POS code 34: Hospice.

The CMS definition

A facility, other than a patient's home, in which palliative and supportive care for terminally ill patients and their families are provided.

That is the description CMS publishes for POS 34, Hospice, in the Place of Service Code Set and in chapter 26 of the Medicare Claims Processing Manual. In the manual’s table it carries the Facility rate (F) designation for payment under the Physician Fee Schedule.

What it means in plain terms

POS 34 is not a code for every hospice patient. It marks inpatient hospice care. A hospice patient seen in an office, at home or in a nursing home is reported with the code for that setting.

When it is used

• A beneficiary who elected the hospice benefit is receiving inpatient respite or general inpatient care, including in a hospital, SNF or hospice inpatient facility: POS 34.
• For outpatient settings, CMS tells the practitioner to assign the code for that setting instead: office (11), the beneficiary's home not operated by the hospice (12), or an outpatient hospital department (19 or 22).
• Where a nursing home or hospice "house" is the patient's home and the patient receives a home level of care, CMS says to use the code for the particular setting, for example 32 for a nursing home, 13 for assisted living or 14 for a group home.

Billing implications (Medicare)

The manual marks POS 34 F, so Medicare physician fee schedule services are paid at the facility rate.

Because the hospice benefit has its own coverage and billing rules, a POS code alone does not decide whether a service is payable. Confirm with your MAC.

The general rule in section 10.6 of the manual is that the POS code “generally” reflects the actual setting where the beneficiary receives the face-to-face service, with two exceptions: a registered hospital inpatient or outpatient is reported with the hospital code regardless of where the encounter happens. The code goes in item 24B of the paper Form CMS-1500 or the matching field of the 837P.

Look-alike codes

• POS 12: Home. Hospice patient at home, not operated by the hospice.
• POS 32: Nursing facility. Used when a nursing home is the patient's home.
• POS 13: Assisted living facility.
• POS 11: Office. Hospice patient seen in the practitioner's office.

For every code in one list, with the 02 vs 10 vs 11 telehealth verdict, see the place of service code lookup.

Sources

• CMS: Place of Service Code Set — official code list and descriptions, page database updated May 2, 2024 (retrieved 2026-11-02)
• CMS: Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 26 (Rev. 12779, issued 08-09-24) — sections 10.5 and 10.6, facility and non-facility designations and special considerations (retrieved 2026-11-02)

Every definition and rule above was read from these CMS pages on November 2, 2026. Payers revise code lists, contracts and policies, so confirm anything that affects a claim with the payer. CMS itself tells billers to check each payer (Medicare, Medicaid, private plans) for how it reimburses each code.