If you are unhappy with the home health or hospice care you are receiving, you can take the following steps:

1. Notify the home care provider's chief supervisor or administrator.
2. Notify a state health department or Medicare representative. Visit Medicare.gov for help.
3. Notify the Better Business Bureau.

As a home health care patient, you have rights under federal law. According to the National Association for Home Care & Hospice, you have the right to:

• Be told about your rights and responsibilities as a patient by the home care agency.
• Get a timely reply when you ask an agency for service.
• Be admitted for service only if the agency can provide safe, professional care at the level you need.
• Pick your doctor and other health care providers.
• Receive the care your doctor recommends, in a way that's professional and right for you.
• Receive ongoing care (continuity of care) that isn't stopped unless there is a good reason.
• Know about any change in your care plan before it happens.
• Have all the information you need before agreeing to and starting any treatment or procedure.
• Say no to a treatment, if you can legally, and know how this may affect your health.
• Be told about your rights under state law to prepare a list of advance directives. These are instructions to your doctor or family members about what kind of care you want if you become unable to speak or express yourself.
• Have your doctors and other health care providers follow your advance directives as required by state law.
• Be told in a reasonable amount of time if your service is going to end, or if it is being given to another agency.
• Be told about the agency's policies and how much they charge for services. This includes knowing if a third-party, like your insurance company, will help pay for services.
• Get a referral elsewhere if you are denied service because you can't afford to pay for it.
• Report problems with your service and ask for changes in service or staff without fear of being treated unfairly.
• Get a fair hearing if the agency denies, reduces, or stops your service, or if you have another problem with the agency. Each agency sets the hearing process based on the patient’s situation (for example, funding source, level of care, or diagnosis).
• Know what to do if there is an emergency.
• Be told about the phone number and hours of the state's home health hotline. The hotline is available for questions and complaints about Medicare-certified and state-licensed home care agencies.

According to NAHC's affiliate, the Hospice Association of America, as a hospice patient you have the right to:

• Receive the highest quality of care.
• Have a relationship with the hospice that is based on respect, dignity, honesty, and other ethical standards of conduct.
• Be admitted to a hospice only if it has all the services you need for your physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being. If the hospice doesn’t have the best resources, it can admit you if there isn’t a better choice. Before it admits you, the hospice has to tell you about the limits of its resources and the lack of other choices.
• Be told in writing about your rights and responsibilities before hospice care begins. Following state laws, your family or guardian may exercise your rights when you can’t. The hospice must protect and promote your rights.
• Be told in writing about the hospice care you will receive, the types of caregivers you will have, and how often you will get services.
• Take part in planning your care and any changes in your care. The hospice must tell you about this right.
• Know about any change in your care plan before it happens.
• Say no to services and receive an explanation how this may affect you.
• Ask for a new caregiver without fear of being treated unfairly.
• Report problems without fear of being treated unfairly.
• Know how to inform the hospice if you have problems with your care, including a lack of care or a lack of respect for your property.
• Know how the hospice will resolve any problems you report.
• Have information about your health, finances, social life, and home life kept private (confidential).
• Expect the hospice to follow its policies when sharing your information. They can share your information when you give permission or when the law requires it.
• Be told about any costs that may be covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or another payer known to the hospice.
• Be told about any costs that Medicare will not cover and how much you may need to pay. You must be told this within 15 working days of the date the hospice finds out. The hospice must give you this information orally and in writing.
• Have access to all your bills for service. This includes bills that you paid out-of-pocket and bills that another party paid.
• Know if the hospice owns or has some type of relationship with an organization that you are referred to.
• Know what to do if there is an emergency.

To learn more about patient rights:

• Visit Medicare's website at Medicare.gov or call 1-800-633-4227 (MEDICARE)
• Visit the National Alliance for Care at Home website at www.allianceforcareathome.org