Literature Review

When the right end-of-life care is hardest to access MedPageToday's KevinMD.com; by Denise Mohess, MD; 6/17/26 The cost of health care in America is extraordinarily high, too often funding the wrong type of care. As a geriatric medicine and palliative care physician, I sit with patients and families making end-of-life decisions, weighing life-prolonging measures, optimizing quality of life, defining what matters most to them. Recently, a 100-year-old man with severe dementia, limited mobility, hearing impairment, requiring assistance for his daily needs, was admitted to the hospital with worsening weakness. ... At a time when care should have eased suffering, the system instead added to it, as the care that best honored his wishes was the hardest to access.

CMS recalculates MA star ratings payments in wake of Clover lawsuit Becker's Payer Issues; by Elizabeth Casolo; 6/18/26 CMS is “voluntarily recalculating” 2027 Medicare Advantage quality bonus payment ratings, based on 2026 star ratings, following Clover Health’s successful challenge of the agency’s measures. CMS sent a letter informing health plans June 17. In its reevaluation, CMS will only change a rating if a contract receives a higher quality bonus payment rating than before. The agency removed all Part D and some Part C measures in its review: special needs plan care management, health plan complaints, members choosing to leave, timely appeals decisions, appeals decision reviews, and call center availability of foreign language interpreters and teletypewriters.

CMS proposed rule locks in lower prices and fosters innovation for the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program CMS.gov; Press Release; 6/12/26 A new proposal from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would establish a permanent framework for the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program (“Negotiation Program”), creating a more transparent and sustainable process for lowering drug costs for millions of Medicare beneficiaries. The proposed rule would also create greater long-term certainty for drug manufacturers that participate in negotiations. It includes policies for negotiating and renegotiating high-cost, single-source drugs beginning with initial price applicability year 2029, while continuing to support innovation and strengthen the program.

Honoring Juneteenth: Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Palliative care: ‘This part of medicine gives me the most meaning’ UCLA Health; by Mary-Rose Abraham; 6/16/26 Second annual summit gathers interdisciplinary team of providers ... UCLA Health’s second annual palliative care summit highlighted the specialty’s role in improving quality of life for patients living with serious illness and their families, supporting healthcare teams and advancing patient-centered care. The summit also addressed the importance of a culture of wellness as a hedge to workplace burnout.

Hospice House obtains judgment and defeats contractor’s claim for additional payment Hospice House Foundation of WNC, Inc., Franklin, NC; by Dan Cropper; 6/4/26 Hospice House Foundation of WNC, Inc. announced that it has obtained a court judgment in the amount of $600,000 arising from the incomplete construction of its planned inpatient hospice facility in Franklin. ... The arbitration resulted in a substantial recovery for Hospice House. In addition to obtaining a $600,000 judgment, Hospice House successfully defeated Western Builders’ counterclaim seeking payment of allegedly unpaid contract funds.

Power of rituals and memorialization in the grieving process AfterTalk; by Melissa Calvert; 6/17/26 A ritual is a ceremony of meaning, a continued observance of ceremonies which are repeated routinely are known as rituals. Rituals can either be done in an isolated manner or by gathering lots of people; it varies from person to person. Rituals are held to mark important events in one’s life, for example, birth, wedding, graduation, and death. The main purpose of a ritual is to add meaning to an event to add depth to it, whether secular or spiritual meaning.

HOPE Tool transition fraught with challenges, may be better than past federal initiatives  Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 2/17/26 Implementation of the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool has gone smoothly for some providers, but challenges persist. Some stakeholders also say that this new system doesn’t capture the full scope of hospice quality. At VITAS Healthcare, a subsidiary of Chemed Corp. (NYSE: CHE), the transition to HOPE has gone well compared to past federal initiatives, according to CEO Joel Wherley. However, the ultimate results remain uncertain.

‘Unmet needs’: Clinicians agree spiritual care important in cancer, but do not provide it Healio; by Josh Friedman; 6/17/26 Most clinicians agree that spiritual care is “essential” to taking care of patients with cancer, but only a fraction routinely screen for distress. In a survey of nearly 700 oncologists, hematologists and palliative care clinicians, more than 90% agreed spiritual suffering can negatively affect outcomes, yet many of those respondents reported screening should not be part of their professional role, and less than 15% said they always screened for spiritual distress.

Health brief: Hospice purge ensnares legitimate providers Washington Post Intelligence; by Megan R. Wilson; 6/15/26

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NPHI calls for thoughtful hospice payment reform that rewards high-quality care National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI), Washington, DC; Press Release; 6/16/26The National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI)is calling for thoughtful modernization of the Medicare Hospice Benefit while raising concerns about recommendations contained in a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that could fundamentally alter the hospice benefit and potentially lead to substantial changes in provider reimbursement. NPHI is exploring potential reforms to the current hospice payment structure, including steps to reduce incentives for bad actors and poor-quality care by lowering the hospice aggregate cap, and reallocating dollars within the existing payment methodology to better compensate high-quality, mission-driven providers caring for the sickest patients. NPHI believes these types of reforms would better align reimbursement with patient needs, preserve the core principles of hospice care, and encourage providers to deliver care based on patient need rather than financial incentives. ...