Evacuations, rescues and 1 arrest made amid flooding July 3 and 4 
Des Moines Register, Des Moines, IO; by Tyler Jett and Kyle Werner; 7/3/26 
Residents of an apartment complex and a hospice center in northeast Des Moines were evacuated from their homes by rising floodwaters on Friday morning. UnityPoint Health spokesperson Mark Tauscheck said in a Friday, July 3, email that the Des Moines Fire Department told employees to move the system's five patients at Taylor House, a hospice center in the 3400 block of East Douglas Avenue. The staff moved the patients to UnityPoint's Methodist West Hospital in West Des Moines. "The health and safety of our patients is our highest priority," Tauscheck said. "Our teams are working quickly and compassionately."

Hospice in the spotlight – audits, PEPPER, and patient autonomy 
RACmonitor; by Ronald Hirsch, MD, FACP, ACPA-C, CHCQM, CHRI; 7/1/26 
.. why talk hospice now? Because it seems to be hospice’s time to be in the spotlight. ... Last week you likely heard about a big U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) $6.5 billion fraud takedown. Included in that was another hospice fraud scheme that included a funeral home employee who sold information on recently deceased people to a fraudster who then submitted claims for hospice services that were never provided. ...Then, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER) for hospice organizations. And to top it off, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released an audit of hospice claims finding that Medicare paid over $255 million for patients who were not eligible for hospice care. ...

Hospice & Palliative Care of the Piedmont announces Dr. Nancy Hart Wicker as chief executive officer and chief medical officer 
Index Journal; by Staff Writer; 7/2/26
Hospice & Palliative Care of the Piedmont [Charlottesville, VA] has appointed Nancy Hart Wicker, MD, FAAHPM, as chief executive officer and chief medical officer, effective immediately. Hospice & Palliative Care of the Piedmont is the only locally governed, nonprofit hospice in the region with a CMS five-star rating, indicating the highest quality of care. The organization brings 45 years of service, clinical expertise, and community-based decision-making from its clinical staff, leadership, and volunteer board of directors.

7 ways palliative care can help people with ATTR-CM
Everyday Health; by Abby McCoy, RN; 7/3/26 
Transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR-CM), a rare type of heart failure, can cause symptoms that affect more than just your heart, and many of them can lower your quality of life. But palliative care, or care meant to provide symptom relief, comfort, and support, can help you live better with this condition. ... Here’s how your palliative care team can help you manage life with ATTR-CM and feel your best.

1. Help You Understand and Explain ATTR-CM ...
2. Adjust Your Treatment to Manage Symptoms ...
3. Give You Emotional and Practical Support ...
4. Coordinate Communication Between Your Providers ...
5. Manage Your Fatigue ...
6. Plan for the Future ...
7. Treat Your Sleep Problems ...

'A big win' | Georgia expands medical cannabis access with new law, boosting patient treatment options 
WMAZ-13 CBS; Macon, GA; by Maggie Fitzgerald; 7/3/26 
Georgia’s medical cannabis program is expanding under the newly enacted Putting Georgia’s Patients First Act, a law that supporters say significantly broadens patient access while reshaping how medical cannabis is produced, distributed and dispensed across the state. The law, which took effect July 1, overhauls several core parts of Georgia’s medical cannabis framework. It eliminates the state’s previous 5% THC concentration cap and instead regulates products by the total amount of THC they contain and how much a registered patient can purchase over a given period.

Guardianship and hospice care fail dying patients 
MedPage Today's KevinMD.com; by Kirsten Engel, MD & Madha Tripathi; 6/3/26 
“Mr. L” is alone, lying flat on his back in a slightly inclined bed, eyes squeezed shut, hands raised in the air as immobile fists. He has not spoken in weeks. ... The medical team calls it catatonia, a severe psychiatric syndrome that has rendered him mute, immobile, and medically fragile. The psychiatric care team has recommended comfort measures, and our hospice team is ready to accept him. ... Mr. L cannot access hospice because an overworked stranger appointed by the court has not yet returned the hospital’s calls. This is a guardian, a professional fiduciary who has never met Mr. L, who must sign the papers first. So we wait for the court to hold a hearing to approve the order. And Mr. L, still, silent, and suffering, waits with us.

Civility requires the willingness to engage - a dispute with a neighbor revealed how much motivation matter 
The Conversation; by Deborah Mower; 7/2/26 
... I’m an ethicist and moral psychologist who researches moral conviction and civility, which I treat as a respectful approach toward conflict resolution. I’ve spent my career studying misunderstandings and disagreements. I teach students ways to better navigate differing interpretations, complex conversations, moral dilemmas and bitter disputes. Civility research matters for ethics education across every discipline, especially fields such as law or medicine where contentious political and moral disagreements are likely to arise. Consider, for instance, the tense conversations between healthcare professionals who disagree about whether the best course of treatment for a patient is to turn to hospice services.

Expose Hospice Los Angeles County fraud now—whistleblowers guide 
News Daily; by Simone Barbon; 7/3/26 
Hospice Los Angeles County fraud cases have drawn national attention in 2026, and whistleblowers supplied the first usable evidence that turned audits into arrests. Their reports documented phantom patients, stolen identities, and providers billing Medi-Cal and Medicare for care never delivered. Recent enforcement actions show how those tips translated into criminal charges and committee hearings.

• State charges hit 21 suspects ...
• Congress opens oversight review ...
• CBS maps the physical footprint ...
• Federal arrests follow tips ...
• Earlier audits raised flags ...
• Whistleblower protections in play ...
• Media keeps the story visible ...
• Organized crime ties surface ...
• Next steps for reporting ...
• Insider evidence drives change ...

Errors in billing in the United States may result in severe civil or even criminal penalties 
Spilman Thomas & Battle; by Christopher R. Arthur, William S. Thompson; 7/1/26 
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has ratcheted up its efforts to pursue actions against corporations, healthcare entities, and individuals, including physicians, for false Medicare or Medicaid billing and COVID-19-related loans. ... As part of this announcement, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) suspended 1,079 providers and revoked billing privileges for 1,403 providers. ... In addition to allowing the United States to pursue perpetrators of fraud on its own, the FCA allows private citizens to file suits on behalf of the government (called “qui tam” suits) against those who have defrauded the government. In the healthcare realm, these suits are often filed by disgruntled employees and patients, but can also be brought by competitors. ...

Straight from the source: AHLA Annual Meeting highlights fraud and abuse enforcement efforts in 2026 and beyond 
Epstein, Becker and Green; by George B. Brees, Caitlin Carlton, and Haily Genaw; 7/2/26 
On the final day of the American Health Law Association’s Annual Meeting in New York, officials from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) gave their own take on their agencies’ ramped-up enforcement efforts regarding health care fraud in mid-2026.

Gerontology student Hope Niedrich speaks to the heart of life, death, and belief 
University of North Carolina Greenville (UNCG), Greenville, NC; by Janet Imrick; 7/2/26 
“How would you like your mom or dad or your grandma or grandpa to be treated?” That question summarizes the ideology of Hope Niedrich, who just defended her capstone project before  the faculty in UNC Greensboro’s [master's] gerontology program. That research, she hopes, will improve care for aging populations, whether they’re in her care or with another professional or family caregiver. “Hopefully, we can all show up and treat these people like we would want the adults in our lives to be treated,” she says. ... For her capstone, she created educational guides for volunteers to bridge cultural and religious differences and ensure end-of-life patients receive the utmost comfort and dignity.

This is your Monday morning reminder that you are powerful beyond measure, that you are capable of pretty much anything you are willing to work for, and that you could change your life today. ~ Unknown