Your rights in hospice
Your rights as a hospice patient.
Medicare guarantees every hospice patient these rights, and the hospice has to explain them, out loud and in writing, at the first assessment visit, before care starts.1 Your admission packet lists your rights and responsibilities in full. Here they are in plain words.
Your rights
What Medicare guarantees you.
- To have your rights explainedOut loud and in writing, in a language and a way you understand, along with the hospice’s policy on advance directives. You sign to show you received the notice.1
- Relief from pain and symptomsTo receive effective pain management and symptom control for the conditions related to your terminal illness.1
- A say in your careTo be involved in developing your hospice plan of care, and to refuse any care or treatment.1
- Your doctorTo choose your attending physician.1
- Respect and safetyTo have your person and your belongings treated with respect, and to be free from mistreatment, neglect, verbal, mental, sexual or physical abuse, and having your property taken.1
- PrivacyTo have your clinical record kept confidential.1
- Clear informationTo be told which services the hospice benefit covers, and the scope of the hospice’s services and their limits.1
- Speaking up safelyTo voice grievances about your care or a lack of respect, and to be free from discrimination or reprisal for using your rights.1
- Stopping or changing hospiceYou can stop hospice at any time and come back later if you’re eligible, and you can change hospice providers once in each benefit period.2
If a court has found that you can’t make your own decisions, the person appointed under state law exercises your rights. If not, a legal representative you’ve designated can exercise them, as state law allows.1
What the hospice has to do
If anyone reports mistreatment, neglect, abuse or a patient’s property being taken, the hospice has to tell the administrator right away, investigate right away and act to prevent more harm, and report verified violations to the state within 5 working days.1
If something isn’t right
Who to call, in order.
- Your nurse or your hospice team. Most problems get fixed fastest by the people already caring for you.
- HealthView, any hour. Ask for the administrator. (626) 505-1000
- The California Department of Public Health, which licenses agencies and hospices and investigates complaints. Call the district office for your county, or file a complaint online.3
- Los Angeles County (800) 228-1019
- Orange County (800) 228-5234
- Riverside County (888) 354-9203
- San Bernardino County (800) 344-2896
- Livanta, Medicare’s quality reviewer for California, for a complaint about the quality of care Medicare paid for, or a fast appeal.4 (877) 588-1123
- 1-800-MEDICARE, for questions about coverage, notices and appeals.2 1-800-633-4227
Your records
You have the right to see your health records and get a copy.
Sources
Sources 4 references
- 42 CFR 418.52, “Condition of participation: Patient’s rights.” Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. law.cornell.edu (opens in a new tab)
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, “Medicare Hospice Benefits,” Product No. 02154, March 2026. medicare.gov (opens in a new tab)
- California Department of Public Health, Licensing and Certification, “Contact Us,” district office numbers. cdph.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, contact directory, “Livanta, LLC,” the Beneficiary and Family Centered Care Quality Improvement Organization for California. cms.gov (opens in a new tab)