The ASCENT Consortium to Publish Two Requests for Applications
ASCENT Consortium press release; 6/4/26
The ASCENT Consortium is pleased to announce plans to publish a Request for Applications (RFA) for the ASCENT Research Scholar and Pilot and Exploratory Studies Awards Programs.

• Research Scholar Award: ASCENT will fund up to 13 junior faculty looking to establish themselves as independent investigators in palliative care research.
• Pilot and Exploratory Studies Award: ASCENT will fund up to 12 early-career investigators transitioning from a K to an R award and mid-career researchers exploring new directions.

National Alliance for Care at Home responds to GAO report regarding Medicare hospice payment 
The National Alliance for Care at Home (The Alliance), Alexandria, VA; Press Release; 6/9/26 
The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) today responded to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommending that Congress consider directing the Department of Health and Human Services to restructure the Medicare hospice payment system to better promote routine home care payment efficiency. ... The GAO report asserts that shifting hospice to per-visit payment rates comparable to home health would have reduced Medicare spending by $7.6 billion for a selected group of beneficiaries in 2024. However, these savings are generated in part by paying less to “low visit” hospices that are concentrated in known high-fraud areas. ... 

Los Angeles County Fraud Hotline 
LACounty.gov | Department of Auditor-Controller, Office of County Investigations; 6/8/26 
You may remain anonymous, but having the ability to contact the informant is often critical to the success of an investigation. If you choose to provide your name and contact information, the County will hold your identity in confidence to the extent allowed by law. You can read more about this here.

Aroostook Hospice Foundation nets funding 
The County, Presque Isle, ME; by Aroostook Hospice; 6/3/26 
The Aroostook Hospice Foundation recently received generous donor advised funding through the Maine Community Foundation in support of its Charity Care Patient Assistance Fund. The Foundation received a $15,000 contribution from the Willey Family Foundation as part of its five year pledge commitment connected to the naming of Suite 4 at the Aroostook House of Comfort. The gift was designated toward Charity Care. In addition, the Foundation received a $1,000 contribution from the Mimi Fund.

When the storm hits: how hospice providers help protect Florida’s most vulnerable patients 
South Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report; by Kathleen Coronado; 6/1/26 
In South Florida, hurricane preparedness is a part of life. Hospitals activate emergency operations centers, nursing homes review evacuation plans, and families rush to gather supplies before a storm makes landfall. For hospice providers, preparedness carries an additional layer of responsibility. Patients receiving end-of-life care are among the most medically vulnerable members of our communities. Many rely on oxygen, medications, specialized equipment or around-the-clock support that cannot simply pause when severe weather arrives. At VITAS Healthcare, hurricane preparedness is not a seasonal checklist. It is a year-round operational priority designed to ensure continuity of compassionate care before, during and after a disaster.

• Preparing before the storm ...
• Hospice's role in healthcare continuity ...
• Lessons from past storms ...
• Compassion during crisis ...

Editor's Note: The importance of preparedness cannot be over-emphasized. Read. Learn. Assess your current risks and systems. Don't just rely on Emergency & Disaster Plans developed some 10 years ago. Update. Train. Use and evaluate on smaller scales when threatening storms or other events occur.

Families struggle to secure home hospice 
U.S. News; by Cameron Blake; 6/3/26 
A woman’s effort to honor her husband Craig’s last wish to die at home became a second fight alongside his bladder cancer, highlighting growing strains in access to hospice care outside the hospital. The caregiver, who asked to speak about her experience, said the couple faced delays and mixed guidance when trying to arrange home-based support in the final weeks of his illness. Their story mirrors a national problem as more families seek comfort-centered care while agencies report tight staffing and stricter eligibility reviews.

• A Last Wish Meets a System Under Strain ...
• Why Home Hospice Is Hard to Arrange ...
• Quality Questions and Industry Shifts ...
• Families Caught Between Hospital and Home ...
• What Patients Can Do ...
• Policy Moves and What to Watch ...

Dr. Joan Teno exposes the hidden problems with hospice ratings and quality scores | part two 
Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Dr. Joan Teno; 6/3/26 
Hospice quality ratings play a critical role in helping patients and families make informed care decisions—but are they telling the whole story? In Part Two of this compelling conversation, Dr. Joan Teno continues her deep dive into the challenges surrounding hospice quality measurement, transparency, and consumer choice.  Building on the foundation established in Part One, she explores how healthcare leaders can better leverage existing data to help patients and families identify high-quality hospice providers while avoiding misleading or incomplete information.  Dr. Teno also shares her vision for a future where technology, data analytics, and artificial intelligence empower consumers to make more informed decisions during some of life’s most difficult moments.

National HealthCare Corp. closes 5-SNF, $50.5M acquisition 
McKnights Senior Living; by Kathleen Steele Gaivin; 6/7/26 
National HealthCare Corp. and its affiliates have closed on the previously announced $50.5 million purchase of five skilled nursing facilities from National Health Corp., the Murfreesboro, TN-based company announced Thursday [6/5/26]. ... Four of the SNFs are in Tennessee, and the other is in South Carolina.

LA County fraud: Why hospice care became the new target 
Film Daily; by Simone Barbon; 6/3/26 
Los Angeles County has become the focal point of multiple federal, state, and local actions against hospice fraud schemes that target Medicare and Medi-Cal. The concentration of facilities, unusual billing patterns, and recent arrests explain why regulators treat the county as ground zero. ... Data shows unusual density. Records reviewed by CBS News found roughly 1,800 hospices operating in Los Angeles County. More than 700 of them triggered multiple state fraud indicators. One stretch of Victory Boulevard contained nearly 500 hospices within three miles, and a single building listed 89 separate companies. Typical facilities in the county billed Medicare about $29,000 per patient. The national average sits at $13,200. That gap prompted auditors to flag the region years before arrests began.
Editor's Note: This article describes complex factors of the hospice fraud crisis with clarity for the general public.

Medicare hospice: action needed to pay more efficiently for routine home care 
GAO - U.S. Government Accountability Office; GAO-26-107585; publicly released 6/9/26 
Fast Facts

• Medicare covers hospice care—through nurse, aide, and social worker home visits—for terminally ill beneficiaries. Medicare spent $27.5 billion on hospice in 2024.
• Medicare pays for similar care through its home health benefit for beneficiaries who aren't in hospice. But Medicare pays daily rates for hospice care (regardless of the number of visits) and it pays per-visit rates for certain other home health care.
• If Medicare paid per-visit payment rates for hospice care, it would have paid $7.6 billion less for a group of beneficiaries receiving hospice care in 2024.
• We recommended that Congress consider directing Medicare to revise its payments

Editor's Note: National Alliance for Care at Home responds to GAO report regarding Medicare hospice payment

1817-1826: 250 Years - A History of Care
Hospice & Palliative Care Today; by Joy Berger; for 6/13/26
Read details and explore source links

• New York City Common Council laws regulating funerals of enslaved persons – 1722 

• Dr. Benjamin Rush, Medical Inquiries and Observations, Volume I (4th edition, published posthumously in 1815 and actively circulating in medical schools during this period)
  
  

• American School for the Deaf, Hartford, Connecticut, April 15, 1817

Don't forget to overthink the best possible scenario, too...