Literature Review

Home health services drive elevated medical costs for UnitedHealth Group Home Health Care News; by Morgan Gonzales; 10/28/25 Home health services are touted as cost-saving for payers, and industry stakeholders often advise providers to share data demonstrating these savings with payers and policymakers. The cost-saving nature of home health may not always be evident, however. UnitedHealth Group reported that home health services have contributed to elevated medical cost trends when discussing Medicaid margins on the company’s third-quarter earnings call.

26 health system rating downgrades Becker's Hospital Review; by Andrew Cass; 10/30/25 Multiple hospitals and health systems have suffered downgrades to their financial ratings this year amid rising expenses, ongoing operating losses and challenging work environments. Here are 26 hospitals and health systems that received credit rating downgrades from Fitch Ratings or Moody’s Investors Service in 2025: ...

Life beyond the grave: These morticians are both conservation heroes and undertakers Sierra - The Magazine of the Sierra Club; by Marin Scotten; 10/31/25 ... Freddie Johnson could never see himself lying in a traditional cemetery. The idea of being buried with concrete, metal, and wood—materials that would stay in the ground forever—didn’t sit right with him. Cremation, the other conventional end-of-life option, also seemed jarring. ... Everything changed when he learned about natural or “green” burials while attending a community potluck more than 15 years ago. The relatively niche end-of-life movement uses entirely biodegradable products in the burial process and aims to connect human death to the natural world by restoring and protecting nature.

55% of healthcare executives plan to change roles within 3 years: SurveyBecker's Hospital Review; by Kristin Kuchno; 10/17/25More than half of healthcare executives plan to leave their roles within the next three years, according to a report from LHH, an executive search firm. Here are six more things to know from two 2025 surveys...

Study: Nearly two-thirds of nursing home residents were exposed to med combos linked to potential drug-drug interactions McKnights Long-Term Care News; by Foster Stubbs; 10/17/25 About 62% of nursing home residents experienced one or more drug-drug interactions (DDI) between 2018 and 2020, according to an October study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Researchers examined 485,251 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries 66 years or older living in nursing homes with observable Medicare Part D prescription drug data. Data were drawn from Medicare claims linked to Minimum Data Set 3.0 clinical assessments. 

America’s best home health agencies 2026 Newsweek; by Alexis Kayser; 10/10/25 With over 10,000 agencies operating across the United States, narrowing the field to find trusted, high-quality care can be daunting. To help guide that process, Newsweek and global data intelligence firm Statista are proud to introduce the inaugural ranking of America’s Best Home Health Agencies 2026, highlighting top providers in the 25 states with the highest number of home health agencies, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. ... This year’s list recognizes 300 top providers across the country, evaluated on four data sources: quality metrics, peer recommendations, patient experience and accreditations. ... [Click here for the list.]

Alzheimer’s Association, Maine Chapter sees largest turnout for annual fundraiser walk WABI-5, Bangor, ME; by Grace Bradley; 10/11/25 For more than two decades, folks have hit the streets of Bangor to help raise money and awareness for Alzheimer’s. On Saturday, Maine’s chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association says they saw the largest crowd yet of about 400 people for their largest annual fundraiser. “We provide free care and support for families and community members walking through this disease, whether it’s Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. So what we do enables us to do everything for free. But we also take a portion of that money and put it towards research,” explains Kris Baker, Development Manager of Alzheimer’s Association Maine. Editor's Note: Do you support and partner with the Alzheimer's Association?

A CMO's guide to offering home health services HealthLeaders; by Christopher Cheney; 10/6/25 Offering home health services to patients after hospitalizations generates several benefits, including improved patient satisfaction, reduced readmissions, and lower cost of care. Key Takeaways:

Stamford-area seniors can now enjoy free daytime care Evergreen, Stamford, CT; by Evergreen Daytime Senior Care and CT Hospice; 10/3/25Thanks to a groundbreaking Medicare initiative, seniors living with dementia now qualify for benefits that help cover the cost of adult daytime care. Designed to improve quality of life, the GUIDE (Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience) Model, offered by Connecticut Hospice's Stand By Me program, features a full range of valuable services, including care coordination, caregiver education, and an annual respite benefit for up to 25 free days at adult day centers like Evergreen Daytime Senior Care. ... "We're excited to partner with Evergreen to provide high-quality adult day services to families enrolled in the GUIDE Model program," explained Mark Olynciw, GUIDE Program Manager at Connecticut Hospice. "Having trusted partners like Evergreen ensures our families have excellent options for their respite benefits."

Nevada hospital wins half-billion fraud verdict against Universal Health Services Reno Gazette Journal; by Jason Hidalgo; 9/29/25, updated 9/30/25 Saint Mary’s Health Network earned a big win in court after a jury awarded it half a billion dollars in its case against Universal Health Services. A jury in Washoe County awarded the Prime Healthcare affiliate $510 million after it found Universal Health Services liable for fraud against Saint Mary’s during the COVID-19 pandemic. The verdict included punitive damages. "This verdict affirms that the weaponization of corporate power, betrayal of physician trust, theft of proprietary information, and reckless endangerment of patients will not be tolerated,” said Saint Mary’s Health Network CEO Derrick Glum in a statement. “The verdict restores justice and allows our hospital’s mission to serve our community with compassion and dignity to endure.”

Report sounds alarm about private equity’s growing involvement in PACE McKnights Home Care; by Adam Healy; 9/24/25 The Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), a program funded by Medicare and Medicaid, is an increasingly attractive target for private equity investors. This may be a cause for concern, according to a new report by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project. “Private equity sees PACE as a guaranteed revenue stream, not a care model,” Michael Fenne, report author and PESP’s senior healthcare research coordinator, told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse Wednesday in an email. “The result is that PACE, once a nonprofit-driven model focused on keeping seniors healthy at home, is increasingly being treated as a financial opportunity for investors.”

Study provides new insight into loneliness among home care recipients McKnights Home Care; by Paul Katz, MD and Barbara Resnick, PhD; 9/22/25 ... A team of international Investigators, led by researchers at the University of Waterloo, recently reported on the link between loneliness and mortality among home care recipients in Canada, Finland and New Zealand. The study can be found in the July issue of the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (Vol 26 (7) 105687 July 2025). ... Home care recipients may be more prone to loneliness, given mobility and sensory problems that limit engagement in the community.  ... Interestingly, investigators noted that individuals with less informal care had the highest rates of loneliness. An explanation may be that those with less complex health needs requiring  less support from family members may lead to more social isolation.

Americans choosing cremation at historic rates, NFDA report finds National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), Brookfield, WI; Press Release; 9/18/25 Americans are choosing cremation more than ever before, setting a new milestone in funeral service trends for 2025. According to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) 2025 Cremation & Burial Report, the U.S. cremation rate will reach 63.4% this year, more than double the projected burial rate of 31.6%. These shifting preferences reflect lasting changes in family priorities, funeral profession practices and cultural attitudes. Key 2025 Report Highlights: