# The EASE Act of 2025: What It Means for Hospital Patients

When someone is discharged from a hospital, they often face important decisions about their next steps in care. Right now, hospitals are required to tell Medicare patients about some options like home health services and nursing facilities, but there's a gap: they don't have to specifically inform patients about hospice care. The EASE Act closes that gap by requiring hospitals to tell patients who might benefit from hospice about what programs are available in their area.

Here's what this means in practical terms. If you're a Medicare patient being discharged from a hospital and your doctors think you might be a good candidate for hospice care—typically because you have a serious illness and are focusing on comfort rather than curative treatment—the hospital will now be required to give you information about hospice programs that serve your area. This isn't forcing anyone into hospice; it's simply making sure people know the option exists. Right now, many patients and families don't learn about hospice until it's too late, or they discover it by accident. This bill aims to make that conversation happen at a natural transition point when patients are already thinking about their next care steps.

The change takes effect on January 1, 2026, so hospitals will need to update their discharge procedures to include hospice information alongside the home health and nursing facility information they already provide. For patients and families, this means getting clearer, more complete information about all your options when leaving the hospital—information that could help you make better decisions about end-of-life care that matches what matters most to you.