Literature Review

Trump: JD Vance will be new fraud czar, focus on 'blue states' UPI (United Press International); by Lisa Hornung; 4/3/26 Vice President JD Vance is now the government's fraud czar, according to President Donald Trump, and he will focus on "blue states."

CMS Hospice Wage Index Panel: Key insights for access, staffing, and care delivery Abt Global | Centers for Medicare & Medicaid; by Michael Plotzke, T.J. Christian, Matt Knowles, and Anne St. George; meeting held on 9/10/25, report  published 11/24/25The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released both a summary and technical report from its September 2025 Technical Expert Panel on the hospice wage index—offering a closer look at how geographic wage adjustments may evolve. Beyond methodology, the reports carry meaningful clinical and operational implications. Refinements to the wage index influence how resources are distributed across regions, shaping workforce capacity, interdisciplinary team stability, and ultimately patient access to timely, high-quality hospice care. For leaders, these findings underscore the connection between payment policy and bedside realities—particularly in rural and underserved areas where recruitment, retention, and care continuity remain fragile.

Keys to reinvigorating hospice quality Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 3/24/26 Health care disparities across a swelling aging population are driving a need for evolutionary change in hospice quality standards. ... Staffing shortages are playing a more significant role in the push for regulation changes, Hospice Analytics CEO Cordt Kassner said. Keeping pace with rising demand and fewer staffing resources has hospices seeking creative avenues, Kassner indicated. Leveraging technology has helped some hospices to improve clinical capacity and staffing ratios. However, more regulatory change that supports expanded hospice and palliative care education and greater transparency around staffing could go a long way in quality improvement, he said. “We can create these staffing ratios, but if they aren’t publicly reported and available how helpful are they?” Kassner said in the assembly. “It makes sense that we would want the experts, the people with the most experience in this field, to be helping to craft the regulations. ..."Editor's Note: Cordt Kassner, PhD, is also the owner and publisher for Hospice & Palliative Care Today.

CMS looks to kill the fax machine McKnights Long-Term Care News; by Kimberly Marselas; 3/23/26 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is moving forward with a interoperability rule that aims to “eliminate” faxing and replace it with universal electronic healthcare claims and documentation exchanges by mid-2028. ... While it applies to all providers covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, including health plans, the new rule could strike fear among the many nursing homes still reliant on faxing or other manual communication methods for referrals and approvals.

MedPAC debates hospice payment updates via outlier, add-on payments Inside Health Policy; by Sigi Ris; 3/17/26 When it comes to addressing hospice provider’s high-cost treatments for patients with end-stage renal disease or cancer, Congress’ Medicare advisors seemed to support updating the hospice payment system with outlier payments rather than an add-on payment and commissioners debated the merits of creating a transitional care model for those patients that would reduce barriers to these support services. [Full access requires subscription, with option for 30 days free access.]

Alliance concerned by MedPAC’s misguided 2026 home health and hospice payment recommendations National Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandira, VA and Washington, DC; Press Release; 3/13/26The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) is deeply concerned by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC) March 2026 Report to Congress: Medicare Payment Policy. MedPAC’s congressionally mandated report provides analysis and recommendations on various Medicare programs, including home health and hospice. The Commission’s findings focus on payment adequacy, access to care, quality, financial performance, and projections for 2026 and beyond. The Alliance previously expressed concern in response to MedPAC’s vote in January 2026.

Hospice nurse weekend visit rates, by state Becker's Hospital Review; by Elizabeth Gregerson; 3/11/26 ... CMS collects skilled nursing visit data, submitted directly by hospice providers, from Medicare hospice claims, and from the Hospice Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey, through the Hospice Quality Reporting Program. The national percentage of hospice nurse visits provided during the weekend was 9.6%. Here are the percentage of weekend skilled nursing minutes provided between Jan. 1, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2024, by state, according to CMS: ...

