A hospice is a type of medical treatment that helps take care of people who are very sick and have an illness that they will not be able to heal from. People who stay in hospices are expected to die soon, but sometimes they get better. Hospices are different from other medicinal treatments because they mostly try to make people feel better instead of trying to cure them. Hospice tries to allow people to die with as little pain as possible. A member of the hospice team visits regularly, and someone is usually always available by phone — 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Hospice may be covered by Medicare.