Can You Switch Hospice Providers? Yes, and Here Is How

Written and reviewed by the Lily Hospice clinical team. Updated September 2026.

Yes. Medicare allows a hospice patient to transfer to a different hospice once during each benefit period without losing coverage or restarting eligibility. If the phone is not being answered, visits are not happening, or the care simply does not feel right, you do not have to stay.

When families switch

The reasons we hear most: calls at night going to an answering service instead of a nurse; a nurse who is rarely seen; medications that do not arrive; a family that feels talked at rather than listened to; or a hospice that was chosen for the family by someone else in a hurry. None of those are small. The last months are short, and the hospice’s job is to show up.

It is also fair to switch for a practical reason, such as moving to a facility the current hospice does not serve, or a family member who has had a better experience with another agency.

How a transfer works

Call the hospice you want to move to. They will explain the process, confirm they serve your address, and coordinate with the current hospice so there is no gap in care, medications or equipment. You sign a transfer form naming both hospices and the effective date. Medicare treats a transfer as a change of provider, not a new election, so your benefit periods continue and nothing has to be recertified from scratch. The new hospice does its own admission visit, brings its own team and equipment, and takes over the 24-hour phone line from the transfer date.

You do not need the current hospice’s permission, and you do not have to explain yourself, though a simple “we have decided to transfer to another hospice” is enough. The current hospice is required to cooperate with the transfer.

Before you switch

Ask the new hospice the same questions you wish you had asked the first one: who answers at night and how fast a nurse can come; how often the nurse and aide visit; their Medicare Care Compare scores; and who owns the hospice. Our checklist for choosing a hospice in metro Detroit and our directory of all 104 hospices serving Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties are built for exactly this moment.

Questions families ask

How many times can you change hospices?

Medicare allows one transfer per benefit period. Benefit periods are two 90-day periods followed by unlimited 60-day periods, so in practice most families who need to switch can.

Will switching hospices interrupt medications or equipment?

It should not. The two hospices coordinate the transfer date, and the new hospice brings its own medications and equipment before the old ones are removed.

Do we lose hospice coverage if we switch?

No. A transfer is a change of provider under the same benefit. Coverage continues without a gap.

Can a nursing facility stop us from switching?

No. The choice of hospice belongs to the patient and family. A facility can have preferred partners but cannot require one.

How do we transfer to Lily Hospice?

Call (248) 955-5100. We confirm we serve your address, coordinate with your current hospice, and set an admission visit, usually within 24 hours.

General education, not medical or benefits advice. Decisions about hospice are made with your loved one’s physician. Lily Hospice, 2125 Butterfield Dr, Suite 299, Troy, MI 48084. Medicare-certified since 2021. ACHC-accredited.

Hospice isn’t giving up. It’s showing up.