Literature Review

Power outages can quickly become emergencies for families with home medical devices Hawai'i Public Radio; by Savannah Harriman-Pote; 3/25/26 ... Power outages from this month's storms have sent ripples through the health care system. ... Access to power is crucial for people who rely on certain medical devices like oxygen machines. Faye Mitchell, executive director of North Hawaiʻi Hospice, said these at-home machines allow her patients to receive care in the comfort of their homes. Without electricity to operate them, some of her more vulnerable patients need to go to a hospital. North Hawaiʻi Hospice provides palliative in-home care to about 25 patients spread out across northwest Hawaiʻi Island. One of their patients is a young boy who requires a medical device to breathe properly. "This is a child that's so fragile that when he can't breathe properly, they have to fly to Oʻahu," Mitchell said. "So it's really not a matter of inconvenience. It's really a serious issue." Mitchell said they care for patients as best as they can during power outages. North Hawaiʻi Hospice has a trained safety officer who reviews emergency plans with families, and patients who require oxygen are given extra oxygen tanks if weather conditions might cause the power to go out.Editor's Note: What emergency disaster risks are prevalent for your service areas? Floods, hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, extreme heat, ice, something else? Today, get to know (and bookmark) USA Today's National Power Outage Map Tracker, updated every 15 minutes. For the future, be as ready as possible, using these and other resources.

Special Report - Untapped potential: The power of peer support programs in prisons John Howard Association of Illinois; project led by Kate Eves; March 2026 issue At the time this report was drafted, there were more than 70 Peer Support Programs (PSP) in U.S. carceral facilities identified in operation with a focus on improving health outcomes for incarcerated people with more new programs regularly coming to our attention, in addition to international programs. This project focused on 15 programs across 12 jurisdictions addressing a range of health and well-being areas including mental health, substance abuse and palliative care. [Use Ctrl+F and type "hospice" to find this report's 28 references to hospice.]

Palladium acquires DME Express from WayPoint Private Equity Professional; by John McNulty; 3/26/26 Palladium Equity Partners has agreed to acquire a majority equity interest in DME Express, a provider of durable medical equipment, from WayPoint Capital Partners. ... Palladium’s investment in DME is its second in the hospice industry and the second platform investment for its sixth fund, which has not yet announced a final close and is reportedly targeting $1.5 billion in capital. 

Free webinars: Pediatric concurrent hospice care miniseries, guidance for clinicians: A compassionate, coordinated, and compliant approach National Alliance for Care at Home; Press Release; 3/23/26 This Virtual Training will provide a practical, relevant, and comprehensive overview of Pediatric Concurrent Hospice Care as an approach that allows children and adolescents to receive ongoing disease-directed therapies alongside hospice services. Participants will learn the foundations of Concurrent Hospice Care under Section 2302 of the Affordable Care Act including eligibility criteria, planning and coordination requirements, and interdisciplinary collaborative strategies.

Hospice where staggering 97% of terminal patients survive is accused of defrauding Medicare for $7.45 million CBS News Bay Area; by Adam Yamaguchi, Laura Geller, Rachel Gold; 4/2/26 The FBI arrested a married couple Thursday accused of fraudulently billing Medicare for $7.45 million while running a hospice with a survival rate reported to be more than 97% after five years. They were the first in a series of arrests planned Thursday, federal officials told CBS News. A high survival rate at a hospice provider is one of a series of red flags identified by state auditors for fraud because most people enter hospice care in the final stages of a terminal illness. In past cases of fraud, operators were found to be using false or stolen identities to collect federal reimbursements for palliative care. The targets of the early-morning operation were Gladwin and Amelou Gill, a doctor and psychologist who co-own 626 Hospice, which does business as St. Francis Palliative Care, according to the FBI. 

