Care Considered Research · 2026 edition · CMS data vintage Jul2026

Care Considered Hospice Care Report

Computed from CMS Hospice public data covering 6,669 Medicare-certified hospices. Methodology below. Cite freely with attribution and a link.

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Care Considered. (2026). Care Considered Hospice Care Report. Own the Answer. https://careconsidered.com/research/hospice-care/ (CMS Care Compare data, Jul2026).

Charts and figures on this page may be reproduced with attribution and a link to this page. For a custom data cut (a specific state, chain, or measure), or the underlying dataset, contact us — we're glad to help reporters and researchers.

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Hospice quality by state (CAHPS + process measures)

Key findings

For-profit hospices score lower on family experience than non-profits — 3.49 vs 3.96 CAHPS stars (a 0.47-star gap), with government hospices highest at 4.55. 56.6% of U.S. hospices are now for-profit.
This continues the ownership pattern across care types: ownership barely predicts home health quality, moderately predicts hospice experience, and strongly predicts nursing home quality — see the home health and nursing home reports.
Only 32.4% of hospices have a published family-caregiver survey rating — CMS withholds it below a response threshold, leaving families without survey data at most hospices.
Kentucky leads on family-caregiver ratings (4.38★); Florida is lowest among rated states (2.93★).

Family-caregiver rating by ownership

CAHPS Hospice Survey summary star (1–5) by ownership type — the family experience of care.

State rankings — family-caregiver rating

#	State	Hospices	Surveyed	Avg family star	Avg process score
1	Kentucky	23	21	4.38	93.7
2	Alabama	85	50	4.24	98
3	North Carolina	76	55	4.22	96.9
4	Kansas	85	30	4.2	93.5
5	Louisiana	118	48	4.15	95.1
6	Idaho	56	21	4.1	94
7	New Hampshire	23	15	4.07	94.8
8	Iowa	71	42	4.02	95.7
9	Montana	32	15	4	92.1
10	West Virginia	18	14	4	97.7
11	New York	39	34	3.97	95.8
12	Arkansas	46	27	3.96	96.5
13	Maine	17	15	3.93	97.8
14	Mississippi	84	29	3.93	96.6
15	Georgia	261	90	3.91	92.6
16	Oklahoma	135	48	3.9	91.2
17	Tennessee	61	45	3.89	98.3
18	South Dakota	16	11	3.82	95
19	Pennsylvania	179	112	3.81	92.8
20	Missouri	132	73	3.79	93.8
21	Indiana	102	70	3.76	94.7
22	Massachusetts	77	45	3.76	94.2
23	Minnesota	81	43	3.74	95
24	Arizona	237	51	3.71	88.4
25	South Carolina	88	42	3.69	94.5
26	Michigan	173	89	3.67	93.5
27	Nebraska	43	23	3.65	94.5
28	Utah	82	25	3.64	91.8
29	Wisconsin	85	59	3.63	95
30	Oregon	66	42	3.62	94.6
31	Washington	50	32	3.56	94.4
32	Ohio	169	96	3.52	93.9
33	Illinois	149	74	3.51	91.3
34	Texas	1053	179	3.46	93
35	Virginia	110	67	3.46	95.7
36	Colorado	88	33	3.36	92.8
37	New Mexico	52	23	3.35	92.9
38	California	1913	174	3.25	88.7
39	Maryland	26	23	3.22	98
40	Connecticut	28	19	3.21	95.3
41	New Jersey	61	46	3.11	94.8
42	Nevada	183	18	3.11	90.1
43	Florida	61	45	2.93	97.6

Methodology

Computed from CMS Hospice public data files, Jul2026 refresh. Family-caregiver ratings are the CAHPS Hospice Survey summary star (published only above CMS's response-count threshold — about a third of hospices). The composite process measure is CMS's H_008 admission-care composite (0-100). State rankings exclude states with fewer than 10 surveyed hospices. Ownership per CMS type.

© Care Considered (careconsidered.com). Source: CMS Provider Data Catalog — Hospice + CAHPS Hospice Survey (data.cms.gov), quarterly refresh. Reuse permitted — and encouraged — with attribution and a link.