Literature Review

SCAN continues to expand PACE business amid regulatory hurdles Becker's Payer Issues; by Jakob Emerson; 9/9/25 With its second Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly center now open in South Los Angeles, SCAN Group is pressing ahead with a care model that faces steep regulatory challenges. The new 33,000-square-foot facility in Compton will provide low or no-cost medical, social and in-home services for seniors eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. The center builds on myPlace Health’s first PACE site, which opened near downtown Los Angeles in 2024. The two centers now serve 136 members, with enrollment expected to exceed 150 in the coming months. 

COUNTDOWN: 15 Days Until HOPE Tool Starts, October 1, 2025 

Research digs into costs, opportunities in hospice, palliative care Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 9/9/25 Researchers have recently uncovered significant financial trends taking shape in hospice and palliative care. Issues examined relate to cost-effectiveness, Medicare Advantage spending patterns, caregivers’ financial challenges and the cost-effectiveness of palliative care.

The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. ~ Vince Lombardi

Caregiving under the Medicare Hospice Benefit JAMA Internal Medicine - Viewpoint Aging and Health; by Helen P. Knight, MD; Richard E. Leiter, MD, MA; Harry J. Han, MD; 9/8/25 As palliative care physicians, we frequently refer patients to hospice care. When we do so, we often worry about them. How will they and their families manage custodial care—the day in, day out, physical and financial demands of caregiving—on top of navigating the inherent challenges of end of life? We know that high-quality hospice agencies provide patients and their families with invaluable support for symptomatic, emotional, and spiritual needs. But in the US, due to constraints of Medicare reimbursement, hospice agencies provide only limited custodial care support; this lack of assistance often is an unwelcome surprise to our patients and families and profoundly shapes their end-of-life experience.

Husband and wife have emotional reunion after a year apart while dealing with dementia People; by Sam Gillette; 9/4/25 "We are humbled to help turn final wishes into treasured memories," a hospice official says of Everett Linton and his wife. ... An 88-year-old former truck driver from Cincinnati was able to hitch a ride to see his wife for the first time in almost a year, leading to an emotional reunion. “I'm ridin', I'm going to see my wife,” Everett Linton told a reporter from ABC affiliate WCPO from the passenger seat of a semi-truck. The nostalgic ride and reunion on Aug. 22 were organized by his care facility, Luminary Hospice Cincinnati, and the facility where his wife, Patricia, is staying, Majestic Care of Fairfield Assisted Living in Fairfield, Ohio.

How ‘The Pitt' gets death right Hollywood Reporter; by Ingrid Schmidt; 9/8/25 Boasting 13 Emmy nominations and four recent TV Critics Association Award wins, HBO Max's breakout medical drama The Pitt has been widely lauded for its hyperrealistic portrayal of a chaotic, underfunded hospital emergency department. Among the many things the show has been credited for getting right is its nuanced depiction of death and dying. The Pitt cuts deep into the heart of harrowing end-of-life decisions and conversations faced by patients, family members and physicians, as well as the messy emotional aftermath. Editor's Note: Ira Byock, MD--pioneer palliative physician--significantly contributed to The Pitt's death stories. Explore more in our previous posts: Social Media Watch 6/20/25 and “It’s an homage”: Noah Wyle quietly sneaked in a tribute in one of the best episodes of ‘The Pitt’ . Additionally, we thank Dr. Byock for serving as a guest editor in our newsletter. 

When I go, I'm going green KFF Health News; by Paula Span; 9/8/25 More Americans are choosing burials in which everything is biodegradable. ... Although a consumer survey conducted by the National Funeral Directors Association found that fewer than 10% of respondents would prefer a green burial (compared with 43% favoring cremation and 24% opting for conventional burial), more than 60% said they would be interested in exploring green and natural alternatives. “That has to do with the baby boomers coming of age and wanting to practice what they’ve preached,” Webster said. “They’re looking for environmental consistency. They’re looking for authenticity and simplicity.” ... “Do you see a lot of interest in green burials?” I asked the friendly town cemetery commissioner who was showing me around. “I don’t think we’ve had a traditional burial in two years,” he said. “It’s all green.”Editor's Note: What trends are choices for green burials are active in your service areas? Are your teams equipped with relevant referral information? For extensive, reputable research and resources about green burials, examine the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) webpage, Green Burial. 

Nursing homes can disrupt ‘rehabbed to death’ cycle with PDPM-based palliative care Skilled Nursing News; by Kristin Carroll; 9/7/25 ... Skilled nursing facilities can leverage the Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) to provide more palliative care to people near the end of life, helping to drive value-based care goals while improving the patient experience. However, much more needs to be done on the policy level to disrupt the current status quo, in which people commonly go through several care transitions near the end of life, driving up costs across the health care system while patients receive services that are not aligned with their own goals. Enabling concurrent SNF and hospice care is one change that could lead to improvement. These are assertions in the recent article “Rehab and Death: Improving End-Of-Life Care for Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility Beneficiaries,” published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

This is the one question leaders need to ask themselves: To avoid burnout, leaders need to pay attention to their energy levels Forbes - Work Life; by Tim Jack Adams; 9/1/25 You’ve carried the weight of big decisions, the pressure to perform, to lead and deliver, all despite what’s happening behind the scenes. You’ve navigated through uncertainty and change, providing the space for everyone else to thrive. It’s a feeling that the most capable leaders feel. It’s not quite burnout, but a kind of dullness. A slow drain. A fog that creeps in quietly and makes it harder to stay clear, connected, and grounded. ... It's not about time, it's about energy. ... To help people understand and manage their energy, my team and I developed a framework that assesses four key domains in under 60 seconds:

CMS: Annual Change in Medicaid Hospice Payment Rates—ACTIONCMS, Department of Health and Human Services; email from Rory Howe, director; 9/5/25The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the Medicaid hospice rates for FY 2026. They are slightly different than the Medicare rates and should be used when billing for Medicaid hospice patients. This memorandum contains the Medicaid hospice payment rates for federal fiscal year (FY) 2026. The rates reflect changes made under the final Medicare hospice rule published on August 1, 2025 (CMS-1835-F). Please inform your staff and all state agencies in your jurisdiction of these new payment rates, which are effective October 1, 2025. We expect state agencies to share the Medicaid hospice payment rates for FY 2026 with the hospice providers in their state.

Knowledge is power. ~Francis Bacon