What Supplies Does Hospice Provide?
When someone enrolls in hospice, the agency takes over the medical supplies related to their terminal diagnosis. Briefs, underpads, wound dressings, gloves, a hospital bed if one's needed. The family doesn't pay for any of it, and in most cases they don't order it either. The hospice team does.
That's the short version. What follows is a category-by-category checklist of what actually arrives, what hospice won't cover, and the small list of things families usually end up buying on their own.
One rule decides what's covered
Under the Medicare hospice benefit, the hospice must supply the medical supplies, equipment, and medications connected to the terminal illness and its related conditions. Related to the diagnosis, covered. Not related, not covered. A patient with end-stage heart failure who breaks his reading glasses isn't getting new glasses through hospice. But the underpads, the barrier cream, the gauze for a pressure injury that formed because he's now bedbound? All of that runs through the agency.
Medicaid hospice follows the same structure, and most private insurance hospice benefits copy Medicare's rules (medicaid.gov). So in practice, the answer barely changes based on who's paying.
One thing that surprises families. You don't shop for this stuff. The hospice nurse assesses what's needed, the agency orders it, and it shows up at the door.
The Hospice Supplies Checklist
What arrives depends on the diagnosis and how far along the patient is. But the first few deliveries for a typical patient pull from the same categories almost every time. Here's what to expect, grouped the way you'll actually use it.
Incontinence and skin care
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Underpads for the bed (often called chux).
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Barrier cream to protect skin from moisture.
Wound and skin breakdown
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Medical tape and wound cleanser.
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Heel and elbow protectors for bedbound patients.
Personal hygiene
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No-rinse body wash and shampoo caps.
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Mouth swabs and lip balm for patients who can't drink much.
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Lotion for dry skin.
Hands-on care
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Disposable gloves for family and aides.
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Bed pads and disposable washcloths.
When the care plan calls for it
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Catheter and drainage bag supplies.
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Oxygen tubing and nebulizer cups.
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Feeding tube supplies, if a tube is in place.
Comfort medications come through the agency too. Under Medicare, the copay is capped at $5 per prescription.
The equipment hospice brings
The benefit also covers durable medical equipment, the bigger items that get delivered and set up in the home:
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Hospital bed, usually with a pressure-redistribution mattress.
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Wheelchair, walker, or bedside commode.
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Overbed table and a recliner or lift chair in some cases.
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Oxygen concentrator and suction machine when needed.
The agency arranges delivery and setup, shows the family how to use each piece, and picks it up when it's no longer needed. Families pay nothing. If you've ever priced a hospital bed out of pocket, you know this single benefit carries real money.
What hospice won't pay for, and what families end up buying
Hospice covers what's tied to the terminal diagnosis. It won't pay for treatment meant to cure the illness, supplies unrelated to the diagnosis, or room and board if the patient lives in a nursing home or assisted living. There's also a small copay for respite care, capped at 5% of the Medicare-approved amount per day.
Past that, most families end up buying a few things themselves, not because hospice refuses, but because they want a specific product or an upgrade:
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Fitted sheets that fit a hospital bed mattress, which is a different size than a regular bed.
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A softer or premium brief than the agency's standard stock.
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Extra pillows, wedges, and nightlights for comfort and safety.
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Snacks, thickened drinks, or specific foods the patient still enjoys.
None of this is required. It's the gap between a home that's covered and a home that's comfortable.
Who actually pays for all of it
Here's the part most families never see. Medicare doesn't reimburse the hospice item by item. It pays a flat daily rate for each patient, called a per diem. For fiscal year 2026, routine home care pays $231 a day for the first 60 days and $182 a day after that, before local wage adjustments (CMS FY2026 hospice final rule).
Every brief, every dressing, every delivery comes out of that same flat rate.
So when a hospice supplies a patient generously, the agency is absorbing the cost, not passing it along. Good agencies do it anyway, because skimping on briefs or dressings shows up fast as skin breakdown and miserable patients. But it explains why supply pricing is something hospice administrators think about every single month.
If you run a hospice agency, supplies are your margin
An agency with a census of 40 patients is burning through incontinence and wound care every day, and none of it gets billed separately. The per diem is fixed. The supply cost isn't. So the question isn't whether to stock briefs, underpads, and dressings. It's what each case costs landed.
That's the gap Kerae Medical was built for. We stock hospice care supplies at manufacturer-direct pricing, which just means there's no middleman. We own our brands and sell straight to the agency, so the case price doesn't carry a distributor's markup on the way through. Most agencies start with incontinence supplies and wound care and dressings, test samples before committing to volume, and get a rep who handles reorders going forward. Orders ship in three business days.
If you want to see what your current case costs look like next to ours, request a business account or email info@keraemedical.com.
Common questions
Does hospice cover incontinence supplies like adult diapers?
Yes. Incontinence supplies related to the terminal diagnosis, including adult diapers, pull-ups, and underpads, are covered under the hospice benefit. The agency picks the brand and absorbency level from its own stock, though. Families who want a different product than what the hospice carries can buy it themselves.
Does hospice provide 24-hour care at home?
No, and this catches a lot of families off guard. Routine hospice care means scheduled visits from nurses and aides, plus a nurse on call around the clock for questions and emergencies. Day-to-day caregiving stays with the family or hired help. Medicare does pay for short stretches of continuous nursing care, but only during a symptom crisis, and it ends once the crisis is managed.
Who delivers the supplies, and what if they run short?
The hospice arranges everything. Some agencies deliver from their own stock, others have a supplier ship directly to the patient's home. If supplies run short, call the hospice nurse or the agency's main line, not the supplier. Restocking is the agency's job, and most build supply checks into every routine visit.
Do Medicare Advantage plans cover hospice?
Yes. When someone on a Medicare Advantage plan elects hospice, the hospice benefit gets paid through Original Medicare Part A, and the supplies work exactly the same way. The Advantage plan keeps covering care that's unrelated to the terminal diagnosis.
What happens to the equipment and leftover supplies afterward?
The hospice arranges pickup of the equipment, since beds, wheelchairs, and concentrators are typically rented and go back into service. Opened packages of supplies usually can't be restocked for hygiene reasons, so families often donate unopened briefs, underpads, and dressings to local senior centers, churches, or community diaper banks rather than throwing them out.