They should take that up with the director, since Terri Schiavo doesn't seem to be, or at least wasn't until now, eligible for hospice care:
From http://www.cms.hhs.gov/providers/hospiceps/hospiceadd.asp
Eligibility for hospice services requires that the beneficiary's physician and the hospice medical director certify that the individual's prognosis is for a life expectancy of six months or less, if the terminal illness runs its normal course. Beneficiaries who elect hospice must waive all other Medicare coverage of care related to their terminal illness, although they retain coverage for services unrelated to their terminal illness. A beneficiary can cancel his or her election of hospice benefits at any time and return to regular Medicare, and beneficiaries are free to reselect hospice coverage at a later date. While there are currently no limits on the number of days an individual can receive hospice care, a beneficiary's prognosis must be reaffirmed at 90 days, at 180 days, and every 60 days thereafter. The hospice eligibility requirement that a beneficiary be certified as having a prognosis of 6 months or less is a concern that providers have recently raised. It is important to point out that the fundamental premise upon which the hospice benefit was designed was the "rejection" of the traditional medical system and the "election" of hospice care. Hospice advocates were clear that they wanted a benefit that was all inclusive for the care of the terminally ill individual through palliation of pain and symptoms and the opportunity for the person to die with dignity in the comfort of their home. The concept of a beneficiary "electing" the hospice benefit and being certified as terminally ill were two key components put in the legislation responsible for the Medicare Hospice Benefit (MHB) as a way to determine which Medicare beneficiary was eligible to use the benefit. Any changes to the MHB's eligibility requirements would require a change in the laws regarding this benefit.
A hospice can make the decision to accept a patient that does not meet the normal criteria for their services.
One of my closest friends has a 11 year old child with Cerebral Palsy, last year his son suffered a type of stroke that some CP patients suffer from. This time, the child lost his ability to swallow foods and a feeding tube was inserted (no, his father will NOT starve him to death). Because the stroke caused other neurological problems as well as the adjustment to the feeding tube, he was placed in hospice care to stabalize his condition prior to returning home. He remained for 45 days then went home.
We are in Florida and I do not know if hospices in other states can do the same. The hospice he was in isalso a private facility which might have something to do with it.