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Veterans Day 2026: recent articles in the news
Hospice & Palliative Care Today; compilation by Joy Berger; 5/22/26

• Discontinuation of medications with limited benefit at end of life in community-dwelling older veterans
• TNMHPO Announcing Veteran Initiative Partnership (VIP)
• Hospice of Orange & Sullivan Counties hosts Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day ceremony
• VA Pittsburgh chaplains: Providing hope, healing and spiritual support for veterans
• The business case for family caregiver skills training: Results from a multisite trial in the Veterans health care system

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)

Honoring Memorial Day 2026

"Taps" Bugle Call: USMC Drum & Bugle Corps [YouTube]
YouTube filmed at the National Mall's Vietnam Memorial, Washington DC; compilation by Joy Berger, Editor in Chief; retrieved from the internet 5/22/25
We invite you to begin this Memorial Day with this reflective playing of "Taps." Its simple, 24 notes evoke poignant memories and emotions for persons of all generations. Ongoing, we share with you these resources below for the veterans and their families whom you serve.

• Taps for Veterans - Request a Bugler: "With over 1,000 veterans passing away each day and not enough military buglers to attend every funeral, most veterans receive an audio recording of Taps. Taps for Veterans believes that a veterans’ final honors are worthy of a live rendition of our National Song of Remembrance. ... We match buglers with families of veterans who wish to honor them with the sounding of Taps. We are standing ready to serve once again, just make your request and we will do our best to fulfill it."
  
  
• Find a name on the The Vietnam Veterans Memorial: This can be an important tool for your social workers and chaplains to use with Vietnam veterans and families for whom the deaths of loved ones then are still "with them" today. 
  
  
• T*A*P*S - Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors: Bookmark and recommend this easy-to-remember website for Gold Star Families: taps.org. 
  
  
• "Remembering a bugler's broken note," by PBS: "The assassination of President John F. Kennedy [in November 1963] was followed by four days of grieving, culminating in a final farewell at Arlington National Cemetery. As Principal Bugler of the United States Army Band, Sgt. Keith Clark had played “Taps” at Arlington hundreds of times. But On Nov. 25, 1963, he was there to play the solemn 24-note melody for the president’s state funeral. In the rendition of “Taps” heard by millions around the world, Clark fumbled the sixth note of the tune. The broken note served as a symbol of sorrow to a lamenting nation. 

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

Public Notice: Nine compete to develop hospice home care office in McDowell County 
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services; 5/11/26 
Nine applicants have filed certificate of need applications with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to develop a hospice home care office in response to a need determination in the 2026 State Medical Facilities Plan (SMFP). Each applicant proposes one project.

• Hospice of Henderson County Inc. ...
• Bristol Hospice - North Carolina LLC and Bristol Hospice LLC ...
• VITAS Health Corporation of North Carolina and VITAS Healthcare Corporation
• AdventHealth Home Health and Hospice Inc and Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corporation ...
• PruittHealth Hospice Inc. ...
• Affinity Care Hospice of NCII LLC ...
• Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region ...
• Well Care Hospice of McDowell Inc ...
• Community Home Care & Hospice LLC ...

Editor's Note: This Public Notice was posted in North Carolina on May 11th, two days before the CMS moratarium was announced and went into effect on May 13th. CHAP explains the Hospice and Home Health Moratorium,"Beginning on May 13, 2026: No new hospices or hospice practice locations will be enrolled in Medicare unless the hospice’s enrollment application was received by the applicable Medicare contractor prior to the effective date." 

CMS enrollment moratoria: CHOW implications for home health and hospice transactions 
JD Supra; by Arnall Golden Gregory LLP; 5/22/26 
... Although the announcement has significant implications for new HHA and hospice entrants, the practical impact on change of ownership (“CHOW”) transactions is narrower: the moratoria should affect only those CHOWs that are treated as new initial enrollment under the Medicare “36-month rule.” ...
Key Takeaways

• The moratoria apply to initial enrollments and non-exempt changes in majority ownership under the 36-month rule.
• Transactions outside the 36-month window, or those qualifying for an exception, may still proceed without moratorium impact.
• Parties to home health agencies and hospice deals should assess early whether the 36-month rule applies.

New! Pediatric e-Journal Issue #83
National Alliance for Care at Home press release; 5/20/26
The focus of the 83rd issue and the one that immediately preceded it is on topics that relate to trauma and trauma-informed care. This issue specifically addresses trauma and trauma-informed care as they involve providers and care teams.

Early electronic advance directives reduce burdensome end-of-life care 
News Medical & Life Sciences | Wiley; 5/20/26 
Advance directives document patient preferences for future care, including end-of-life. An analysis in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that older patients with an advance directive that had been uploaded into the electronic health record at least six months before death were 25% less likely to experience potentially burdensome end-of-life care (19.9% versus 26.8%) and 31% less likely to have died in the hospital (23.2% versus 32.1%).

Potential adjunctive role of osteopathic manipulative medicine in the management of cancer-related bone pain: A narrative review
Cureus; by Ambrose Loc T. Ngo, Niki Gharavi Alkhansari, Chi Pham, Hong Nguyen, Monica Rubi, David Tanner; 4/26
Osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) is known for its therapeutic potential on the musculoskeletal system, and its emerging role and potential benefits in oncology care are gaining attention. Patients with primary and metastatic bone cancer tend to experience pain, restricted movement, and lower quality of life due to the pathology and its treatment. This narrative review examines the mechanistic rationale and available clinical evidence supporting the use of OMM in the management of pain and functional impairment among patients with bone malignancies. Limited clinical studies suggest that select OMM techniques, including myofascial release (MFR), gentle soft tissue methods, and lymphatic approaches, may contribute to improvements in pain perception, mobility, and fatigue in oncology populations.

How to transform a health system’s organizational culture and hardwire it for the future
NEJM Catalyst; by Brian Carlson, Nancy M. Lorenzi, Paul Sternberg, Jr., Cassandra Hennessy, Dandan Liu; 4/26
Organizational culture is a critical driver of workforce and patient experience, yet health care institutions often struggle to sustain their desired culture over time. In 2017, Vanderbilt Health identified inconsistencies in expected workforce behaviors through patient feedback, prompting the creation of a strategic cultural renewal initiative. The resulting program, Defining Personalized Care, had a 4-year road map of seven e-learning modules designed to reinforce core values and improve interpersonal behaviors across the workforce. This single-center pre–post study revealed statistically significant improvements in patient experience scores, particularly in the communication and courtesy domains. The initiative demonstrated that engaging, relevant content combined with visible support from leadership can drive voluntary participation and generate measurable outcomes. This case study offers a replicable framework for health care organizations seeking to hardwire their cultural expectations and align workforce behaviors with patient-centered care goals.

Allina Health and Sutter Health sign definitive agreement, taking next step in advancing shared vision 
Vitals, Northern California and Minneapolis, MN; by Sutter Health; 5/21/26 
Allina Health and Sutter Health announced today that they have approved a definitive agreement, taking the next step toward their shared goal of creating an integrated nonprofit health system. The organizations will expand local access to high-quality, affordable care, while leading nationally in digital and technological advancements that transform care and meaningfully improve the experiences of patients and caregivers. ... The definitive agreement formalizes the plans outlined in the Letter of Intent announced in March, including: ...

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