Literature Review

[Global] The Real World Charity Challenge surpasses 1,200 volunteer acts in 7 months BusinessWire, Miami, FL; Press Release; 6/1/26 The Real World members have completed 1,251 documented acts of community service through the platform's global Charity Challenge, New Era Learning LLC announced today. ... "The Charity Challenge was designed to test whether members would commit to high-effort work without immediate financial return, and the submission numbers gave us a clear answer," said Mark Berringer, spokesperson for New Era Learning LLC. "The 1,251 verified completions in seven months, across 14 countries and causes ranging from hospice care to environmental cleanup, show that the program's structure works across very different local contexts."Editor's Note: Beyond Compliance — Volunteer hours may fulfill CMS requirements, but what else do they tell you? How intentionally do you use volunteer data to recognize service, strengthen recruitment and retention, and better understand volunteer impact throughout patient and family care?

Bristol Hospice acquires Hope Hospice & Palliative Care Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 6/2/26 Bristol Hospice has purchased Hope Hospice & Palliative Care for an undisclosed amount, expanding its geographic footprint in the South. Established in 2020, Hope Hospice & Palliative Care serves patients across the region of Memphis, Tennessee. The hospice and palliative care provider has built a strong, trusted reputation for high quality across these communities, said Bristol Hospice President and CEO Alex Mauricio. The acquisition represents an opportunity to preserve and expand sustainable access, Mauricio indicated.

CMS reportedly unresponsive to hospice payment suspension rebuttals Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 5/29/26 The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has been largely unresponsive to hospices’ rebuttals to payment suspensions due to suspicion of fraud. Legitimate hospice providers are being swept into CMS’ broader fraud crackdown, with some agencies reportedly facing payment suspensions severe enough to force closures. ... Hospice News has spoken with 10 hospices that have received suspension letters; each indicated that the block on their payments was based on a single metric — live discharges. Suspended hospices have the ability to file a rebuttal seeking to have the payment freeze reversed. However, to date, few hospices have received any response from CMS or its Unified Program Integrity Contractors (UPIC).

State grant supports Navian Hawai'i, expands access to hospice careNavian Hawaii, Honolulu, HI; Press Release; 5/14/26 As federal funding uncertainty continues to impact health care providers nationwide, the Hawaiʻi State Legislature has approved a $450,000 grant-in-aid to Navian Hawaii. The funds will be used to renovate the nonprofit organization’s Kailua Home, helping expand access to hospice care and potentially increase Medicare funding for the state. The funding was included in the state’s supplemental budget bill finalized April 30, which outlines operating and capital improvement priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. The measure comes amid broader federal budget concerns, including proposed cuts to Medicaid under H.R. 1.

First do no harm: communication surrounding non-beneficial treatments American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Cassie Stanzler, MD, Adam Marks, MD, MPH, and Laura Taylor, MD, MSc; 5/21/26 Despite a consensus in the medical community that clinicians should not offer non-beneficial treatments (NBTs) to their patients, little guidance exists on the particular communication needs around this fraught topic. While intended in the spirit of non-maleficence, setting limits around NBTs can be seen by patients and families as abandonment, resulting in conflict. In this paper, we propose a framework to guide Palliative Care clinicians in communicating about these complex issues with patients and families. ... Our framework emphasizes proactive relationship building with patients and families, close attention to their values, and compassionate limit-setting when medically appropriate. 

[United Kingdom] Palliative care beds paused over lack of staffing BBC News, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom; by Laura Coffey; 5/28/26 Palliative care beds have been temporarily taken out of use for end-of-life patients due to an "unexpected shortfall in consultant cover", an NHS trust said. Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) said the six affected beds at Danetre Hospital in Daventry would instead be used for rehabilitation. ... In a statement, NHFT said: "A recruitment process is ongoing, and once the medical cover has been resolved, the beds will switch back to being palliative care beds. 

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

Dying for a change: understanding compassionate release policies in the United States ehospice; by Shivani Kaushki, PhD, MSSW; 5/25/26 As the United States prison population continues to age, the question of how society supports incarcerated individuals at the end of life has become increasingly urgent. ... Conducting a systematic review utilizing rigorous PRISMA guidelines, this study analyzed decades of research examining U.S. compassionate release policies, programs intended to allow terminally ill or severely debilitated individuals to spend their final days in the community instead of a correctional facility.

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.

Lawsuit claims new Iowa hospice unfairly competes for patients and caregivers VoiceofAlexandria.com, Alexandria, MN; by Clark Kauffman; 5/21/26A West Des Moines man is being sued for establishing a hospice program that allegedly competes with his former employer for increasingly scarce healthcare workers. Abode Healthcare Inc., an affiliate of BrightSpring Health Services, is suing Rick W. Breuss III of Sacred Encounter Hospice of Central Iowa in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. ... In August 2025, Abide alleges, Breuss resigned from Abode – six months after he formed Sacred Encounter, a competing hospice care provider.

Mass General Brigham claims 1,400 lives saved hoodline, Boston, MA; by Benjamin Cortez; 5/21/26 Mass General Brigham says a two year, systemwide push to standardize safety checks, expand hospice and roll out predictive analytics sharply cut inpatient deaths, tallying more than 1,400 lives saved in two years by the health system’s own math. Several front line physicians inside those hospitals are not buying it. They argue that shifts in hospice placement and clinical documentation, not overnight miracles in bedside care, probably explain much of the improvement. The result is a rare, very public tug of war between executives celebrating quality rankings and clinicians who say the numbers do not line up with what they see on the wards.

Official Federal Register document with "Announcement of Nationwide Temporary Moratorium on Enrollment of Hospices" Federal Register National Archives; 5/14/26 [On Thursday, 5/14/26,] This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 2026-05-15 and available online at https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2026-09718, and on https://govinfo.gov.

Varied reporting of the CMS Hospice and Home Health Moratorium