March 01, 2013
Long-term care facilities that are undergoing a major renovation or are in the process of building a new structure may be eligible for a sprinkler system extension.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will utilize computer technology to shift from detecting and then prosecuting fraud ("pay-and-chase") to preventing it, according to a CMS official who spoke at last week's National HIPAA Summit in Washington, D.C.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should press states to repay about $225 million in Medicaid overpayments accrued over a 10-year period, according to a recent report from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG).
February 08, 2013
Marilyn Tavenner, the acting administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, has been renominated by President Barack Obama to permanently fill the position.
Long-term care pharmacies are struggling with an Affordable Care Act provision related to short-cycle dispensing of brand name oral solid drugs, according to a recent letter from the Long Term Care Pharmacy Alliance and the National Community Pharmacists Association.
February 01, 2013
Instead of spending more time doing hands-on patient care, therapists who work with Medicare beneficiaries have been strapped with increased administrative tasks, sometimes leading to delayed services, or worse.
February 01, 2013
Providers will have to hold their breath a little longer after receiving Medicare payments, thanks to a little-publicized provision of recently signed fiscal cliff legislation.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is set to offer more than 14,500 contracts in the second round of its competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment and supplies.
As part of an effort to improve coordination among different care settings and reduce rehospitalizations, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is now accepting two new codes related to transitional care.
January 25, 2013
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services often backs pilot programs that might help improve long-term care services. In recent years, the agency has funded efforts to do things such as update employee background checks, reduce pressure ulcers, improve e-prescribing, and foster at-home independence.
January 24, 2013
Long-term care facilities that coordinate with other healthcare providers play a vital role in reducing rehospitalizations among Medicare beneficiaries, according to a study published January 23 in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed a rule to clarify ways in which Medicaid will be coordinated under the Affordable Care Act rollout.
January 11, 2013
Journalists generally get all warm and tingly when previously guarded information becomes available. It must be in our DNA. So I should probably be cheering ProPublica's announcement that the government is now releasing unredacted write-ups of problems found during nursing home inspections.
January 10, 2013
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is asking providers to help figure out a way to make demands from Medicare Administrative Contractors less burdensome.
December 17, 2012
Long-term care providers struck back quickly late last week after the chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee accused them of "gaming" the reimbursement system during a hearing on caring for individuals eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.
Data collected by a management consulting firm showed that approximately 2.4 million Medicare beneficiaries received care via different Medicare ACO programs run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
November 27, 2012
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services remains busy counseling states with guidance on the standards that Medicaid programs must adhere to in coverage options for low-income. A new letter gives guidance on the Medicaid expansion scheduled to begin in January 2014.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released the 2013 daily co-insurance amounts for skilled nursing care services, along with the inpatient hospital deductible amount.
The Affordable Care Act's controversial Medicare payment board would be an "agent for reimbursement cuts to Medicare," according to a policy paper released Wednesday.
Providers should consider social factors, such as race, gender and whether a person is a nursing home resident, when assessing readmission risk among pneumonia and heart failure patients, new research finds.
Regulators say they are delaying implementation of one of the Affordable Care Act's bundled payment initiatives due to low applicant turnout.
The aggressive marketing of power wheelchairs and scooters to seniors drives up Medicare costs and puts providers in a tough spot, says Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).
October 17, 2012
Two Republican Senators want to know why the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is two weeks overdue in issuing a report on the agency's fraud prevention system (FPS).
October 02, 2012
Here it comes again! The Oct 1, 2012, federal regulatory changes will not only impact reimbursement but new reporting requirements also will multiply denials for skilled nursing providers across the country.
October 01, 2012
Former CMS chief Tom Scully is off-base in his chastisement of the long-term care industry.
Federal health officials defended a demonstration program that requires Medicare pre-authorization for power wheelchairs in a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
Increasingly sophisticated fraud prevention systems are allowing the federal government to zero in on suspect billing in long-term care facilities, an official said Tuesday.
September 10, 2012
California is the first state to get regulatory approval for a federally funded program aimed at keeping elderly and disabled individuals out of nursing homes.
A long-term care group is urging regulators to continue work on fixing the "observation stay loophole" that makes it harder for Medicare beneficiaries to get nursing home care.
The developers of the online Nursing Home Inspect updated its database this week to allow consumers to comb through 134,602 nursing home inspection deficiencies.
