Literature Review

'It has made my life a lot easier': New Ohio program pays people to care for their loved ones at homeWTOL-11, Columbus, OH; by Kevin Landers; 11/24/25 Mark Straub, of Delaware County, started caring for his 93-year-old mother about two years ago. As much as he loves to have his mother at home instead of a nursing home, caring for a loved one 24/7 brings with it stress, both emotional and financial. ... The average cost of in-home care in Ohio is $60,238, according to CareScout. The average cost of nursing home care is $108,500 a year, or about $9,000 per month. Thanks to a new program in Ohio, those who care for a loved one at home are about to get financially easier. It’s called Structured Family Caregiving, or SFC. Currently, at least 11 states have formal Medicaid SFC programs that pay family members. “I didn’t believe it at first, until I got that first paycheck and I really wanted to cry, “ said Tsavaris.

Hospice: Track errors, payment caps to avoid facing costly penalties Home Health Line, DecisionHealth; by MaryKent Wolff; 11/13/25 Keep a close eye on possible claim and billing mistakes that could lead to issues related to your payment cap. While increased revenue may seem like a good thing for providers, overpayments could lead to heightened scrutiny and financial hardships for your agency. [May require subscription for additional information]

Lehigh Valley Health Network to drop UnitedHealthcare over reimbursement Becker's Payer Issues; by Andrew Cass; 10/29/25 Allentown, Pa.-based Lehigh Valley Health Network said it is planning to terminate its contract with UnitedHealthcare unless the payer works with the health system to remedy reimbursement issues. Without a resolution, LVHN will go out of network with UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare Advantage plans on Jan. 25, 2026 and commercial plans on April 25, 2026, according to an Oct. 27 news release from the health system. 

[United Kingdom] Petition to save hospice beds going to Number 10 BBC News; Phil Shepka; 11/3/25 Families and MPs campaigning for beds to be saved at a hospice are to hand a petition with more than 15,000 signatures to Number 10 Downing Street. Nine inpatient beds at the Cambridge-based Arthur Rank Hospice are expected to close after the trust that operates nearby Addenbrooke's Hospital removed funding. ... Among those planning to attend Downing Street trip include those whose loved ones were cared for by the hospice. The funding cuts, announced last month, amount to £829,000 a year and will reduce the hospice's inpatient unit bed capacity from 21 to 12. 

Economic benefits of investment in palliative care: An appraisal of current evidence and call to actionJournal of Pain and Symptom Management; by Liz Gwyther, Maya Jane Bates, Bach Tran, Liz Grant, Richard Harding, Eric L. Krakauer, Peter May, Eve Namisango, MR Rajagopa, Eleanor Reid, Charles Normand; 9/25This article summarises the literature suggesting that palliative care can provide cost savings to society as a whole (health systems, patients, families) as well as providing good care in line with patient preferences. The evidence indicates that palliative care is effective in providing patient-centred care, in managing symptoms and patient distress, and in saving money for both the family and the health system. Funding mechanisms for palliative care may exist in high-income countries, but many low-and middle-income countries do not yet have sustainable mechanisms of funding palliative care services.

North Carolina hospitals wipe out $6.5B in medical debt Becker's Hospital Review; by Andrew Cass; 10/13/25 North Carolina’s medical debt relief program has surpassed its initial financial projections, relieving more than $6.5 billion in medical debt from 2.5 million residents over the past year. ... The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services partnered with Undue Medical Debt — formerly RIP Medical Debt — to support participating hospitals and help them identify medical debt that is eligible for relief. Hospitals are continuing to work with Undue Medical Debt to facilitate full implementation of relief over the next year. 

Bridging gaps in palliative care for undocumented immigrants using the social determinants of health frameworkAmerican Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Lisa Cross, Rachael Salguero; 9/25Systemic policies and inequities, rather than immigration status itself, create barriers to health. In the United States, an estimated 11 million individuals live without legal authorization, a population that faces profound challenges in accessing equitable care. These barriers pose particular difficulties for palliative care nurses in recognizing and addressing the needs of undocumented immigrants. Identifying nursing interventions in this manner aligns with the overarching goals of the American Nurses Association and reflects the principles of ethical compassionate palliative nursing.

Serious falls resulting in hospitalization among Medicare-enrolled nursing home residents, July 2022–June 2023HHS Office of the Inspector General; Report number: OEI-05-24-0018; 9/18/25This OIG data snapshot accompanies the report, Nursing Homes Failed To Report 43 Percent of Falls With Major Injury and Hospitalization Among Their Medicare-Enrolled Residents, OEI-05-24-00180. The snapshot found that between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, more than 42,000 Medicare-enrolled nursing home residents experienced serious falls resulting in major injury and hospitalization, and 1,911 died during their hospital stays. The data indicated that most residents had known fall risk factors prior to their injuries, and falls were more common among female, older, and short-stay residents. Nursing homes with lower nurse staffing levels and lower quality ratings had higher fall rates. These preventable events reduced residents’ quality of life and cost Medicare and enrollees over $800 million, underscoring the need for stronger fall prevention and quality improvement efforts in nursing homes. 

Wound care marketing can create confusion around hospice relatedness Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 9/16/25 Hospices provide wound care to many patients, but confusion can arise over questions of relatedness to the terminal illness. The goals of palliative wound care include primarily symptom management, comfort and dignity, but it does not always focus on healing the injury, a 2023 study indicated. This differs from general wound care, which does target healing. Palliative wound care is essential for hospice patients and most of the time should be considered related to the patient’s terminal condition, according to Felicia Walz, director of hospice quality for Colorado-based provider HopeWest. “Providing wound care to hospice patients is always appropriate,” Walz told Hospice News.

Nursing homes can disrupt ‘rehabbed to death’ cycle with PDPM-based palliative care Skilled Nursing News; by Kristin Carroll; 9/7/25 ... Skilled nursing facilities can leverage the Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) to provide more palliative care to people near the end of life, helping to drive value-based care goals while improving the patient experience. However, much more needs to be done on the policy level to disrupt the current status quo, in which people commonly go through several care transitions near the end of life, driving up costs across the health care system while patients receive services that are not aligned with their own goals. Enabling concurrent SNF and hospice care is one change that could lead to improvement. These are assertions in the recent article “Rehab and Death: Improving End-Of-Life Care for Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility Beneficiaries,” published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Navigating the Wage Index: Insights from industry experts Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast by Chris Comeaux with Annette Kiser and Judi Lund Person; 8/20/25 The healthcare landscape is transforming before our eyes, shifting away from hospital-centered care toward home-based models.  This fundamental change raises urgent questions about Medicare's outdated reimbursement systems, particularly for Hospice providers facing a mere 2.6% rate increase while battling significant inflation. Join us in this illuminating conversation and in-depth discussion with industry experts Annette Kiser, Chief Compliance Officer with Teleios, and Judi Lund Person, Principal, Lund Person & Associates LLC, as they sit down with Chris and explore the complexities of the final 2026 Hospice Wage Index and its impact on Hospice organizations.

Aveanna beefs up advocacy efforts, leans into preferred payer strategy Home Health Care News; by Joyce Famakinwa; 8/15/25 Amid an uncertain reimbursement environment and sea of recent policy updates, Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: AVAH) remains focused on the strategies that have been helping the company achieve success. ... This means ramping up the company’s efforts around advocacy, as well as actively working with various state Medicaid programs. Home Health Care News caught up with Jim Melancon at last month’s National Alliance for Care at Home Financial Summit to learn more. Melancon serves as senior vice president of government affairs at Aveanna. ... The company has 327 locations across 34 states.