Infographic: Compliance you can’t ignore HR Daily Advisor Staff; by HR Daily Advisor Staff; 1/21/26 In the age of AI and remote work, HR leaders are dealing with tough compliance challenges, and they must have strategies to keep everything straight and in order for their organizations. Want to learn best practices and what HR leaders should do right now to deal with compliance issues such as AI governance, leave laws, classifying workers, remote and global jurisdictional risk, data privacy, and employee monitoring/surveillance? Check out our infographic to ensure you’re as proactive as possible.

Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Programs: Nationwide Temporary Moratoria on enrollment of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) supplier medical supply companies Federal Register; by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; 2/27/26 Summary: This notice announces the imposition of a 6-month nationwide moratorium on the Medicare enrollment of DMEPOS supplier medical supply companies. Background: ... Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Pub. L. 111-148), as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-152) (collectively known as the Affordable Care Act), Congress provided the Secretary with new tools and resources to combat fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

14th Annual healthcare fraud & abuse review 2025 JD Supra; by Theresa Androff, Cody Anthony, Denise Barnes, Michael Bassham, Angela Bergman, Justin Brown, Nathan Brown, J. Taylor Chenery, Hannah Choate, Matthew Curley, John Eason, Charlotte Elam, Emily Ann Farmer, Lindsey Brown Fetzer, Emily Fountain, Lauren Gaffney, Scott Gallisdorfer, Anna Grizzle, Becca Guthrie, Stephanie Higdon, Brian Irving, Stewart Kameen, Travis Lloyd, Andrés Martinez, Garrah Carter-Mason, William Mathias, Jennifer Michael, Jack Nelson, Benjamin Peterson, Brianna Powell, Lisa Rivera, Brian Roark, Molly Ruberg, Taylor Sample, Reagan Schmidt, Ben Schrader, Danielle Sloane, Hannah Webber; 2/17/26 Bass, Berry & Sims is pleased to bring you our 14th annual Healthcare Fraud & Abuse Review in which we cover significant civil and criminal enforcement issues for healthcare providers. Please see full publication below for more information. ...

Medicare crackdown on hospice affiliations threatening providers Bloomberg Law; by Patric Hooper, Jordan Kearney, and Maydha Vinson; 2/18/26 A new federal enforcement trend is sending shockwaves through California’s hospice sector and beyond. Health care providers are discovering that their Medicare enrollment, and often their entire practice, can be jeopardized simply because of whom they once worked with, not because of anything they personally did. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services calls it affiliation. Under federal regulations, CMS or its contractors can revoke a provider’s Medicare enrollment if the agency determines that an affiliation poses an “undue risk” of fraud, waste, or abuse. 

Forefront Living Hospice agreed to pay $1.9 million for allegedly violating the Civil Monetary Penalties Law by submitting claims for services that identified the incorrect provider or were performed by non-enrolled or incorrect providers HHS-OIG, U.S. Government; 1/30/26 After it self-disclosed conduct to OIG, Forefront Living Hospice d/b/a Faith Presbyterian Hospice and d/b/a T. Bonne Pickens Hospice and Palliative Care Center (Forefront), Dallas, Texas, agreed to Pay $1,959,718.74 for allegedly violating the Civil Monetary Penalties Law. OIG alleged that Forefront billed for: (1) hospice services provided by "attending physicians" who were nurse practitioners, but billed as if they had been performed by physicians; and (2) "attending physician" services performed by an attending physician who was not the physician chosen by the patient or where the provider was not properly enrolled in Medicare.

Vance to lead sweeping anti-fraud task force investigating California Before It's News; Press Release; 2/4/26 Vice President JD Vance is poised to chair a new White House task force aimed at rooting out potential fraud and abuse in government programs in California, according to CBS News. Andrew Ferguson, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, is expected to serve as the task force’s vice chairman and handle day-to-day operations, CBS News reports. President Donald Trump is anticipated to issue an executive order in the coming days to formally establish the group, the news outlet said.