Literature Review

Hawai'i Attorney General rejects characterization of Medicaid fraud enforcement and defends state's enforcement record Hawai'i Free Press, Honolulu, HI; by News Release from Department of the Attorney General; 5/14/26The Department of the Attorney General today rejected recent claims that Hawaiʻi “isn’t taking Medicaid fraud seriously,” calling the claims by Vice President J.D. Vance false and unsupported by the record. Since 2021, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) has secured or helped secure judgments, settlements and recoveries in 25 cases, totaling $14,094,547.91. Last year, the MFCU secured a $30,000 settlement against a Medicaid provider for fraudulent billing. Earlier this year, the MFCU secured another Medicaid fraud settlement in the amount of $208,317.69. The MFCU also filed criminal charges earlier this year against two individuals, one of whom has already pleaded no contest as charged. [Hawai'i Medicaid Fact Sheet] Editor's Note: This article references "Hawaii's Medicaid coverage for palliative care expected to save the state money," which describes, "Hawaii is the first state to include palliative care in its Medicaid plan."

Palliative care and age-friendly care - CAPC Position Statement CAPC | Center to Advance Palliative Care; Position Statement; 5/11/26 The U.S. health care system is evolving to better meet the needs of a rapidly growing aging population by advancing age-friendly care. CAPC’s position statement outlines how palliative care can accelerate IHI recognition and support success with CMS measures. It also offers practical recommendations for leaders and policymakers to integrate palliative care into age-friendly care.

Palliative care loss hits Durango patients The Durango Herald, Durango, CO | Letters to the Editor; by Stacey Ebel; 4/24/26 My emotions are running high after learning about CommonSpirit Mercy Hospital discontinuing their palliative care program. ... My mother moved here in 2020 with numerous health issues, and I enrolled her in palliative care as I knew that at some point she would need to transition to hospice. Her palliative care nurse practitioner, Jen, visited my mother monthly in her apartment ...  Potential and past patients will now have to go to the ER or their personal PCPs for treatment. Recently, the last palliative care nurse had to discharge 200 patients. 

How a $64 million NIH grant will transform palliative care across lifespan | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Dr. Jean Kutner; 4/8/26 In this episode of TCNtalks / Anatomy of Leadership, host Chris Comeaux sits down with Dr. Jean Kutner—one of the nation’s leading voices in Hospice and Palliative Care research—to unpack a historic moment for the field: a $64 million NIH investment designed to transform care for people with serious illness across the lifespan.  More than just a funding milestone, this initiative represents a long-awaited convergence of advocacy, interdisciplinary collaboration, and national prioritization of Palliative Care research.

Mass AI job replacement? Not in healthcare, CIOs say Becker's Health IT; by Giles Bruce; 3/18/26 While some doomsayers predict that AI will replace human workers en masse, health system CIOs told Becker’s that healthcare, so reliant on the human touch, is safe. But that doesn’t mean duties won’t change dramatically. In late February, an investment analyst scenario outlining economic cataclysm caused by AI momentarily jolted the stock market. The authors, from Citrini Research, imagined white-collar job openings “collapsing” in late 2026, with blue-collar hiring staying “relatively stable.” While healthcare may be best described as “gray-collar,” the sector is still the nation’s largest employer, driving much of the country’s job growth over the past few decades. Could AI change that equation? ...

HCA’s CEO-to-worker pay ratio widens in 2025  Becker's Hospital Review; by Andrew Cass; 3/16/26 Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare CEO Sam Hazen was paid 420 times more than the health system’s median employee in 2025, according to a March 13 proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Hazen’s total compensation was $26,456,606 in 2025. The total compensation of HCA’s median compensated employee was $62,955. The ratio of these amounts was 420:1. 

[United Kingdom] Specialist palliative care has the potential to reduce costs by up to £8,000 per person and improve quality of life, according to new research published in Palliative Medicine Innovation News Network; by Megan Traviss; 3/10/26 Led by researchers at King’s College London, the research considered two modes of palliative care for those living at home and for those in acute hospital settings. As well as significantly reducing the overall cost of care per person, specialist palliative care delivered at home and in the hospital was associated with improved quality of life for patients in their final months. Peter May, Senior Lecturer in Health Economics at King’s College London and lead author of the study, stated: “This is the first study to estimate the economic impact for England.

Value-based models, Medicaid driving palliative care changes in 2026 Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 2/23/26 The palliative care landscape has seen tremendous growth in recent years, according to Brynn Bowman, CEO of the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC). Evolutions in value-based and state-level payment models have played an important role in moving the needle toward greater standardization, Bowman said during Hospice News’ Palliative Care Outlook webinar. ...

MedPAC signals need to bolster Medicare physician payments AMA - American Medical Association; by Tanya Albert Henry; 1/27/26 Influential body backs added 0.5% Medicare pay update but backtracks on linking doctor payment to practice-cost inflation. ... The influential Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) voted in January to address inadequate payment for Medicare physician services under current law, once again underscoring a longstanding policy failure that is widely recognized but remains unresolved. MedPAC voted to recommend an additional 0.5% update on top of the updates specified in current law—0.25% and 0.75%—and will forward that recommendation to Congress. 

The malady of delayed palliative care McKnights Long-Term Care News; by Avi Steinberg; 1/21/26 This article asserts that while nursing homes face increasing pressure to deliver value-based, goal-concordant care, palliative care—one of the most effective tools to achieve these aims—remains underused and introduced far too late. The problem is not a lack of evidence, but systemic barriers: delayed identification, misaligned payment models, and workforce shortages. Earlier integration of palliative care can reduce unnecessary hospitalizations, lower costs, and improve resident and family experience. Treating palliative care as a standard of care rather than a last resort is an operational necessity for long-term care.

Alliance responds to MedPAC vote on home health and hospice payment recommendations National Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC; Press Release; 1/15/26 The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) is alarmed by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC) vote today to approve draft recommendations that would significantly reduce home health payment rates by 7% for calendar year 2027 and eliminate payment updates for hospice care in fiscal year 2027.  ... For hospice, the elimination of payment updates would reduce spending by $250 million to $750 million over one year and between $1 billion and $5 billion over five years. 

Hospice job vacancy rates fall in 2025; nurse wage gains slow Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 12/29/25 Job vacancies among hospice employers dropped to 12.78% in 2025 from 14.03% in 2024. Meanwhile, the rate of pay increases for registered nurses has fallen to 3.58% this year, compared to 2024’s 3.97%. This is according to a new salary and benefits report by the Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service (HCS), the National Alliance for Care at Home and LeadingAge. The report also identified a decline in registered nurse turnover among hospices, to 25.48% from 26.82% year over year.