Literature Review

Medicare Program: Fiscal Year 2027 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements Federal Register; An unpublished Rule by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on 08/03/2026 This document is unpublished. It is scheduled to be published on 08/03/2026. Once it is published it will be available on this page in an official form. Until then, you can download the unpublished PDF version. ... Comment: Numerous commenters, including national associations, State hospice associations, large health systems, and individual providers, expressed strong concerns that the proposed 2.4 percent FY 2027 hospice payment update is insufficient to keep pace with the actual cost of delivering high-quality hospice care.  [The following tables are from this "unpublished document" from the Federal Register, "scheduled too be published on 08/03/2026.]

Opened floodgates: Why current M&A pressures favor home-based care consolidators Home Health Care News; by Morgan Gonzales; 7/28/26 High interest rates have slowed and complicated home-based care M&A, but they may also be creating a favorable buying opportunity for investors willing to enter the market now.  Buyers able to absorb higher borrowing costs may find a slower and more complex dealmaking landscape — one where compliance has become a critical screening tool, particularly in Medicaid-funded care, according to experts speaking at Home Health Care News’ Capital+Strategy conference in March. At the same time, speakers pointed to opportunities to build regional platforms through smaller acquisitions and to capitalize on potential long-term upside in skilled home health. ... While eyeing an attractive future for home-based care investment, buyers have to keep the heightened focus on fraud, waste and abuse in mind when shopping for a potential home-based care provider.

[Scotland] We aim to grant dying wishes with special final ambulance trips BBC News, Northeast Scotland; by Ken Banks; 7/29/26 A group of Aberdeen paramedics have launched a venture aimed at granting terminally ill patients around Scotland a final journey to a place or event that is special to them. Kieran Hutcheon, 30, was inspired to act after his mother was unable to even go out for a coffee with him before she died from cancer. With co-founders Dan Bickmore, 37, and Karen Gill, 46, their Wish Ambulance Scotland charity has been formed. They plan to use a vehicle that is not as clinical as an actual ambulance, but can carry any necessary equipment for patients. Their aim is to offer relatively simple trips such as going to a favorite beach.

Medical Aid in Dying in New York: A changing medical and legal landscape for terminally ill New Yorkers and healthcare professionals New York State Bar Association; by Edward McArdle, Mary Beth Quaranta Morrissey, Adrienne Borschuk and Epiphany G. Ramirez; 7/29/26 Medical aid in dying will soon become a legally permitted medical option for terminally ill patients in New York [on Aug 5]. The chapter amendments, which Gov. Hochul required before signing the bill, introduced several additional patient protections and clarifications to address concerns raised during the legislative process. These amendments include the requirements that all oral requests for the bill be recorded by audio or video device and permanently stored in the patient’s medical record; a mandatory mental health evaluation by a qualified professional to confirm decisional capacity; a five-day waiting period between the writing and filling of the prescription (with a narrow exception if the attending physician determines the patient may die before the period expires); a strict residency requirement limited to New York residents only; an in-person initial physician consultation unless such would cause extraordinary hardship to the patient; and strengthened opt-out rights for individual clinicians and healthcare facilities – including home hospice programs – that hold religious, moral, or ethical objections to participating in MAiD.

Hospice launches new website The Martha's Vineyard Time, Martha's Vineyard, MA; Press Release; 7/29/26 Hospice and Palliative Care of Martha’s Vineyard (HPCMV) announces the launch of its newly redesigned website and new educational video. The new website offers visitors a more user-friendly experience, making it easier to find information about hospice, palliative care, grief support services, volunteer opportunities, upcoming events, and ways to support the organization. Designed with patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and community members in mind, the site serves as a comprehensive resource for information about HPCMV.

Bedford County approves Good Samaritan Hospice acquisition of former Hospice House WDBJ-TV 7, CBS, Roanoke-Lynchburg, VA; by Austin Hicks; 7/28/26 In April, the Hospice House in Bedford County closed its doors, leaving a gap for families who need end-of-life care. Now, there’s new hope those services will return. During Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, the board approved nonprofit Good Samaritan Hospice’s acquisition of the closed facility. The move is expected to ensure Bedford County families have access to hospice care, palliative care and other support services during one of life’s most challenging moments. If Good Samaritan Hospice were to leave, the new facility it would be given back to the county. At this time there is no timetable for when the facility will open.

