Literature Review

Fashion for a Cause raises more than $300K for community health programs Hospice of the Chesapeake; Press Release; 6/10/26 Hospice of the Chesapeake’s annual Fashion for a Cause event drew a sold-out crowd ready to celebrate community, style and families who depend on the nonprofit’s services. When the night was over, more than $300,000 had been raised for community health programs. ...  Guests were treated to a red-carpet experience complete with bites from local restaurants, food trucks and a moving celebration of compassion and community care.

California proposes emergency hospice regulations amid fraud Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 6/9/26 The California Department of Public Health has proposed emergency hospice regulations to address fraudulent activity in the state. The proposal includes the establishment of more stringent criteria to better evaluate the legitimacy of new hospice businesses. ...  Among other provisions, the proposed emergency regulations included new adoptions of standardized definitions related to hospice services and marketing information, license applications, as well as for staff personnel qualifications and responsibilities of administrators, attending physicians and authorized care providers.

GAO uses home health as benchmark to question Medicare hospice payments Home Health News; by Morgan Gonzales with Jim Parker; 6/9/26 ... GAO said Medicare could have saved about $7.6 billion if hospice routine home care from 2022 through 2024 had been reimbursed using adjusted home health per-visit rates rather than hospice’s current per-day payment system, according to a GAO report released Tuesday [6/9]. ... While The Alliance questioned the GAO’s comparison of hospice to home health, Mollie Gurian, vice president of policy and government affairs for LeadingAge, said that the comparison could be a helpful tool.

1776-1786: 250 Years - A History of CareHospice & Palliative Care Today; by Joy Berger; for 6/10/26Continental Congress, Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

AHA comments on CMS’ FY 2027 LTCH Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule American Hospital Association; letter from Ashley Thompson, AHA Sr VP Public Policy Analysis and Development to Dr. Mehmet Oz, CMS Administrator; 6/8/26 On behalf of our nearly 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other healthcare organizations, including approximately 230 long-term care hospitals (LTCHs); our clinician partners — more than 270,000 affiliated physicians, 2 million nurses and other caregivers — and the 43,000 healthcare leaders who belong to our professional membership groups, the American Hospital Association (AHA) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS’) fiscal year (FY) 2027 LTCH prospective payment system (PPS) proposed rule. ... Our detailed comments follow.

Home care/hospice salary & benefits studies: participation now open LeadingAge; by Josh Moore; 6/8/26 Participation is now open for the annual Home Health and Hospice Salary & Benefits Studies, conducted in cooperation by LeadingAge’s partner Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service (HCS), and LeadingAge is encouraging our members to participate.  The study is recognized as the standard for reliable and comprehensive compensation data, including management salaries, nonmanagement wages, fringe benefits, and other facility metrics. ... Last year’s Home Care Report contained data from 1,111 home health agencies and the Hospice Report had data from 1,091 hospice agencies.

National HealthCare Corp. closes 5-SNF, $50.5M acquisition McKnights Senior Living; by Kathleen Steele Gaivin; 6/7/26 National HealthCare Corp. and its affiliates have closed on the previously announced $50.5 million purchase of five skilled nursing facilities from National Health Corp., the Murfreesboro, TN-based company announced Thursday [6/5/26]. ... Four of the SNFs are in Tennessee, and the other is in South Carolina.

[United Kingdom] Pensioners taking marathon bus trip for hospice BBC News; by Marcus Boothe-Bristol; 6/9/26 Two pensioners are travelling more than 1,000 miles by bus to raise cash for their local hospice. Valerie Boon and Sue Hill, both in their eighties and from Bristol, plan to use just public transport to get from John O'Groats to Land's End. ... Last year, St Peter's Hospice cared for more than 2,000 people that live with incurable cancer and other life-limiting illnesses. The pair are completely funding the trip ourselves, so every penny donated goes directly to the hospice.

What to know about recent federal actions involving state Medicaid program integrity KFF; by Jessica Mathers and Elizabeth Hinton; 6/9/26 The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has also taken nationwide and state-specific action in the Medicaid program, including:

Pennsylvania General Assembly House Bill 2254 - Medical Marijuana ActPennsylvania General Assembly | House Committee Vote Summary 2025-2026 Regular SEssion; 6/1/26 Requires healthcare facilities to permit terminally ill patients to use medical marijuana. 

National Alliance for Care at Home responds to GAO report regarding Medicare hospice payment The National Alliance for Care at Home (The Alliance), Alexandria, VA; Press Release; 6/9/26 The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) today responded to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommending that Congress consider directing the Department of Health and Human Services to restructure the Medicare hospice payment system to better promote routine home care payment efficiency. ... The GAO report asserts that shifting hospice to per-visit payment rates comparable to home health would have reduced Medicare spending by $7.6 billion for a selected group of beneficiaries in 2024. However, these savings are generated in part by paying less to “low visit” hospices that are concentrated in known high-fraud areas. ... 

Every bead tells a story: Carolina Caring Foundation invests $5,000 in Beads of Courage® program for children facing serious illness Carolina Caring; Press Release; 6/8/26 For children living with serious illness, every milestone matters. These moments of achievement can include completing a medical treatment, overcoming a hospital stay, celebrating a birthday, or reaching a personal goal for the first time. To help create more of these meaningful moments, the Carolina Caring Foundation has awarded a $5,000 Gift Back Grant to the Cardinal Kids Beads of Courage® program. This grant supports one of the many life enrichment experiences offered to pediatric patients and families served by Carolina Caring. Beads of Courage® is a nationally recognized program that honors the journeys of children facing complex medical conditions.