CMS reportedly unresponsive to hospice payment suspension rebuttals 
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 5/29/26 
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has been largely unresponsive to hospices’ rebuttals to payment suspensions due to suspicion of fraud. Legitimate hospice providers are being swept into CMS’ broader fraud crackdown, with some agencies reportedly facing payment suspensions severe enough to force closures. ... Hospice News has spoken with 10 hospices that have received suspension letters; each indicated that the block on their payments was based on a single metric — live discharges. Suspended hospices have the ability to file a rebuttal seeking to have the payment freeze reversed. However, to date, few hospices have received any response from CMS or its Unified Program Integrity Contractors (UPIC).

Awards and Recognitions: May 2026

• The National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI) honored three outstanding leaders and organizations whose work has shaped the field:
• Jay Mahoney, former President of the National Hospice Organization with the 2026 Lifetime in Excellence Award. Jay was recognized for his many decades of leadership and advocacy that helped establish and make permanent the Medicare hospice benefit and strengthen the national hospice movement.
• Edward W. Martin, MD, MPH, FACP, FAAHPM with the 2026 Chirag Patel Legacy Award. Dr. Martin was honored for nearly 40 years of compassionate clinical leadership and dedication to patients and families.
• Abraham A. Brody, PhD, RN, FAAN and the NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing with the 2026 Healthcare in Action Innovation Award, recognized for advancing care delivery and improving outcomes, particularly for individuals living with dementia.
• Modern Healthcare named these organizations as "Best Places to Work in Healthcare 2026"
• Carolina Caring, in Newton, NC
• Chapters Health System, multi-state
• Compass Regional Hospice in Centreville, MD
• Four Seasons, The Care You Trust, in Flat Rock, NC
• Nathan Adelson Hospice, in Las Vegas, NV
  
• Teleios Collaborative Network, in Flat Rock, NC 
• Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice of the Wabash Valley, Terre Haute, IN

Lawmakers boost grant awards for local nonprofits 
The Honolulu Star, Honolulu, HI; by Andrew Gomes; 6/1/26 
About 170 Hawaii nonprofits providing food, healthcare and other services are slated to share $40 million in legislative grants this year. ... ... This year, the biggest award was $1 million for Hospice of Hilo [doing business as Hospice of Hilo] ...  in part to help the organization build a workforce training center in Hilo that would help turn out a new generation of palliative care professionals to serve more Hawaii island community members.

Minster Baseball Hospice Night raises record $8,000 for Grand Lake Hospice 
Mercer County Outlook, Minster, OH; by Mercer County Outlook Staff; 5/30/26 
The Minster Wildcats baseball program once again brought the community together for a meaningful cause during its annual “Minster Baseball Hospice Night,” raising a record $8,000 this year to benefit Grand Lake Hospice. ... In addition to fundraising, Hospice Night serves as a time of remembrance and recognition for local families who have been touched by hospice care. The Minster baseball program continues to honor those individuals, reinforcing the personal connections that make the event so impactful. 

Tree of Life supporting hospice patients set up at YMCA 
Beatrice Daily Sun, Beatrice, NE; by Christina Lyons; 5/28/26
The Cottonwood Hospice Charitable Foundation Tree of Life was set up on Wednesday morning at the YMCA in Beatrice. The tree is to honor the memory of those individuals who have been touched by local hospice services. Each leaf on the tree signifies a donation made to the foundation in memory of a loved one. The foundation uses the funds from the leaves to provide support to hospice patients. ... In addition to the tree, there are fliers and information for Cottonwood Hospice and the foundation in the lobby of the YMCA.

Bridging the gap: a hospitalist-designed, nurse-driven palliative care model in a community hospital 
The Hospitalist; by Natasha Rai Morris, MD, MHA, CHCQM, CRCR, CCDS and Jessica Staton, MSN, MBA, RN, CCM; 6/1/26 
... [The] number of clinicians trained in palliative care is insufficient to meet the increasing demand for goals-of-care and advance care planning discussions. ... To address this gap, a 90-day pilot program was designed and implemented by a hospitalist and registered nurse care manager. The purpose was straightforward: expand access to early goals-of-care conversations, advance care planning, and appropriate hospice referral without waiting for a fully staffed specialty palliative team. ... In short, this model produced measurable documentation gains, earlier advance-care planning, and culture change toward goal-concordant care without requiring a full dedicated palliative team on site.

Sovereign Hospice releases guidance on home setup for end-of-life care 
NEWSnet, Aubrey, TX; by Sovreign Hospice; 5/31/26 
Sovereign Hospice, a Dallas-Fort Worth-based hospice and palliative care provider, has released practical guidance for families preparing to receive end-of-life care at home. ... The guidance covers room selection, durable medical equipment placement, medication organization, caregiver strategies, and a clear explanation of the services hospice offers in a home setting. It is directed at families across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex who are beginning to consider hospice at home service for a loved one with a life-limiting illness.

Compassion fatigue and spiritual care competence amongst palliative care nurses: a moderated mediation model of care quality and job satisfaction 
Journal of Clinical Nursing / Early View; by Enise Sürücü, Funda Veren, Hülya Kulakçı Altıntaş, Büşra Baş, and Zeynep Acar Demir; 5/30/26 
Impact:

• Compassion fatigue is associated with lower palliative care quality and reduced spiritual care competence amongst palliative care nurses.
• Job satisfaction appears to buffer the negative association between compassion fatigue and care quality, highlighting the importance of supportive organizational environments.
• Supporting nurses' occupational well-being may help sustain high-quality, holistic palliative care and strengthen spiritual care competence in clinical practice.

‘Behind the blue’: social work's Abbie Latimer on how to support those who are suffering 
UKNow | University of Kentucky HealthCare, Lexington, KY; by Kody Kiser; 6/1/26 
When someone we care about is going through something painful, many of us struggle with the same question: what do I say? On this episode of “Behind the Blue,” Abbie Latimer, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the University of Kentucky College of Social Work, discusses hospice and palliative care, serious illness communication and how people can better support one another during difficult moments. Latimer also holds an affiliate appointment in the UK College of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Palliative and Supportive Care. 

A month’s worth of fraud busting in 10 notable quotes
HealthExec; by Dave Pearson; 5/26/26
This month, HHS’s Senior Medicare Patrol program designated the first workweek of June Medicare Fraud Prevention Week... Ahead of June 1 to 5, here’s a timeline of fraud-related news, views and developments as captured in concise statements uttered or written in May. [See article for all 10 quotes.]

• ‘We have created a war room at CMS to catch the fraud in real time before the money leaves the federal coffers.’ -CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, MBA (May 4)
• ‘We must stop crushing honest providers and their patients with rules that make them less free than their peers in other nations to provide and receive care.’ -Center for Modern Health analysts Reinier Schuur, PhD, and Colleen Smith, MD (May 13)
• ‘It’s classic big government: Everyone files an audit and it lands with a thud and no one does anything about it. With AI, we’re able to dig into it.’ -HHS Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources Gustav Chiarello, JD (May 21)

Ohio toughens Medicaid fraud prevention with new initiatives 
Epstein Becker Green Law; by Ann Parks; 5/29/26 
On May 13, 2026, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced new Medicaid fraud prevention initiatives focusing on home health and hospice providers from the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM). Governor DeWine also issued an Executive Order on May 18, 2026, directing new emergency rules for multiple provider enrollment enforcement actions including revalidations of identified high-risk providers.

• What You Need to Know ...
• Background: Ohio's Ongoing Effort ...
• What Affected Medicaid Providers Should Do Now ...

June is the time for being in the world in new ways, for throwing off the cold and dark spots of life. ~ Joan D. Chittister