LATE vs Alzheimer’s: Biomarkers, Mixed Dementia, and Clinical Realities with Nate Chin and Sterling Johnson 
GeriPal; podcast by GeriPal with Sterling Johnson and Nate Chin; 8/6/26 
Up until just a couple years ago, an 85-year-old patient presenting with gradual, amnestic memory loss was almost automatically presumed to have Alzheimer’s disease. However, new biomarkers and the recognition of conditions like Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE) are reshaping our understanding of cognitive decline in older adults. It’s looking more clear that pure Alzheimer's dementia is rare in older adults, and co-occurring pathologies that may include Alzheimer’s, LATE, Lewy Body, and vascular neuropatholigies, are the rule rather than the exception. ... Sterling Johnson is a clinical neuropsychologist and researcher who leads the CLARiTI study, which is attempting to uncover the intersecting causes of dementia.  Nate Chin is the medical director and Clinical Core Co-Leader for the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC), the host of the Dementia Matters podcast, and author of a new book When Memory Fades.  

Additional CMS website information for the Hospice Wage Index Final Rule
CMS; compiled by Judi Lund Person; 8/4/26 
Downloads on CMS website that provide additional information for the final rule:

• FY 2027 Hospice Wage Index Fact Sheet: Summary of key points in FY 2027 Hospice Wage Index final rule.
• FY 2027 Final Hospice Wage Index:  Wage index values for every county in the country.
• FY 2027 Final SSVI Overview:  An overview of the Service and Spending Variability Index (SSVI), now included in the FY 2027 Final rule.
• Service and Spending Variation Index (SSVI): Data for every hospice in the country for SSVI calculations, both utilization and non-hospice spending metrics. The data provided is for both FY 2024 and FY 2025.

Hospice Coalition Questions and Answers: June 25, 2026
Palmetto GBA; 8/4/26
Includes Coalition questions, Hospice Appeals Reports, and Hospice CAP Updates.

Chapters Health finalizes Housecall Providers affiliation 
Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 8/5/26
Chapters Health System has recently completed its affiliation with Oregon-based Housecall Providers. The two organizations penned an agreement to affiliate in February. The move will allow Chapters to significantly expand geographically and grow its value-based services, the organization indicated. Housecall Providers offers hospice, advanced illness care and home-based primary care. ... Chapters Health provides hospice, palliative care and home health through a network of 30 nonprofit medical organizations and programs. 

CMS offers guidance on expanding PACE program to rural areas 
McKnights Home Care; by Marissa Fernandez; 5/3/26 
The National PACE Association praised recent guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which offered up mobile health clinics and using funding from the Rural Health Transformation Program as two main ways to expand the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly to rural areas. ... Mobile health clinics were identified as acceptable alternative care settings as long as they meet applicable local, state and federal health care facility regulations and documentation clearly labels it a mobile unit. CMS also offered guidance to states on using RHT funding for PACE organizations.

VITAS Healthcare enhances mobile app to simplify hospice referrals and improve access to care
PR Newswire, Miramar FL; by VITAS Healthcare; 8/5/26
VITAS Healthcare announced the launch of its enhanced mobile app, a digital platform designed to streamline hospice referrals and expand access to trusted hospice care resources for healthcare professionals, patients and families across the country. The VITAS Healthcare mobile app brings hospice referrals, eligibility tools and expert-developed education into one secure, mobile-friendly experience. By making it easier to submit referrals and access hospice guidance anytime, anywhere, the app helps support timely, informed decision-making in moments that matter most.

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross at 100: a legacy that changed how the world faces death
e-hospice; by Ken Ross and Stephen Connor; 7/13/26 
On July 8, the world marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, the Swiss American psychiatrist whose work helped transform how clinicians, families, faith communities, and societies understand death, dying, grief, and compassionate care. Born in Zurich in 1926, Kübler-Ross entered medicine at a time when dying patients were often kept at the margins of care—physically present in hospitals, yet too often emotionally abandoned. She challenged that silence with a simple but radical act: she listened. Sitting at the bedside of people facing the end of life, she heard their fears, hopes, anger, questions, and need for honesty. In doing so, she insisted that dying people were not medical failures, but human beings with voices, wisdom, and dignity. Her landmark 1969 book, On Death and Dying, grew from interviews with seriously ill patients and introduced a language that reshaped modern conversations about loss. 

Why you should care about the shakeup at NIH: Sean Morrison, Ken Covinsky, Stacy Fischer
GeriPal podcast; by Alex Smith, Eric Widera, Sean Morrison, Ken Covinsky, Stacy Fischer; 6/18/26
Emergency Podcast! Our guests Sean Morrison, Ken Covinsky, and Stacy Fischer believe that you should care deeply about the proposed shakeup at the National Institutes of Health. Major proposed rules changes at the Office of Management and Budget, would affect a huge range of government grants, from Headstart to Transportation to the National Science Foundation, as well as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the subject of today’s podcast.

Elder mistreatment prevention and solutions: Carrie Rubenstein, Julia Hiner, & Tony Rosen
GeriPal podcast; by Alex Smith, Eric Widera, Carrie Rubenstein, Julia Hiner, Tony Rosen; 6/4/26
Today we revisit a topic we last discussed in a 2020 podcast with Laura Mosqueda: elder mistreatment. Our guests today are geriatricians Carrie Rubenstein and Julia Hiner, and Tony Rosen, an emergency medicine doctor. They talk about where we are now, in 2026, with elder mistreatment...

Executive Personnel Changes - 8/7/26

• Delaware Hospice recently announced the appointment of Becca Graner, MBA, as its new Chief Operating Officer.

Social Media Watch 8/7/26

• Christopher Kerr, CMO with Hospice & Palliative Care Buffalo, was mentioned in a Hospice and Palliative Care Association of New York State (HPCANYS) post regarding his 30-minute podcast with Oprah Winfrey.
• Drew Mihalyo, Principal @ simPAL Solutions, discusses an Atlantic article, "Americans are in denial about elder care."

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito. ~ Dalai Lama