NPHI urges CMS to build on hospice moratoriam with targeted enforcement 
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 9/14/26 
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) should follow the six-month moratoria on hospice and home health enrollment in Medicare with more pinpointed efforts to root out fraud, according to the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI). The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) implemented the moratoria in May. At the time, NPHI voiced support for the moratoria. The organization in March called for such action in a letter to CMS. Now, NPHI contends that the moratorium has “accomplished its intended purpose,” the nonprofit group said in a new letter to CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and CMS COO Kim Brandt. The temporary moratoria is scheduled to expire in November.

Hospice Alliance marks 45 years of care Sept. 25 
Racine County Eye, Pleasant Prairie, WI; 9/14/26 
Hospice Alliance is celebrating 45 years of serving families in southeastern Wisconsin, marking an anniversary that dates to Sept. 25, 1981, when community members founded the organization to expand access to end-of-life care and family support. ... The organization’s services include care provided in private homes, assisted living and skilled nursing facilities, as well as at its Hospice Alliance Hospice House in Pleasant Prairie, according to the announcement. The nonprofit said it remains guided by a mission of “Adding Life to Days” and provides care regardless of a patient’s ability to pay.

Hospice Foundation of America receives Partner of the Year Award from Penn State College of Medicine
Hospice Foundation of America, Washington, DC; Press Release, Cindy Bramble; 9/11/26 
Hospice Foundation of America (HFA) was named 2026 Partner of the Year by the Penn State University College of Medicine [Thursday, 9/10]. The award recognizes HFA’s significant contributions to a National Institutes of Health funded research initiative, the Project Talk Trial, which studied how to best engage communities across the U.S. in advance care planning. ... With its vast national network, HFA connected PSU College of Medicine researchers to community organizations across the country to bring advance care planning conversations to 1,799 people in 78 communities across 32 states and the District of Columbia. Project Talk Trial is the largest research study of its kind.
Editor's Note: Congratulations, Hospice Foundation of America! We thank you for your longstanding, innovative leadership to improve hospice care throughout our nation.

Death over Thai food helps grieving families cope with loss
VITAS Healthcare; Press Release; 9/10/26
If you walk by Thaibodia Bistro, a popular Thai and Cambodian restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area on a Friday evening, you might assume the diverse group of patrons deep in conversation and dishes of pad thai and lort cha are participating in a neighborhood book club or networking event. This group is unique. They are learning to cope with death over the comforts of community and Thai food. ... Death Over Thai Food is the brainchild of Chaplain Jonah Sanderson, an interfaith chaplain for VITAS Healthcare. ... Drawing on a 15-year career marked by innovative approaches to community engagement and support, Sanderson sought a unique way to help people process loss. .. With these thoughts in mind, he gathered 20 caregivers in varying stages of bereavement and invited them to dinner.

The dark side of full patient autonomy 
Medscape; by Lisa O'Mary; 9/14/26 
Paternalism is out. Shared decision-making is in. But some communication and ethics experts say medicine is veering far too much toward full patient autonomy. A new review in the journal Health Communication found that clear delivery, active listening, and empathy were associated with patient trust. Obvious? Probably. But here’s the twist: The authors also found that paternalistic styles didn’t always harm trust — and even aided shared decision-making in some situations, particularly in contexts such as emergency care, serious illness, and end-of-life decisions.

Enhancing quality of life for terminally ill veterans during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond 
Medscape | Federal Practitioner; by Denise Kresevic, PhD, RN, APN-BC, Marilyn Swanson, DNP, RN, FNP-C, Muralidhar Pallaki, MD, Bridgette Wasil, MSN, RN CHPN, Rosalie Diaz, PsyD, and Christopher J. Burant, PhD; 9/14/26 
Background: Honoring individualized preferences for end-of-life interventions for veterans is a priority for families and caregivers. Medications used to treat symptoms such as pain, anxiety, and delirium may also result in sedation, making it difficult to balance comfort while minimizing sedation. ... 
Conclusions: The See Me, Hear Me, Comfort Me model may help hospice teams better align end-of-life care with individual preferences. ...

