Proposed bill would require MA to pay for hospice care 
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 5/21/25 
Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) has introduced the Medicare Advantage Reform Act, which among other provisions would require health plans to pay for hospice care. If enacted, the bill, numbered H.R. 3467, would make wholesale changes to the Medicare Advantage program. It would mandate capitated payment models, change risk adjustment methodologies and create new exemptions for physician self-referrals, among other provisions. The potential impacts of moving hospice into Medicare Advantage at this time would be “devastating,” according to the National Alliance for Care at Home. 

Navigating the Future: HOPE, Wage Index, and CMS Quality Measures 
Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN; podcast by Chris Comeaux with Annette Kiser and Judi Lund Person; 5/21/25 
What happens when ancient philosophical questions about "the good life" collide with modern healthcare regulations?  In this compelling episode of TCNtalks, host Chris Comeaux welcomes Hospice leaders Annette Kiser, Chief Compliance Officer with Teleios, and Judi Lund Person, Principal, Lund Person & Associates LLC,  for a deep dive into the regulatory crossroads facing hospice providers. In this episode,  we discuss the FY 2026 Proposed Rule, which focused on implementing the HOPE initiative, and two RFIs (Requests for Information) that were part of it. 

Hospice Buffalo begins $3.5M expansion at Cheektowaga campus  
Buffalo Business First, Buffalo, NY; by Tracey Drury; 5/21/25 
An end-of-life donation is funding an expansion at Hospice Buffalo's campus in Cheektowaga. Hospice Buffalo has begun a renovation at its Cheektowaga campus to create an education center. The Andrew J. & Mary Ann Dodges Center will include offices, conference rooms and educational space accessible through a dedicated entrance inside an existing 15,000-square-foot patient services building. The $3.5 million construction project includes renovating 6,000 square feet of underutilized space on the campus at 225 Como Park Blvd. Andrew Dodges, then 95, made a pledge of $6 million in 2023 to fund a center. Dodges was a Buffalo resident whose wife received services through the organization in the 1990s. A portion of the gift also funded the Andrew J. and Mary Ann Dodges fund to support hospice care for others in the community.

Hospice nurse fired after granddaughter shares video of alleged misconduct 
NBC WJAR-10, Providence, RI; by Leanna Faulk; 5/16/25 
A hospice nurse has been fired after a Facebook video posted by the granddaughter of a terminally ill man allegedly caught the nurse verbally abusing him inside HopeHealth Hospice & Palliative Care on Main Street in Providence. Aryanna Pecoraro said she was visiting her 69-year-old grandfather, John Carney, during the early morning hours of May 3 when she overheard a nurse speaking aggressively to him through the closed door of his room. Carney had been admitted to the hospice center on April 30 and was in the late stages of emphysema. “I hear her say to my grandfather, ‘I’m not coming back into this room. I don’t care if you fall out of the bed onto the floor. I’m tired of your BS," Pecoraro said in an interview with NBC 10. “She also mocked him while he groaned in pain. I couldn’t believe someone could be that cruel to a person who couldn’t defend himself.” ... HopeHealth issued the following statement in response to the video and allegations: ...

Sixteen years with leukemia taught me to savor life 
Cure; by Michelle Lawrence; 5/21/25 
I’ve lived with large granular lymphocytic leukemia for 16 years and have learned to spend my energy wisely, embrace palliative care and choose joy over anger. ... It has been an exhausting journey, but I am blessed to have survived 16 years. ... In the beginning, I didn't care; I told everyone because I was treatment-focused, but now I am focused on quality of life. Cancer has robbed me repeatedly. Peers and family members are married and have careers and families. They plan birthday parties and playdates and worry about their kids’ homework. I celebrate the fact that I could take a shower and get dressed by myself. I grieve for those missed opportunities. ... I have recently, in the past couple of years, transitioned into palliative care, a choice I never dreamed of ever making. ... I am a survivor — I am more than my diagnosis. I am not Michelle, the cancer patient; I am Michelle who has cancer. ...

Q&A: Addressing palliative care in dialysis settings 
Physician's Weekly; interview with Jane O. Schell, MD; 5/20/25 
Jane O. Schell, MD, discusses factors that impact use of palliative care in dialysis settings for patients in the United States, as well as potential solutions. 

• Are any strengths or limitations especially noteworthy? ...
• How does palliative care address the needs of patients on dialysis? ...
• What are the greatest barriers to integrating palliative care in this setting? ...
• How do cultural or socioeconomic factors impact access to such care? ...
• What role do patients and families have in decisions about palliative care? ...
• What could improve nephrologists’ ability to provide palliative care? ...
• What further research is needed? ...

What caregivers should know about end-of-life rallies 
 AARP; by Jamie Ducharme; 5/19/25
People with advanced illnesses sometimes experience unpredictable bursts of energy or clarity. Here’s how caregivers should handle these episodes. Roughly a decade after her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Liz Donnarumma got her back — but only for an instant. It happened one evening in 2021, more than a year after Donnarumma first realized her mother, Theresa, didn’t recognize her. Theresa took Donnarumma’s face in her hands, called her by her nickname and thanked her. “When she put her hands on my face and I looked into her eyes, she was totally there. It was my mother,” Donnarumma says. “It was like a second, just one second, and it was gone.” Donnarumma’s mother had an episode of “paradoxical lucidity” — that is, an unexpected burst of mental clarity, despite her advanced condition. While these moments are as unexplained as they are unexpected, experts say they are more common than many people realize. ...

