KFF publishes summaries of Health Provisions in the 2025 Federal Budget Reconciliation Bill
KFF; updated 7/8/25 
On July 3, the House passed the same version of the budget reconciliation bill passed by the Senate on July 1. On July 4, President Trump signed the legislation into law . KFF published this summary to describe the health care provisions in the law (described as the Senate-passed bill) in four categories: Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). It also compares the provisions to a earlier draft of the bill passed by the House on May 22. 
Guest Editor’s Note, Judi Lund Person:  KFF was formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation but since KFF is not a foundation and has no connection to Kaiser Permanente, they are now called simply KFF. They state “As a one-of-a-kind information organization, we bring together substantial capabilities in policy research, polling, and journalism in one organization to meet the need for a trusted, independent source of information on national health issues—one with the scope and reach to be a counterweight to health care’s vested interests and a voice for people.”

Tracking the Medicaid Provisions in the 2025 Reconciliation Bill | KFF 
KFF; updated 7/8/25
The chart tracking the Medicaid provisions in the House and Senate-passed version of the bill includes the following topics:  Medicaid Expansion, Eligibility Policies, Financing, Long-term Care, Access, and Prescription Drugs. The chart outlines details of the current law, House-passed bill, Senate-passed bill (enacted into law) and KFF Resources. Of particular note are the final work requirements in the statute, prohibiting the implementation, administration, or enforcement of certain provisions in both the CMS “Eligibility and Enrollment” final rules until October 1, 2034, and limits retroactive coverage to one month prior to application for expansion enrollees and two months prior to application for coverage for traditional enrollees, effective January 1, 2027. On July 1, 2025, KFF posted a CBO estimate of federal Medicaid spending reductions across the states including charts for components of the federal Medicaid cuts in the Senate reconciliation bill and a map of federal Medicaid cuts by state. 
Guest Editor’s Note, Judi Lund Person: While the details of the Medicaid provisions are daunting to understand and then apply to Medicaid enrollees in your area, I found this chart to at least organize the issues and track what happened between the House and Senate-passed versions, including what was enacted into law. More will likely unfold as we hear more from HHS and CMS about implementation.

Tracking the Medicare Provisions in the 2025 Reconciliation Bill | KFF 
KFF; updated 7/8/25 
Similar to the chart for Medicaid provisions in the 2025 Reconciliation Bill, KFF also provides details on the changes for Medicare. Topics include eligibility policies, physician payment, prescription drugs, rules for Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), nursing homes – including the prohibition of implementation, administration, or enforcement of the minimum staffing levels requirement until October 1, 2034, and funding for HHS to “contract with AI contractors and data scientists to identify and reduce Medicare improper payments and recoup overpayments.
Guest Editor’s Note, Judi Lund Person: The chart of Medicare provisions confirms that implementation of the Medicare eligibility and enrollment final rule will be delayed until October 1, 2034, except for those provisions that have already taken effect. The Senate version enacted into law also has a temporary one-year increase of 2.5% in the Physician Fee Schedule conversion factor for all services furnished between January 1, 2026 and January 1, 2027 and a delay of the nursing home staffing final rule until October 1, 2034. It is helpful to have the chart in a usable form for reference on the final bill enacted into law.

9 dead, dozens hurt in fire at assisted-living facility in Fall River, Massachusetts: Officials 
ABC News; by Kevin Shalvey and Emily Shapiro; 7/14/25 
Nine people have been killed and dozens are hurt after a five-alarm fire tore through an assisted-living facility in Fall River, Massachusetts, officials said. Firefighters, police and other responders descended on the scene of the Sunday night fire at the Gabriel House assisted-living facility, where they found multiple people "hanging out of the windows, screaming and begging to be rescued," Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon said. The front of the building was covered in heavy smoke and flames, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III said. "This was not a situation where teams arrived and people were able to get out easily -- all of these people needed assistance," Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said. "Many were in wheelchairs, many were immobile, many had oxygen tanks." About 12 "non-ambulatory residents were physically carried out by our officers," according to Fall River police. 

World Hospice & Palliative Care Day 2025 Achieving the Promise: Universal access to palliative care 
ehospice; by Stephen Connor; 7/7/25 
This year we celebrate the 20th anniversary of World Hospice & Palliative Care Day (World Day). ... World Day is organised by the Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance each second Saturday in October, this year on 11 October 2025, on behalf of the global palliative care community, including international, national, and regional palliative care organisations such as the IAHPC, ICPCN, PallCHASE, APCA, EAPC, ALCP, APHN, and including national organisations such as the IAPC. ... This year’s theme, Achieving the Promise: Universal Access to Palliative Care, builds on last year’s to explore what is needed in the coming 5-10 years to build toward universal access to palliative care, especially as part of universal health coverage. The subthemes this year are:

1. Empowering people and compassionate communities
2. Implement palliative care policies to improve access
3. Integrate palliative care fully into healthcare systems through UHC

... This year, our KEY ASK is Full Integration of Palliative Care into Health Systems in the Next Five Years. We are also asking those planning events to complete our ‘Call to Action’ on the website at: https://thewhpca.org/share-your-story/.