LiveWell Partners acquires Michigan Community VNA Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 7/29/26 LiveWell Partners has acquired Michigan Community VNA Home Health and Hospice, expanding its home-based care footprint in Michigan. The transaction marks LiveWell’s third acquisition in Michigan. Michigan Community VNA is based in Detroit and provides skilled home health, therapies, palliative and hospice services throughout that metropolitan area. The company will not rebrand and will continue with its current leadership post-acquisition. Financial terms were undisclosed.

Happy Wednesday - "Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going." ~ Sam Levenson

Same team, same care, new name: interim healthcare offices in Lubbock and throughout West Texas become ExcelaCare Newsnet, Lubbock, TX; by EIN Presswire; 7/27/26 A trusted provider of home health and hospice care in communities throughout West Texas, formerly known as Interim Healthcare, is officially transitioning to a new name: ExcelaCare. These local offices across the region, including Lubbock, TX and surrounding areas, will continue delivering the same patient-centered care under new branding. “While our logo and colors are changing, our ownership, management, and the local teams you have come to know and trust are not,” said the organization’s founder. ... The rebrand comes as the organization continues to pursue excellence across all its services and reflects an effort to elevate its ongoing dedication to the communities it has served for years as Interim. The local staff and day-to-day operations remain unchanged; only the name and visual identity are new.

Steps Medicaid plans can take now to prepare for Final CMS Community Engagement (Work) Requirement Rules Healthcare Business Today; by Luke Henderson; 7/25/26 Here’s the question on the mind of almost every Medicaid plan leader: Will our organization be ready once community engagement (work) requirements become mandatory? The answer could determine whether that plan succeeds or fails in the next few years. ... CMS’s Latest Guidance on Work Requirements, Explained ... The IFC specifies that work requirements will apply to non-pregnant, non-Medicare adults ages 19-64 who are enrolled in an Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion group or subject to certain Section 1115 demonstration waivers that provide minimum essential coverage to adult beneficiaries.Beneficiaries falling into these categories must demonstrate at least 80 hours per month of qualifying activities, which can include work programs, community service or at least half-time enrollment in an educational program. Individuals may combine activities to meet the mandates or earn the equivalent of 80 times the Federal hourly minimum wage ($580/month).

Physicians: proposed California rule threatens livelihood, providersHospice News; by Jim Parker; 7/28/26Some hospice medical directors contend that proposed emergency regulations in California represent a threat to their livelihood, as well as creating access risks for patients. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) proposed the rules in June in an effort to combat fraud. Within the 143-page document, the sticking point for physicians is a requirement that, if finalized, would limit hospice medical directors to serving only one hospice. CDPH recently held an online stakeholder meeting regarding the proposal in which several physicians called on the agency to allow medical directors to serve as many as three hospices, or to eliminate the limitation altogether for at least some doctors.

At and end-of-life care home, a young cancer survivor finds his calling  The Buffalo News, Buffalo, NY; by Jon Harris; 7/28/26  Seated in the chapel at Sloan Comfort Care Home, 22-year-old Evan Folsom reflected on what working at the end-of-life facility has meant to him. "The Home did come at the right time for me," said Folsom, hours after finishing an overnight shift there, and a day before taking the daylong Medical College Admission Test. Folsom survived a brain tumor as a toddler and spent years recovering. That alone shaped an interest in medicine. ... His work at Sloan Comfort Care Home helped him come to terms with certain issues and fueled his interest in studying the complex moral and ethical questions that arise in medicine. So he took a "shot in the dark" and applied to Harvard Medical School's Master of Science in Bioethics program, along with a few other schools. He got into all of them but chose Harvard because Boston holds a special full-circle meaning for him. Massachusetts General Hospital, the largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, is where he received treatment as a toddler. "Harvard was specifically deep for me, because that's kind of where my journey started," he said. Folsom leaves for Boston on Aug. 1 ...