Literature Review

Hospices worry patients will be unfairly punished amid fraud crisis The Washington Post | KFF Health News; bu Laurie Udesky; 7/26/26 Health policy researchers and hospice administrators worry that the negative attention on the industry and potential for overly punitive regulations could put California patients and taxpayers on the losing end. “The fraud situation has done a lot of damage to the reputation of hospices overall and undone a lot of the progress that had been made in destigmatizing hospice,” said Lauren Hunt, an associate professor at the University of California at San Francisco’s Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies who focuses on hospice care. “Policymakers should pursue targeted strategies that root out fraud and abuse without overburdening the many providers who are doing the right thing.”

Poverty level affects end-of-life care in adolescent and young adult cancer patients  Cancer Therapy Advisor; by Liam Andrew DAvenport, MA; 7/24/26 Adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients from high-poverty neighborhoods face disparities in end-of-life (EoL) care, according to research published in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. AYA patients from high-poverty neighborhoods have more emergency department visits and hospitalizations, and less hospice use, than their low-poverty counterparts, study researchers reported. ... Eligible patients had been diagnosed with cancer and died between 12 and 39 years of age, and were enrolled in one of the participant health systems for more than 90 days prior to their death. 

How would hospice use differ if every Medicare beneficiary were in Medicare Advantage?Journal of Palliative Medicine; by Claire K Ankuda, Karen McKendrick, Melissa Aldridge; 6/26Hospice use is higher in the growing Medicare Advantage (MA) program compared to Traditional Medicare (TM). It is uncertain if this is due to different hospice referral patterns. Among 5153 decedents, 35.3% were in MA at death. Compared to TM decedents, MA decedents were younger, more likely to be Hispanic, less likely to reside in a facility, and less likely to report serious illnesses (dementia, cancer, stroke, heart disease, and lung disease). We estimated that if TM decedents had been enrolled in MA, hospice use would have been 6.1% higher ... This difference was pronounced among those with higher education and serious illnesses in TM: for example, 10.1% higher for those with dementia ... versus without dementia ...

700 rural hospitals at risk of closing, by state Becker's Hospital Review; by Madeline Scheetz; 7/22/26 Seven hundred rural hospitals across the U.S., or about one-third of all rural facilities in the country, are at risk of closing due to severe financial challenges, according to a July 21 Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform analysis. The analysis comprises 264 hospitals that are at immediate risk of closure, according to the report. In almost every state, rural hospitals are at risk of closure. In most states, more than 25% of rural hospitals are at risk and in 11 states, 50% or more are at risk. ... More than 100 rural U.S. hospitals have closed in the past decade, with 110 closing since 2015, according to the report. Fifty-three hospitals have ended inpatient services since the beginning of 2023 to qualify for federal grants only available to rural emergency hospitals.

Sterling Hospice home to close, expected to reopen under new ownership KWQC-6, Sterling, IL; by KWQC Staff; 7/22/26 The Rock River Hospice & Home is closing Aug.1, officials announced Wednesday. The organization, which has been serving people throughout the Sauk Valley area for over 40 years, is closing due to longstanding financial challenges, officials said in a media release. “Changes in healthcare reimbursement, increasing operating costs, and other economic pressures have made it increasingly difficult for standalone hospice providers to remain financially sustainable,” officials said. However, officials said care will continue to be available in the community. 

Nevada hospice industry under scrutiny as families navigate quality care gaps KTNV-13 ABC, Las Vegas, NV; by Abel Garcia; 7/21/26 ... As I've continued to look into hospice care and concerns in Southern Nevada, one issue kept coming up: How do you navigate those decisions? To get a better idea, I spoke to a local family about their experience with hospice care: Mikiya Davis found herself navigating hospice care for the first time when her mother, Deborah Johnson, suffered a stroke, and Davis moved her from California to Las Vegas to care for her, herself. Davis says she eventually realized how much the quality of care, staffing, and support can vary depending on the provider. "I didn't know my rights. It was my first time on hospice, and If you don't know, you just don't know," she said. Without naming the hospices involved, Davis tells me she saw major differences between the provider she started with and the one she transferred to after just a few weeks. ...

