Yes — and it’s more common, and more straightforward, than most families realize.
Here’s the short answer families are usually surprised to hear: yes, you can switch hospice providers in Michigan, and doing so doesn’t cost you your Medicare hospice coverage, doesn’t create a gap in care, and doesn’t require anyone’s permission but your own.
A lot of families don’t know this. Once they’ve signed on with a hospice, they assume they’re locked in — that changing providers would mean starting the eligibility process over, or losing benefits, or somehow signaling that they’ve done something wrong. None of that is true. The right to change hospice providers is written into the Medicare Hospice Benefit, and it exists precisely because not every hospice is the right fit for every family.
This guide walks through how the switch actually works, when it’s worth considering, what to watch out for, and how to make the transition without disrupting your loved one’s care.
Your Right to Change Hospice Providers
Under the Medicare Hospice Benefit, a patient has the right to change hospice providers once during each benefit period. The benefit periods run as two initial 90-day periods, followed by unlimited 60-day periods — and in each one, you’re entitled to make one change.
When you change providers, you aren’t revoking hospice. This is an important distinction. Revoking hospice means leaving the hospice benefit entirely and returning to standard Medicare — usually to pursue curative treatment. Changing providers means staying in hospice care without interruption, simply moving from one hospice to another. Your eligibility carries over. You don’t re-start the clock. You don’t lose any benefit periods.
In Michigan, this right applies to any Medicare-certified hospice licensed to operate in the state. You can move from a hospital-affiliated hospice to an independent one, from a national chain to a local provider, or in any other combination — as long as both are Medicare-certified.
Why Families Consider Switching
Most families don’t go looking for a new hospice on a whim. By the time they’re considering it, something specific has usually gone wrong. The most common reasons we hear:
Slow or unreliable response times
The most frequent complaint. A family calls the on-call line during a symptom crisis at 2 a.m. and waits an hour for a callback — or doesn’t get a nurse to the home when they need one. In hospice, responsiveness isn’t a luxury. When a patient is in pain or distress, the gap between calling and getting help is the difference between a manageable night and a traumatic one.
Not enough visits
Some families find their hospice visits are too infrequent — the nurse comes once a week when the situation calls for more, or the aide’s hours don’t match the level of care the patient needs. Understaffed hospices stretch their teams thin, and families feel it directly.
Poor communication
Families who feel left in the dark — no clear point of contact, unanswered questions, no one explaining what’s happening or what to expect — often reach a breaking point. Good hospice care depends on communication, and when it’s absent, trust erodes quickly.
A mismatch in approach
Sometimes it isn’t a failure so much as a fit. A family wanting a more hands-on, high-touch approach may find their hospice too clinical or distant. Or specific needs — a language, a cultural practice, a faith tradition, veteran-specific care — aren’t being met.
Discharge or eligibility disputes
A hospice may move to discharge a patient the family believes still qualifies — particularly common with dementia, where decline is hard to document. Switching to a hospice more experienced with that diagnosis can change the outcome.
How the Switch Actually Works
The process is more straightforward than families expect. It generally moves like this:
- Choose the new hospice. Research Medicare-certified providers in your area — check their quality data on Medicare's Care Compare tool, ask about staffing and response times, and confirm they serve your location.
- Contact the new hospice. Let them know you'd like to transfer. Their intake team handles most of the logistics from there — they've done this before.
- Sign the transfer paperwork. You'll sign a statement designating the change of provider. The new hospice coordinates the effective date.
- The new hospice takes over. Your care continues without a gap. The new team completes its own assessment, establishes its care plan, and begins visits.
What usually happens in practice: the transition takes a day or two to coordinate, and the new hospice manages the handoff so the family doesn’t have to broker anything between the two providers. You don’t need the old hospice’s permission, and you’re not required to explain your reasons to anyone.
A practical tip: if you can, have the new provider lined up before you formally leave the current one. That way the transition is seamless and there’s no window where your loved one is without an active hospice team.
What to Watch Out For
A few realistic considerations before you switch:
Continuity during the handoff
The main risk in any switch is the transition period. Medications, equipment, and the care plan all need to carry over. A good incoming hospice manages this carefully — confirming the medication list, arranging equipment, and completing its assessment quickly. Ask the new provider directly how they handle the handoff before you commit.
The once-per-benefit-period limit
You can change once per benefit period without issue. Changing repeatedly within a single period isn’t permitted under Medicare rules, so it’s worth being reasonably confident in the new choice rather than switching reactively.
Re-establishing relationships
A new team means new faces. For patients with dementia or anxiety, that adjustment carries a real cost. It’s usually worth it when the current care is genuinely inadequate — but it’s a factor to weigh, not ignore.
Equipment transitions
Hospital beds, oxygen concentrators, and other durable medical equipment are often provided through the hospice. During a switch, the incoming hospice arranges its own equipment. A well-managed transfer overlaps these so there’s no gap — but it’s worth confirming.
A Common Mistake: Staying Too Long Out of Guilt
The most common mistake families make isn’t switching carelessly — it’s staying too long with a hospice that isn’t serving them well, out of a sense of loyalty or guilt.
Families sometimes feel they owe the hospice their patience, or worry that changing providers would be unfair to the nurses they’ve come to know. That instinct is understandable and kind. But your obligation is to your loved one’s comfort and care — not to a provider that isn’t delivering it. If the care is inadequate, if symptoms aren’t controlled, if calls go unanswered, switching isn’t disloyal. It’s exactly what the right to change providers exists for.
A useful way to think about it: if a friend described the same problems to you about their loved one’s hospice, would you tell them to keep waiting, or to find better care? Most people are far clearer about this on someone else’s behalf than their own.
How to Evaluate a New Hospice
If you’re considering a switch, the same criteria apply as when choosing a hospice the first time. Our guide on how to compare hospice providers goes deeper, but the essentials:
- Check their Medicare Care Compare quality and family-experience scores
- Ask about nurse caseloads and how the on-call line actually works overnight
- Confirm they're experienced with your loved one's specific diagnosis
- Ask how they manage a transfer from another hospice
- Look for accreditation beyond Medicare certification, such as CHAP
A hospice that answers these questions directly — and welcomes the fact that you’re being careful — is usually a hospice worth considering.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Changing providers keeps you in the hospice benefit without interruption. Your eligibility and benefit periods carry over to the new hospice. You are not revoking hospice — you're transferring it.
Once per benefit period. The benefit periods are two 90-day periods followed by unlimited 60-day periods, so over the course of care you may change more than once — just not multiple times within the same period.
No. The decision is yours (or your legal representative's). You don't need approval from your current hospice, and you aren't required to explain your reasons to them.
There shouldn't be, if the transition is managed well. The best approach is to have the new hospice ready before leaving the current one, so care continues seamlessly. A well-run incoming hospice coordinates medications and equipment to prevent any gap.
Yes — and it's a common reason families switch, especially after a discharge dispute. A hospice more experienced with dementia eligibility may assess and document the decline differently. The switching process is the same regardless of diagnosis.
It's more common than most families assume. Hospices vary significantly in quality, staffing, and responsiveness, and the right to change providers exists precisely because a first choice doesn't always turn out to be the right one.
If You're Considering a Change
If your loved one is currently on hospice in the Detroit tri-county area and the care isn’t what your family needs — if calls go unanswered, symptoms aren’t controlled, or you simply feel unsupported — you have the right to something better. St. Marie’s regularly welcomes families transferring from other hospices, and our intake team manages the transition so your loved one’s care never lapses.
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