Literature Review

Federal Register: United States, et al. v. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated, et al.; Proposed Final Judgment and Competitive Impact Statement Federal Register - U.S. Government - A Notice by the Antitrust Division; by the Department of Justice Antitrust Division; 8/14/25 Notice is hereby given pursuant to the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act, 15 U.S.C. 16(b)-(h), that a proposed Final Judgment, Stipulation, and Competitive Impact Statement have been filed with the United States District Court for the District of Maryland in United States of America et al. v. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated, et al., Civil Action No. 1:24-cv-03267. [Formal document, in the midst of many articles about the ruling.]

McGill Palliative Care National Grand Rounds: Dignity, Personhood and Intensive Caring: New Insights into Patient Suffering - Dr. Harvey Max ChochinovMcGill Palliative Care announcement; 8/13/25This free presentation has the following objectives:

BrightSpring taking modest approach to M&A in 2025 Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 8/15/25 BrightSpring Health Services (Nasdaq: BTSG) is taking a slow and steady look at acquisition opportunities through the remainder of the year. The company is allowing the dust to settle on the divestiture of its community living business to Setiva for $835 million before once again investing heavily in acquisitions, according to CEO, President and Chairman Jon Rousseau. The divestiture is expected to close in the fourth quarter. But that doesn’t mean that BrightSpring is out of the market for deals. 

Mark Swillinger makes $1.5m donation to FAU College of Nursing Boca Magazine, Boca Raton, FL; by Christiana Lilly; 8/13/25 What was expected to be a typical speech turned into one that called for a round of applause: A $1.5 million donation would be made to Florida Atlantic University College of Nursing by local attorney Mark Swillinger in honor of his late wife, Marilyn. The announcement came during FAU President Adam Hasner’s speech at the 15th annual White Coats-4-Care reception at The Addison, an event that supports FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. ... Not only is it a hefty amount, but the donation will create a hospice and palliative care program in FAU’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing. Swillinger says he was inspired after seeing the attentive care his wife received in 2023, when she died from lung cancer.

Long COVID and returning to work: A hard and frustrating road Medscape; by Sara Novak; 8/5/25 ... Around 16 million workers have been affected nationwide by long COVID. Many who initially contracted the virus as a result of their jobs are left with the additional burden of proving that they acquired the condition in the workplace. Without it, they may be unable to file a claim for workers’ compensation insurance, which provides benefits to employees who are injured or become ill on the job.

[Updated] DOJ files proposed final judgment on Amedisys, UnitedHealth Merger Home Health Care News; by Morgan Gonzales; 8/7/25 On Thursday, Amedisys (Nasdaq: AMED) announced that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Attorneys General of Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey and New York filed a proposed final judgment regarding the UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) planned acquisition of Amedisys. UnitedHealth and Amedisys agreed to the proposed final judgment, which, if approved, would resolve the DOJ’s and states’ opposition to the merger. The proposed judgment would require UnitedHealth and Amedisys to divest at least 164 home health and hospice facilities, including one affiliated palliative care facility, across 19 states, worth approximately $528 million in annual revenue. It would also impose a $1.1 million civil penalty on Amedisys for falsely certifying that it had provided “true, correct and complete” responses under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, according to a DOJ announcement. 

CIOs’ top 16 emerging technologies Becker's Health IT; by Giles Bruce; 8/4/25 Emerging technologies such as AI continue to command CIOs’ attention. Here is the emerging tech prioritized by IT chiefs, according to a global survey of more than 200 CIOs by market researcher Futurum published July 28:

Hospice claim denial remanded to ALJ in absence of explanation, (Aug 4, 2025) VItalLaw; by Leah S. Poniatowski, JD; 8/4/25 ... A hospice provider that was denied Medicare reimbursement for two patients was granted remand to the administrative law judge (ALJ) because the ALJ’s decision was without any reasoned discussion, which impaired review and suggested that the ALJ had used her lay assessment of the medical record, the federal district court in Delaware ruled (Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care of Delaware, LLC v. Kennedy, No. 24-175-GBW-LDH (D. Del. July 31, 2025)).

Social Media Watch 8/8/25

State Medicaid coverage policies for community-based palliative care: Lessons from NASHP’s State Institute National Academy for State Health Policy; by Ella Taggart, Wendy Fox-Grage; 8/11/25 Six states recently participated in NASHP’s two-year State Policy Institute to Improve Care for People with Serious Illness (the Institute): Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Ohio, Texas, and Washington. ... Specifically, the six participating states received guidance on policy mechanisms to cover palliative care services in the community and completed cost analysis on palliative care services for Medicaid beneficiaries. While all the states balanced the same forces and demands, ... each state modeled a benefit that was responsive to its particular needs and circumstances. ... CBIZ Optumas and TFA Analytics then designed a cost calculator for each state to help with different scenarios. 

Sunday newsletters focus on headlines and top read stories of the last week (in order) - enjoy!

Inmate serving life for murdering Lancaster County woman in 2015 seeks compassionate release Fox 43, Lancaster County, PA; by Keith Schweigert; 8/8/25 A state prison inmate serving a life sentence for killing a Lancaster County woman after she ended their relationship in 2015 has filed a petition asking for a compassionate release so that he can die at home, according to court records. Randall Shriner, 68, has less than six months left to live due to stage-five kidney disease, according to an emergency petition filed by his attorney on July 30. ... According to the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, the statute allows courts to grant a compassionate release under two circumstances:

[Belgium] Christian perspectives on palliative sedation: A literature studyBMC Palliative Care; Jonathan Lambaerts, Bert Broeckaert; 7/25Overall, there is a positive but cautious attitude towards palliative sedation in the four major Christian traditions. All recognise that palliative sedation can help alleviate patient suffering. They remain cautious in their support, however, as they consider the line between palliative sedation and life-ending treatments (e.g. euthanasia) to be too blurred. Moreover, the Christian traditions are aware that lowering the level of consciousness is not without its problems.