Ways and Means: Approved policies fight fraud in critical safety net programs 
United States House Committee on Ways & Means - Chairman Jason Smith, Washington, DC; Press Release; 5/22/26 
Ways and Means Republicans advanced anti-fraud legislation after months of hearings that revealed the extent of fraud and mismanagement in vital programs like Medicare, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and unemployment insurance. ... [Go directly to the Ways & Committee press release on Friday 5/22/26, with information and links below to their Fact Sheet for each newly approved policy.] 

• Protecting Seniors and Stopping Fraudsters Act (H.R. 8883)
• [Read background information on this bill]
• DME Scammer Prevention Act of 2026 (H.R. 8871)
• Recover COVID Unemployment Fraud in Banks Act (H.R. 8873) 
• Preventing Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in TANF Act (H.R. 8872)

Van Duyne introduces the "Protecting Seniors and Stopping Fraudsters Act" to enact mandatory oversight requirements to combat hospice and home healthcare fraud 
Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne, Washington, DC; Press Release; 5/19/26 
... Since 2023, Rep. Van Duyne (TX-24) has been a recognized leader on the issue of exposing and stopping hospice and home healthcare fraud. ... This week, Rep. Van Duyne introduced new legislation, the Protecting Seniors and Stopping Fraudsters Act, to strengthen Medicare oversight, crack down on bad actors, protect seniors from fraudulent enrollments, and improve accountability across the hospice and home health system. ... [Read the full bill]
Summary and Key Provisions: ... The bill is designed to move Medicare oversight from a reactive model to a proactive one by identifying bad actors earlier, particularly in geographic hotspots where provider growth far exceeds patient growth. It targets providers with aberrant billing, discharge, enrollment, or low-quality reporting patterns rather than imposing blanket burdens across the industry. ... [Continue reading] ...

5/21/26 Update: this bill was "passed by the House Committee on Ways and Means with bipartisan support. Working with Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO-08), Rep. Van Duyne successfully moved [this bille] through committee to now be offered for consideration by the House.
5/22/26 Update: See our post today with official documents posted by the US House Committee on Ways & Means, Ways and Means-approved policies fight fraud in critical safety net programs

Pikes Peak Hospice honors veteran graves with flags for Memorial Day 
KXRM, Colorado Springs, CO; by Dara Korn; 5/23/26 
Volunteers from Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care placed flags at the headstones of fallen heroes at the Pikes Peak National Cemetery on Saturday, May 23, to honor the sacrifice of those who gave their lives. This is the third year that the hospice has placed flags at the graves of service members to prepare for Memorial Day. This year, volunteers placed about 4,500 flags, up from around 4,000 flags the previous year.
Editor's Note: This meaningful community tribute carries added significance in Colorado Springs, home to the United States Air Force Academy and a community deeply connected to military service. 

Lawsuit claims new Iowa hospice unfairly competes for patients and caregivers 
VoiceofAlexandria.com, Alexandria, MN; by Clark Kauffman; 5/21/26
A West Des Moines man is being sued for establishing a hospice program that allegedly competes with his former employer for increasingly scarce healthcare workers. Abode Healthcare Inc., an affiliate of BrightSpring Health Services, is suing Rick W. Breuss III of Sacred Encounter Hospice of Central Iowa in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. ... In August 2025, Abide alleges, Breuss resigned from Abode – six months after he formed Sacred Encounter, a competing hospice care provider.

The dying dream of the dead to be at peace with life 
DW; by Hannah Fuchs; 5/22/26 
Many people have vivid dreams shortly before death. Research suggests the dreams are not a sign of confusion — but may help both the dying and their loved ones make sense of loss. Known as End‑of‑Life Dreams and Visions (ELDVs), they often occur as dreams during sleep, and sometimes as visions while a person is awake. For those experiencing them, they can feel more vivid and real than ordinary dreams — and for those observing them from the outside, it can be unsettling. Medicine long dismissed ELDVs as episodes of sudden confusion (delirium) or as side-effects of medication. But today, the thinking is shifting.

The future of hospice: how HOPE will transform reimbursement & care | part two 
Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Andrea Hale and Raianne Melton; 5/22/26  
In Part Two of The Future of Hospice: How HOPE Will Transform Reimbursement & Care, Raianne Melton and Andrea Hale unpack how the HOPE tool could redefine hospice reimbursement, value-based care, and quality measurement across CMS, Medicare Advantage, and health systems. The conversation explores where hospice measurement may be heading—from symptom impact scoring and burdensome discharges to acuity tracking, HUV utilization, and the growing importance of consistent documentation and actionable clinical data. The episode also focuses on what hospice leaders can do now to prepare ...

CMS targeting Georgia, Ohio in fraud fight 
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 5/22/26 
Ohio and Georgia are seeing a large influx of new hospice operators, leading some to suspect that fraud is becoming more prevalent in those states. The four states that historically have been hotbeds for fraud — California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas — also saw hosts of new providers enter their markets, many of which were malfeasant. Among other efforts to combat the ongoing fraud, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2023 instituted a provisional period of enhanced oversight for those four states. That has now been extended into Georgia and Ohio, retroactive to Dec. 31, 2025.

GAO makes MedPAC appointments 
U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), Washington, DC; Press Release; 5/22/26 
Orice W. Brown, Acting Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), today announced the appointment of the Chair, Vice Chair, and two new members to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). She also reappointed two current members. MedPAC advises Congress on payments to providers in Medicare’s traditional fee-for-service program and to health plans participating in the Medicare Advantage program. ... 

Palliative care research project: the NIH-backed initiative in care across the lifespan will be co-led by Boston College School of Social Work Ahearn Endowed Professor Karen Bullock 
Boston College News, Boston, MA; by Sean Smith; May 2026
The NIH awarded a $64 million grant to establish the Advancing the Science of Palliative Care Research across the Lifespan (ASCENT) consortium, for which Bullock, the Louise McMahon Ahearn Endowed Professor at BCSSW, will serve as a co-investigator. ... These scientists will develop a national scientific infrastructure and community to advance palliative care research; create new research knowledge and research methodologies; foster career development and impact of the palliative care workforce; and disseminate palliative care research findings and facilitate their implementation.

UChicago expands its offerings in biomedical ethics 
NewsWise; by University of Chicago Medical Center; 5/22/26 
The University of Chicago Biological Sciences Division is expanding its educational opportunities in biomedical ethics with two new offerings: a biomedical ethics concentration within its Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences (BMS) program and a new online biomedical ethics certificate through the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. Together, the offerings are designed to meet growing demand from students and healthcare professionals seeking formal training in how to navigate ethical questions in medicine, research, and patient care. ... 
Editor's Note: Ethical complexity is expanding alongside advances in medicine and care delivery. This university investment in biomedical ethics offers a timely catalyst for hospice and palliative leaders to examine how ethics education, reflection, and competencies are cultivated throughout interdisciplinary team practice.

Unlocking human potential through the workplace 
FacilitiesNet.com; by AnnMarie Martin; 5/22/26 
... Today’s facility leaders are no longer simply maintaining buildings. They are actively shaping the conditions for organizational success, serving as the critical connector between people, place, strategy and technology. That shift carries both weight and possibility. ... The question driving forward-thinking facility leaders today isn’t whether the workplace matters. It’s how to make it matter more. ... At the heart of this life-centered, people-first approach is a simple but powerful premise: the built environment shapes behavior. Lighting affects focus. Acoustics affect stress. Layout affects collaboration. ...

The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible. ~ Arthur C. Clarke