Literature Review

Croí Health’s “The 12” gala raises more than $700,000 for hospice and home healthcare MassNonprofitNews; Press Release; 7/6/26 Croí Health’s (formerly NVNA and Hospice) annual The 12 gala raised more than $700,000 to support hospice and home health care, the largest amount in the event’s 12-year history. Held on June 17th at the Pat Roche Hospice Home in Hingham, Croí welcomed hundreds of guests under a massive tent. The fundraiser unites community leaders, donors, and sponsors around a shared mission: ensuring no patient in need is turned away for financial reasons. Named for the Hospice Home’s original 12 private resident rooms, The 12 has become an annual tradition for South Shore philanthropists since its inception in 2015. Guests gather just steps away from the rooms where patients receive end-of-life care, making for a deeply reflective evening.

Three billion people on the face of the earth go to bed hungry every night, but four billion people go to bed every night hungry for a simple word of encouragement and recognition. ~ Cavett Robert

[Canada] Palliative care is a fundamental human right TroyMedia; by Rebecca Vachon; 7/6/26 ... Despite the fact that everyone dies, and despite the fact that something like 180,000 Canadians and their families interact with some form of end-of-life care in a year, I keep confronting the perception that palliative care is a niche issue, not one of broad interest. But this reaction only underscores the poll's findings: namely that many Canadians continue to misunderstnad what palliative care is and isn't. On a more positive note, however, when Canadians do understand it, palliative care is, in fact, identified as a priority issue.

Medicare Advantage insurers deny prior authorization requests for post acute care at substantially higher rates than the overall denial rate KFF; by Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek, Meredith Freed, and Juliette Cubanski; 7/6/26 The OIG recently published two reports finding that Medicare Advantage insurers deny more than half of all prior authorization requests for the most expensive types of post-acute care, including 65% of requests for stays in long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) and 54% of requests for stays in inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), as well as 12% of requests for stays in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs).

Young entrepreneurs raise $4,600 for Hospice & Palliative Care of the Piedmont The Index-Journal; by Staff Writer; 7/2/26 What began in 2023 as two young boys wanting to make a difference has grown into a beloved community tradition benefiting Hospice & Palliative Care of the Piedmont. At just 6 years old, brothers Pat and Wells hosted their first lemonade stand with a goal of raising $1,000. Thanks to the generosity of family, friends, and the community, they exceeded that goal by raising $1,200. Inspired by the outpouring of support, the boys set a $2,000 goal in 2024 and raised $2,500. In 2025, they aimed even higher with a goal of $3,000 and raised $4,082. This year, Pat and Wells welcomed a new team member to the fundraiser—their 3-year-old cousin Keaton ... With the support of family, friends, neighbors, and the community, the young entrepreneurs raised $4,600, making the 2026 event their most successful fundraiser to date. Over the past four years, the lemonade stand has raised a total of $12,382 for the nonprofit organization.

How to build trust in a new team and establish psychological safety - fast TylerHayden.com; by Tyler Hayden; 7/6/26 Psychological safety is one of the most talked-about concepts in modern leadership — and one of the least understood in practice. Most leaders know they’re supposed to create it. Far fewer know what it actually looks like when it’s missing, what it feels like when it’s present, or how to build it deliberately and quickly when the clock is ticking and the stakes are real. This post is for those leaders. The ones stepping into a new team, a skeptical room, or a group that’s been burned before — and who need more than theory. ...

Dignity shouldn’t depend on having an address: Holly Klein The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH; by guest columnist Holly Klein; 7/5/26 As a hospice nurse for more than 25 years, I’ve cared for people surrounded by family -- and I’ve cared for people who had no one. Today, as executive director and co-founder of Grace House Akron, I care for people who are experiencing homelessness, abandonment or extreme social isolation at the end of life. We provide a home and hospice care at no cost because we believe one simple truth: No one should die alone. I've cared for people living in motels, sleeping in shelters, staying in abandoned buildings or moving from one temporary place to another while facing a terminal illness. ... Hospice is not a place -- it's a model of care. But our healthcare system assumes everyone has somewhere safe to receive it. Many people don't.

