May 30, 2013
Almost immediately after the 2006 schism that threatened to fully tear them fully apart, some stakeholders wanted to see the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care remain united with the American Health Care Association. Gradual Alliance attrition, combined with the effects of hard knocks from regulators and lawmakers, helped make it a reality this week.
May 29, 2013
While many details of the merger of the American Health Care Association and the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care are still being sorted out, one thing is clear: The agreement of nursing home giant HCR ManorCare and regional provider Medical Facilities of America (MFA) to join AHCA sealed the deal.
May 07, 2013
Post-acute providers have improved across a broad range of quality measures, according to a comprehensive report released by the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care. Providers improved outcomes in 13 of 15 measures — such as pain, pressure ulcers and pneumonia vaccination — between 2011 and the second quarter of 2012.
Providers, advocates and other leaders in the long-term care services and supports realm will hold a Twitter Chat from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Thursday. Participants should use the hashtag #SOSeniors to take part. The event will be co-hosted by LeadingAge, the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care, and the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living. Participants are asked to contribute questions and ideas about how best to prepare for advocacy efforts during the 113th Congress, which extends for the next 20 months.
March 11, 2013
I was hoping to get clear answers about the sector's future at the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry's regional meeting last week in San Diego. I did, but I also must admit there were times when it was hard to give the various speakers the attention they deserved.
February 28, 2013
Skilled nursing facilities in highly populated states on the East Coast and in the Midwest would be hit hardest by Medicare cuts if sequestration takes effect, according to figures released by the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care on Wednesday.
February 13, 2013
With $9 billion in Budget Relief Act sequester cuts to the U.S. skilled nursing facility (SNF) sector now just weeks away following the latest cut of at least $600 million in Medicare Part B therapy payments after passage of the American Tax Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA), we are making it a priority this month to ensure Congress carefully reviews the cascade of budget and regulatory changes since 2009 that leaves the nation's second largest health facility employer facing a staggering $65.6 billion in Medicare funding reductions over the next ten years.
January 17, 2013
Skilled nursing facilities, already bracing for scheduled Medicare payment cuts of $65 million, face further losses that could total hundreds of millions of dollars, according to an Avalere Health analysis.
December 20, 2012
As federal debt negotiations continued Wednesday, an industry group unveiled its three-part plan for reform in post-acute care.
November 12, 2012
Despite the customary complaints about negativity and the avalanche of TV ads, the 2012 campaign was unusually substantive from the standpoint of the entitlement reform discussion because both sides were required to make their best arguments about how we as a nation will protect seniors' Medicare funding in an era of unprecedented fiscal chaos.
November 12, 2012
The leader of the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care expressed optimism Friday after President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) spoke publicly about looming healthcare funding threats.
September 17, 2012
Skilled nursing facilities in the most populous states will be the hardest hit if Congress enacts the 2% across-the-board cut in Medicare payments to providers, two new analyses predict.
September 12, 2012
A scheduled 2% sequestration cut in federal Medicare payments to providers could result in the loss of thousands of U.S. healthcare jobs, a new report warns.
April 11, 2012
Even in generosity, it seems, nursing homes can't catch a break. The headlines imply as much.
April 02, 2012
There's an old adage that goes something like this: It's hard to remember that your objective was to drain the ditch when you are up to your waist in alligators.
Nursing homes are planning to layoff direct caregivers, reduce employee benefits and cancel facility expansion plans as a result of cumulative Medicare and Medicaid cuts, a new survey finds.
August 16, 2011
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' 11.1% reimbursement rate cut to skilled-nursing facilities will reduce Medicare payments to the entire sector by $79 billion over 10 years, according to a new report. The regulation, which is scheduled to go into effect Oct. 1, also will reduce national economic activity by $6.75 billion in FY 2012, according to a report released Monday by research firm Avalere Health.
August 02, 2011
Shares of major skilled nursing facility operator stocks took a nosedive Monday morning following Friday's announcement that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are cutting Medicare reimbursements to SNFs by 11.1%, starting Oct. 1. Operators Sun Healthcare, Skilled Healthcare and Kindred Healthcare lost more than a quarter of their market value on Monday, according to published reports.
Appearing in a hearing before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Thursday, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius went to bat for the Obama administration's entitlement reform plan in the Affordable Care Act. She also criticized Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) FY 2012 budget proposal, according to a report from The Hill.
To strengthen providers' argument that the GOP's proposed Medicare changes would endanger employees' livelihoods, the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care has released a report showing the industry's strength as a job creator.
Long-term care groups on Tuesday strongly criticized the latest round of recommendations to Congress from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.
February 10, 2011
Healthcare providers are worried that the Medicare and Medicaid cuts predicted in President Obama's FY 2012 budget will affect the quality of care offered in skilled nursing facilities, and damage the U.S. economy's fragile recovery as well. The president's budget is expected to be released Monday.
December 06, 2010
Despite pleas from the long-term care community, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is tentatively recommending a 0% market-basket update to skilled nursing facilities for fiscal year 2012.