Medicare moments: The scarcity of Medicare caregiver benefits 
Allied News; by Joel Mekler; 9/14/26 
... AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving released the 2025 Caregiving in the U.S. report, their newest update since 2020. This comprehensive document offers an in-depth look at the evolving landscape of family caregiving for adults, highlighting key trends, challenges, and potential reforms. A key discovery is the swift growth in family caregiving. Almost 25% of adults — 63 million Americans — spent the last year caring for an adult (59 million) or a child (4 million) with complex medical needs or disabilities, marking a 45% increase since 2015. This trend underscores the essential role of family caregivers and exposes systemic shortcomings that place significant burdens on them, highlighting the pressing need for reforms.

Free webinar for physicians and healthcare professionals: Reducing hospital readmissions and length of stay in advanced illness patients 
VITAS Healthcare; Press Release; 9/14/26

• Wednesday, Sept. 16, 1-2 p.m. ET or 3:30-4:30 p.m. ET.
• Dr. Joseph Shega, VITAS chief medical officer, will review Medicare’s Hospital Readmission Reduction Program and explain how hospice care coordination can reduce readmissions and length of stay while improving CMS quality metrics.
• Virtual. 1 CME/CE credit available.
• Registration: https://www.vitas.com/events/2026/09/webinar-reducing-readmissions-and-los

Perceived importance of good death components among patients with advanced cancer and family caregivers 
JAMA Network; by Hammoda Abu-Odah, PhD, Gulbeyaz Can, PhD, Sotirios Plakas, PhD, Juanjuan Zhao, PhD, Xixi Wang, MSN, Alexandros Stergiou, MSc(c), Ourania Govina, PhD, Kimya Kilicaslan, PhD, Bahar Ozdemir, MD, Matthew J. Allsop, PhD, Mitsunori Miyashita, PhD, Alex Molassiotis, PhD, Janelle Yorke, PhD, and Frances Kam Yuet Wong, PhD; 9/14/26
Importance: Although the concept of a good death is central to palliative care policy and practice, empirical evidence is largely derived from high-income Western or single-country contexts, limiting cross-setting relevance.
Objective: To determine the importance of good death components, compare priorities across settings, and examine patient–caregiver differences and setting-by-role interactions. ... 
Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional study, patients with advanced cancer and family caregivers across 5 settings shared a broad aspiration for a good death, but priorities varied across settings. Emotional peace, dignity, and family connection were consistently highly valued. These findings suggest that culturally sensitive palliative care models should recognize both shared end-of-life priorities and setting-specific meanings of a good death.

Addus HomeCare announces a definitive agreement to acquire Personal Care Division of AccentCare 
BusinessWire, Frisco, TX; Press Release; 9/14/26 
Addus HomeCare Corporation (Nasdaq: ADUS), a provider of home care services, [Monday 9/14] announced a definitive agreement to acquire the personal care division of AccentCare for an anticipated purchase price, after customary purchase price adjustments, of approximately $275.0 million. The transaction relates only to AccentCare's personal care operations outside of New York and does not relate to its hospice and home health operations. The acquired operations serve an average daily census of approximately 13,700 customers through locations in a 10-state footprint. 

[United Kingdom] Dad who hates sand to take on Sahara trek 
BBC News; by Emma Stanley; 9/13/26 
A dad who hates sand is trekking the Sahara Desert to raise money for the hospice that cares for his son. Andrew Privett, from Leyland in Lancashire, is one of 31 adventurers who are preparing to trek 30 miles (48km) across Morocco's Erg Chegaga Dunes over six days in November. They will face extreme temperatures, challenging terrain and long days beneath the desert sun, in the first overseas challenge for Chorley's Derian House Children's Hospice.

Everyone wants to be seen. Everyone wants to be heard. Everyone wants to be recognized as the person that they are and not a stereotype or an image. ~ Loretta Lynch