Highest Medicare Hospice Utilization Rates Posted in CY 2025!1520ai / Hospice Analytics press release; by Cordt T. Kassner; 7/20/26Medicare hospice utilization reached a record high of 51.9% in calendar year (CY) 2025, according to preliminary analysis by Cordt T. Kassner, PhD. Utilization measures the share of Medicare deaths that occurred under hospice care – a consistent, conservative metric used in annual reporting... States leading the nation in hospice utilization (all >60%) include: Utah (67.7%), Rhode Island (62.1%), Florida (60.2%), and Wisconsin (60.0%)... As previously published , hospice utilization serves as a key indicator of both access and quality in end-of-life care... Data-driven insights like these remain essential for improving care for patients and families nationwide. [Download the entire article, including two detailed graphs, here.]

Mercy Hospice House renamed Garden B; some criticize lack of transparency The Durango Herald, Durango, CO; by Jessica Bowman; 7/20/26 Mercy Hospice House was renamed Garden B after the for-profit arm of CommonSpirit Health Network, Health at Home, assumed responsibility for outpatient hospice services. The name change was required by state regulations, according to Wendy Hockett, the Health at Home representative who spoke with local hospice volunteers during a meeting Wednesday at the hospice offices in Three Springs. Because Mercy Hospital no longer holds Colorado's hospice license, the building can no longer legally be called a "hospice house," she said. The hospice license is now held by CommonSpirit Health at Home. The hospice team will continues to care for patients who are in one of the eight Garden B beds, but Mercy Hospital nurses, trained in both hospice and non-hospice care, will also provide bedside care, she said.

The women running death salons for people of color to process grief: ‘It allows for freedom’ The Guardian; by Melissa Hellman; 7/19/26 In a small cream-colored room at a cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Nefertiti Moor sat at the head of a semicircle. Dressed in black with her long hair in locs, she delivered instructions for the evening discussion. "It's not death counseling or a debate," said Moor. She invited the two women in attendance to talk freely about their cultural associations with dying and grief. Tasha Johnson, who worked in behavioral health, said that she felt desensitized after the recent deaths of several people she knew. She was grappling with "the reality that it can be anyone at any point". The free-flowing conversation about mortality, otherwise known as a death salon or death cafe, was unique in that it was designed for people of color. Death salons for marginalized communities are becoming more common around the country, with practitioners addressing the unique end-of-life concerns of queer, trans, or Black and brown people.

New easy-to-navigate web edition: A history of care - 250 years of American need, service and hope Composing Life Out of Loss, partnered with Hospice & Palliative Care Today; by Joy S. Berger; 7/20/26 Growing out of your overwhelming response to our July 4th, 2026 commemoration, we’re now releasing a new web edition of A History of Care: 250 Years of American Need, Service and Hope to carry this work forward. We invite you to use this living history—in your own setting and across our field—as we write the next chapters of care together.

The Duke Endowment grant award supports first coordinated palliative care program in Robeson County The Robesonian, Lumberton, NC; by Amanda Crabtree; 7/15/26 UNC Health Southeastern was awarded $575,000 from The Duke Endowment to establish Robeson County’s first coordinated hospital-to-community palliative care program in partnership with Lower Cape Fear LifeCare. The investment represents a significant step forward in expanding access to compassionate, patient-centered care for an estimated 400 patients with serious illness while strengthening the healthcare continuum across Robeson County. By creating a seamless connection between hospital care and community-based services, the initiative will ensure that patients receive the right care, at the right time, in the setting that best meets their needs.

Japan pushes to expand children’s hospices through new consultation service Europe Says, Osaka, Japan; Press Release; 7/15/26 For children with life-limiting illnesses or severe disabilities, even simple experiences such as playing freely or having friends stay overnight can be difficult. Children’s hospices aim to make such experiences possible while also providing support for their families, and efforts are underway to expand the number of these facilities in Japan. Tsurumi Children’s Hospice in Osaka, which opened in 2016, launched a consultation service in April to help people establish similar facilities across the country.