A parent on hospice keeps the right to stop it. That right is real, and so is what it changes. Before anyone signs the revocation form, ask the questions below. The form ends a set of services on a set day, and most families have never read the terms that apply to that day.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

What revoking means

Medicare allows a patient to revoke the hospice benefit at any time. Revocation is generally made in writing, usually on the hospice's own form. Once it takes effect, the hospice benefit ends, and the coverage that applies is the regular Medicare coverage that applied before hospice. Ask the hospice to explain in plain words what changes on the day it takes effect.

Ask what stops and what continues

Ask which visits end, which equipment is picked up, and which supplies stop arriving. Ask whether the nurse, aide, chaplain, social worker, and volunteer visits end that day or continue for a time. Ask who the attending doctor will be after revocation and how the family reaches that person. Ask whether a pickup is scheduled for equipment already in the home.

Ask whether your parent could later re-elect hospice and under what conditions. The answer depends on the illness and on eligibility at that time, so ask the hospice and check with the doctor. Do not assume the door stays open just because the form does not say it is closed.

Ask the doctor what the change is for

Ask the doctor and the hospice what they expect the revocation to change in your parent's care, and what they expect to stay the same. This is a question for the clinicians, not one for the family to answer alone. If your parent is still deciding, ask for a conversation with both before the form is signed, and include your parent in it if your parent is able to take part.

Keep the record

Keep a copy of the signed revocation, a written list of what ended and when, and the name of the person who explained it. If anything on the list differs from what you were told, call the hospice before the day it takes effect. The complaint route is printed in the hospice packet, and the Sources page lists the federal rules that govern it.