New Mexico legalizes medical use of psilocybin 
JD Supra; by Patrick Clark and Jennifer Pacicco; 5/20/25 
On April 7, 2025, New Mexico became the third state to legalize psilocybin (colloquially known as “magic mushrooms” or “shrooms”) for medical purposes. New Mexico is the first state to legalize psilocybin via legislation and not a ballot initiative, like its predecessors Colorado and Oregon. Under the new law—the “Medical Psilocybin Act”—the following qualifying conditions are listed as eligible for psilocybin treatment: “(1) major treatment-resistant depression; (2) post-traumatic stress disorder; (3) substance use disorders; (4) end-of-life care.” The law also allows the New Mexico Department of Health to promulgate regulations that would add qualifying conditions to that list. ... Employers are not required to accommodate employees under the influence of psilocybin at work.

‘We need you to work with us’: Home health providers renegotiate better Medicare Advantage deals 
Home Health Care News; by Joyce Famakinwa; 5/20/25 
As Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment continues to surge, home health providers have seen slim margins deteriorate further. Some providers have openly expressed their decision to reject financially unsustainable MA contracts. Abandoning unfavorable MA contracts may sometimes be necessary, industry executives told Home Health Care News. However, some providers have improved their MA standing by renegotiating rates or returning after walking away, leveraging data and understanding the needs of payer partners. “We have walked away, in specific states, from payers and Medicare Advantage groups because of rates and the inability to raise those rates, and pre-authorization terms,” G. Scott Herman, CEO of New Day Healthcare, told HHCN. 

White coats, heavy hearts: What to expect as a med student after your first patient death 
Medscape; by David Brzostowicki; 5/21/25 
The first death of a patient represents a profound emotional turning point that reverberates throughout one’s career as a physician. In that critical moment, the shield of clinical detachment gives way to inevitable self-reflection. Daryl Eber, MD, recalls a jarring case of an intubated patient who extubated himself and quickly died after coding. The incident occurred in 2005 while Eber was doing rounds as a medical student at Shands Jacksonville Medical Center (renamed UF Health Jacksonville) in Jacksonville, Florida. Although the patient was not in his direct care, the swiftness with which death took the man has lingered with Eber for two decades. 

How 24 rural hospitals look to improve value-based care 
Modern Healthcare; by Alex Kacik; 5/15/25 
Two dozen critical access hospitals in Montana have created a clinically integrated network, following similar rural provider-led coalitions in other states. The Yellowstone High Value Network, announced Thursday, looks to improve independent rural hospitals’ care models while also lowering their costs. The network, which resembles coalitions launched in Ohio, Minnesota and North Dakota through rural hospital advisory firm Cibolo Health, is designed to give hospitals the combined patient volume and technology infrastructure to expand alternative payment models that are tailored to the rural communities where they operate.

Alliance, Aetna & MissionCare collective unite to strengthen direct care workforce 
HomeCare, Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC; Press Release; 5/19/25 
The National Alliance for Care at Home (The Alliance), Aetna Medicaid, a CVS Health company, and MissionCare Collective have begun a collaborative effort to increase access to home health care for older adults and those with disabilities, and increase supports for direct care workers in Illinois, Louisiana and North Carolina. Initially launching in Illinois, Louisiana and North Carolina, the pilot program is funded by Aetna and brings together two national providers committed to transforming care delivery at home. The Alliance represents providers across homecare, home health, hospice and palliative services, serving as an advocate for care delivered where people live. MissionCare Collective, a workforce innovation provider, offers a suite of solutions designed to build, retain and support the care workforce at scale.

“A different way of looking at how you can age in America” 
American Journal of Managed Care - AJMC; by Maggie L. Shaw; 5/21/25

• SCAN Group's acquisition of myPlace Health aims to expand PACE, enhancing senior care and independence in California.
• PACE provides comprehensive services for seniors preferring home care, funded by Medicare and Medicaid, reducing hospitalizations and depression.
• Originating from On Lok, PACE has grown slowly but could expand significantly with CMS support and SCAN's strategic plans.
• Challenges for PACE expansion include upfront capital investment, despite a rule change allowing for-profit participation.

UnitedHealth urges shareholders to back CEO’s $60M pay package 
Becker's Payer Issues; by Rylee Wilson; 5/20/25 
UnitedHealth Group is asking shareholders to support a $60 million stock option award for its new CEO. In a May 20 letter to shareholders, Christopher Zaetta, UnitedHealth’s chief legal officer, urged shareholders to approve the company’s executive compensation. Institutional Shareholder Services, a proxy advisory firm, has advised shareholders to vote no on UnitedHealth’s “say-on-pay” proposal. The company appointed Stephen Hemsley, who led the company from 2006 to 2017, as CEO in May. Mr. Hemsley will receive a $1 million annual salary, but will not receive any annual cash incentives. Instead, he will receive a $60 million stock option after three years as CEO. ISS recommended shareholders vote no because nearly all of Mr. Hemsley’s compensation will be in stock option awards, and fluctuations in stock price could lead to a “windfall” for the CEO. 

It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving. ~ Mother Theresa