A Florida pilot program designed to give Medicare beneficiaries more choice and control concerning their healthcare plans has led to more confusion than anything else, according to a recent review by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The Office of Inspector General has supplemented 2000 compliance program guidance for nursing facilities.

While the nursing home industry can be proud of its accomplishments in Washington over the last year, many challenges await. These include card-check legislation in Congress and a problematic five-star rating system, Bruce Yarwood, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association, said Monday at the 59th Annual Convention & Expo's Opening General Session in Nashville.

After the release of a recent Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General report on nursing home violations, states are coming out in defense of their records.

Health officials on Tuesday issued new voluntary guidelines for nursing homes to help them avert fraud and abuse in Medicaid, Medicare and other federal healthcare programs. The 17-page long document was published in the Federal Register and complements guidance issued in 2000.

A new survey of state officials shows that increasing budget pressures could lead states to start clicking down their Medicaid programs. Most have resisted cuts thus far, but the odds of that continuing are becoming less and less likely, according to a report by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.

More than nine out of 10 nursing homes in the United States last year were cited for violating federal health and safety standards, according to a report released Monday by the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General.

How to jump-start the economy is a big topic these days. This week, Democrats returned to a familiar stimulus theme: increasing the share of federal Medicaid payments.

Surrogates for presidential hopefuls John McCain (R) and Barack Obama (D) spelled out their respective nominees' views on the future of long-term care in the United States at the third annual Long-Term Care Symposium in Washington this week.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services hopes that a new online guide for Medicare beneficiaries and healthcare providers will be a "one-stop shop" for information on coverage, coding and payment.