American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine announces 2026 annual Presidential Citation HonoreesPR Newswire; by American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; 2/3/26The three honorees this year are the

Haven Hospice simulations help caregivers understand dementia Levy Citizen, Chiefland, FL; by Antoniette Meyer; 3/19/26 A program offered by Haven Hospice is helping caregivers, medical professionals and community members better understand what daily life can be like for someone living with dementia. ... Through Haven’s Dementia Care Program, participants can take part in hands-on simulations designed to replicate some of the sensory and cognitive challenges people with dementia experience. During the exercises, attendees may wear specialized goggles or gloves, listen to music or attempt tasks that simulate symptoms such as vision loss, hearing impairment, reduced motor function and changes in perception. ... Attendees who participate in the simulations often report that the experience is eye-opening, helping them develop greater empathy and learn ways to communicate more effectively with people living with dementia.Editor's Note: Experiential education like this offers something lectures alone cannot—an embodied understanding of what it may feel like to live with dementia. These kinds of empathy-building simulations are not only powerful, but also adaptable for many settings. Consider how similar approaches could support your interdisciplinary team, volunteers, and non-clinical staff—especially those who both contribute to patient care in meaningful ways and navigate dementia in their own families.

The good deaths of people who never marry: Lifelong single people are most likely to die pain-free and at peace. Psychology Today; by Bella DePaulo, PhD; 3/8/26 People who are single and want to stay that way are often taunted with scare stories about what will happen to them toward the end of their life—they will grow old alone, they will die alone, and all the rest. Same for people who have no children. But is the quality of the end of their lives really worse for those who never marry (or never have kids) than it is for those who are married, remarried, divorced, or widowed (or who have grown children)? We now have an answer, and it is not at all what those dire warnings predicted.Editor's Note: This Psychology Today article provides a new lens in the research we shared on 3/20/26, “We make our own families”: Do child-free people die alone? Hospice worker shares her experience. Important: “child-free” does not necessarily mean a person never married, and “never married” does not necessarily mean a person is child-free. Together, they raise a deeper question: is a “good death” defined by traditional family—or by the presence of meaning, connection, and peace, however we choose to build it?

Building health equity for Minnesota’s Hmong community: The role and impact of the HmongHmong Studies Journal; by Yeng M. Yang; 2/26This article examines the health care experiences of Hmong refugees in Minnesota and the U.S. since the late 1970s, highlighting major public health challenges as well as notable progress reflecting their resilience. It highlights how Hmong Americans have navigated obstacles to health care such as language barriers, cultural differences, and limited access to culturally competent healthcare, while emphasizing the vital role of the Hmong Health Care Professionals Coalition (HHCPC/ The Coalition).

Oversight Committee launches investigation into rampant taxpayer fraud in California hospice programs U.S. Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Washington, DC; Press Release; 3/23/26Following alarming reports that California officials failed to properly safeguard federal funds, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Oversight Committee Republicans today launched an investigation into rampant taxpayer fraud in California’s hospice programs. ... The Oversight Committee is now requesting documents and communications regarding California’s oversight and internal controls to detect and prevent fraud for its federally funded hospice programs.Editor's Note: CMS Testimony at the Oversight Committee by Kim Brandt, Deputy Administrator & Chief Operating Officer, CMS. 

MedPAC: March 2026 Report to CongressMedPAC Reports; 3/12/26Medicare Benefit: National health care spending grew rapidly in 2023 and 2024, by 7 percent in each of these years. By 2024, national health care spending totaled $5.3 trillion. Health care spending has made up an increasing share of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) over time, rising from about 13 percent of GDP in 2000 to 18 percent in 2024. Medicare spending grew more rapidly than national health care spending in 2023 and 2024 (by 9 percent and 8 percent, respectively), in part due to changes in Part D financing that shifted more of the cost of prescription drug coverage from beneficiaries to the federal government. By 2024, Medicare spending totaled $1.1 trillion—equivalent to 21 percent of national health care spending and 3.8 percent of GDP. (Please see the full report here for additional detail.)