‘Little Golf’ and Grill brings community together for hospice 
The Monroe Times, Monroe, WI; 7/11/25 
The Monroe Clinic & Hospital Foundation’s annual “Little Golf” and Grill event, held on June 17, once again brought together community members for an evening filled with laughter, camaraderie, and purpose. The event began with an afternoon of mini golf at Swissland Miniature Golf in New Glarus. Hospice volunteers and staff provided games and fun facts about hospice throughout the course until the Alp Horns signaled the transition to a festive dinner and program under the tent at Chalet Landhaus Inn. During the program, the Colden Family shared their hospice story and gratitude for their loved one’s care so that “they could be family, not caretakers”. Thanks to the generous support of local businesses, donors, and attendees, the event raised $78,853 in support of local hospice care. This brings the total raised over the event’s 33-year history to more than $1,084,000.
Editor's Note: What a wonderful community event, filled with "games and fun facts about hospice," followed by their "festive dinner and program." Their miniature golf format readily lends itself to intergenerational interactions, stories, educational dialogue, and new memories for years ahead.

CDC reports rise in unintentional fall deaths among older adults 
JAMA; by Samantha Anderer; 7/11/25 
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that deaths from unintentional falls among adults aged 65 years or older increased over the past 2 decades. Falls are currently the leading cause of injury for older adults, reaching 70 per 100 000 in 2023. As age increases, so does the likelihood of death due to a fall. And data from the National Vital Statistics System indicate that from 2003 to 2023, adults aged 85 years or older experienced the greatest increase in fall deaths. Rates for men, who are more likely to die from an unintentional fall, doubled from 178 to 373 per 100 000 people among those 85 years or older. For women in the same age group, deaths from falls increased 2.5 times, from 129 to 320 per 100 000. 

HOPE Summer School
Provider Insights communication; by Annette Lee; 7/11/25
Provider Insights Inc. has created a "HOPE Summer School" series, an 8-course microlearning program for our busy hospice professionals. This series is specifically designed to help hospice teams master the upcoming CMS HOPE Data Set, ensuring staff are confident and compliant. The program covers four core objectives: understanding HOPE's purpose and structure, navigating CMS documentation and reporting, building confidence in completing HOPE items with real-life examples, and meeting the Symptom Follow-Up Visit Measure. The 8 bite-sized modules (5-20 minutes each), interactive quizzes, a post -test, and 14 downloadable tools, this mobile-friendly training is perfect for busy nurses on the go. Download the HOPE Section A tool for a free sneak peek of the simple tool kit, and head over to providerinsights.com for more information and to get your organization enrolled.

AAPA asks CMS to remove regulatory restrictions on PAs providing hospice care 
American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA); by Trevor Simon; 7/9/25 
In June 2025, AAPA submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding the topics of hospice, skilled nursing facilities, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, and inpatient psychiatric facilities. These comments, in response to annually released proposed rules that make adjustments to the hospice wage index and respective fee schedules, responded directly to inquiries made within the rules, as well as identified policy obstacles faced by PAs in these settings. [Continue reading for] a brief summary of the topics AAPA discussed in each, with links to the full letters.

• 2026 Hospice Wage Index ...
• 2026 Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF) Prospective Payment System ...
• 2026 Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRF) Prospective Payment System ...
• 2026 Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities (IPF) Prospective Payment System ...

BAYADA, ECPI University partner to alleviate nursing shortage with joint training, $355,000 in scholarships 
NBC News KXAN, Columbia, SC; by ECPI University; 7/9/25 
BAYADA Home Health Care, the nation's largest independent, nonprofit home health care provider with a legacy of 50 years of compassionate, excellent, and reliable care, has granted ECPI University $355,000 to help combat the nursing shortage in South Carolina. The state is hurtling toward the fourth largest shortage of registered nurses in the US, with over 19% of positions unfilled by 2037, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration. BAYADA and ECPI University have joined forces to educate and train aspiring nurses with a new scholarship program. Nursing students at ECPI University's Columbus campus who work 20 hours per week at BAYADA are eligible to receive up to $10,000 in scholarship funds toward their pursuit of Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) or Registered Nurse (RN) certifications through BAYADA's Advance to LPN Scholarship Program.

Family of brain-dead mom, Adriana Smith, inspires Georgia bill to protect pregnant patients 
BET*; by Jasmine Browley; 7/7/25 
During a memorial to Adriana Smith, state Rep. Park Cannon unveiled new legislation aimed at giving patients and their families more control over Georgia's severe abortion law. ... Smith's case received global attention due to its unique and contentious circumstances. On February 9, Smith began complaining about headaches. The young nurse and her mother sought assistance at two separate hospitals before being discharged with medicine but no CT scan. A week later, Smith was discovered unresponsive at home, and on February 19, she was formally pronounced brain-dead and placed on life support. Her mother, April Newkirk, told WXIA that doctors at Emory Hospital claimed they couldn't legally examine any additional choices. ... In June, a few days after doctors performed an emergency cesarean surgery to prematurely deliver her baby, the young mother of two was taken off life support. ... Smith's son Chance, born at six months, weighed only one pound and thirteen ounces.  ... Cannon's proposed new law would have returned control of Smith's end-of-life care to her family, who were not consulted before physicians put her on life support to save her six-week-old fetus. ... Adriana's Law would take precedence over Georgia's LIFE ACT, ...
Editor's Note: See previous stories we posted regarding this case ...

• Case of brain-dead pregnant woman kept on life support in Georgia raises tricky questions
• How long was Adriana Smith on life support? Brain‑dead nurse's baby delivered by C‑section
• A pregnant brain-dead woman in Georgia was kept on life support. Experts say it raises ethical, legal questions

Helping, fixing, and serving represent three different ways of seeing life. When you help, you see life as weak. when you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. Fixing and helping may be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul. ~ Rachel Naomi Remen