Guardianship and hospice care fail dying patients MedPage Today's KevinMD.com; by Kirsten Engel, MD & Madha Tripathi; 6/3/26 “Mr. L” is alone, lying flat on his back in a slightly inclined bed, eyes squeezed shut, hands raised in the air as immobile fists. He has not spoken in weeks. ... The medical team calls it catatonia, a severe psychiatric syndrome that has rendered him mute, immobile, and medically fragile. The psychiatric care team has recommended comfort measures, and our hospice team is ready to accept him. ... Mr. L cannot access hospice because an overworked stranger appointed by the court has not yet returned the hospital’s calls. This is a guardian, a professional fiduciary who has never met Mr. L, who must sign the papers first. So we wait for the court to hold a hearing to approve the order. And Mr. L, still, silent, and suffering, waits with us.

Errors in billing in the United States may result in severe civil or even criminal penalties Spilman Thomas & Battle; by Christopher R. Arthur, William S. Thompson; 7/1/26 The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has ratcheted up its efforts to pursue actions against corporations, healthcare entities, and individuals, including physicians, for false Medicare or Medicaid billing and COVID-19-related loans. ... As part of this announcement, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) suspended 1,079 providers and revoked billing privileges for 1,403 providers. ... In addition to allowing the United States to pursue perpetrators of fraud on its own, the FCA allows private citizens to file suits on behalf of the government (called “qui tam” suits) against those who have defrauded the government. In the healthcare realm, these suits are often filed by disgruntled employees and patients, but can also be brought by competitors. ...

Civility requires the willingness to engage - a dispute with a neighbor revealed how much motivation matter The Conversation; by Deborah Mower; 7/2/26 ... I’m an ethicist and moral psychologist who researches moral conviction and civility, which I treat as a respectful approach toward conflict resolution. I’ve spent my career studying misunderstandings and disagreements. I teach students ways to better navigate differing interpretations, complex conversations, moral dilemmas and bitter disputes. Civility research matters for ethics education across every discipline, especially fields such as law or medicine where contentious political and moral disagreements are likely to arise. Consider, for instance, the tense conversations between healthcare professionals who disagree about whether the best course of treatment for a patient is to turn to hospice services.

Straight from the source: AHLA Annual Meeting highlights fraud and abuse enforcement efforts in 2026 and beyond Epstein, Becker and Green; by George B. Brees, Caitlin Carlton, and Haily Genaw; 7/2/26 On the final day of the American Health Law Association’s Annual Meeting in New York, officials from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) gave their own take on their agencies’ ramped-up enforcement efforts regarding health care fraud in mid-2026.

Gerontology student Hope Niedrich speaks to the heart of life, death, and belief University of North Carolina Greenville (UNCG), Greenville, NC; by Janet Imrick; 7/2/26 “How would you like your mom or dad or your grandma or grandpa to be treated?” That question summarizes the ideology of Hope Niedrich, who just defended her capstone project before  the faculty in UNC Greensboro’s [master's] gerontology program. That research, she hopes, will improve care for aging populations, whether they’re in her care or with another professional or family caregiver. “Hopefully, we can all show up and treat these people like we would want the adults in our lives to be treated,” she says. ... For her capstone, she created educational guides for volunteers to bridge cultural and religious differences and ensure end-of-life patients receive the utmost comfort and dignity.

Expose Hospice Los Angeles County fraud now—whistleblowers guide News Daily; by Simone Barbon; 7/3/26 Hospice Los Angeles County fraud cases have drawn national attention in 2026, and whistleblowers supplied the first usable evidence that turned audits into arrests. Their reports documented phantom patients, stolen identities, and providers billing Medi-Cal and Medicare for care never delivered. Recent enforcement actions show how those tips translated into criminal charges and committee hearings.