level of care, and are not published in the CMS payment tables, which show what Medicare pays, not what a private payer is charged.
Use the Medicare rates as a scale marker while you shop, with the warning attached. A month of routine home care at the CMS FY 2027 national base rates is $7,089.90 at the early tier or $5,589.90 at the later tier, but those are Medicare payments to a provider, not a private quote. Ask each provider for its private pay rate in writing, with the level of care it covers and whether drugs and equipment are inside that rate. Ask each provider to check Medicare eligibility before you sign any private pay agreement.
Frequently asked questions
Does hospice pay for assisted living?
No. Hospice pays for its own services, nurse visits, symptom control drugs, equipment, and counseling, and it does not pay the assisted living facility for the room, meals, and daily living help. The facility charge continues during hospice. Before electing hospice in assisted living, ask the facility for its monthly room charge in writing, and check whether a Medicaid program or long term care policy your parent holds covers the facility side.
Does hospice cover care around the clock at home?
Not as a standing service. Continuous home care, the level with nursing present for most of a day, is approved only for a short crisis when symptoms cannot be controlled with scheduled visits, and it ends when the crisis passes. Ask the hospice team at enrollment how a crisis is declared, who decides it, and how fast continuous care can start.
What do medicines cost on hospice?
Medicines for pain and symptom control carry a copayment of up to $5 per prescription, and that is the only drug charge under the hospice benefit. Drugs for conditions unrelated to the terminal illness sit outside hospice and are billed under the usual Medicare rules for those conditions. Ask the hospice nurse for a written list that marks each of your parent's medicines as inside hospice or outside it.
Does a Medicare Advantage plan change what hospice costs?
No for hospice itself. When your parent elects hospice, Original Medicare, the federal program itself rather than a private plan, pays for hospice services, even if your parent holds a Medicare Advantage plan. The Advantage plan keeps covering care unrelated to the terminal illness, and your parent keeps paying any plan premium, a premium being a regular payment to keep coverage active. Tell both the Advantage plan and the hospice program about the election.
Your next step is to call one hospice program and ask, in writing, for the visit schedule, the aide hours, the two family charges, and who pays room and board. Take those answers to your parent's doctor, and read does medicare cover hospice if the rules side still needs answering.