Legislation

Nursing homes could be pushed into negative margins if Congress passes proposed end-of-the-year legislation, a new analysis finds. Skilled nursing facilities, many of which are already struggling to stay in the black, were operating at margin of 0.75% of aggregate overall revenues in 2009, according to an analysis completed by The Moran Company, on behalf of the American Health Care Association.

The long-term care industry would be the third-most impacted healthcare field if state Medicaid funding is converted into block grants, according to a new analysis from Bloomberg News.

If all the recent legislative action (or inaction, as the case may be) on Capitol Hill has your head spinning, don't worry—you're not alone.

After two days and more than 560 proposed amendments, adjustments to the Senate Finance Committee healthcare proposal are still a long way from being completed, but long-term care providers have found at least a few plums among them.

A bipartisan group of senators succeeded Tuesday in passing S. Res 276, officially recognizing the first day of fall as, what else? National Falls Prevention Awareness day.

Providers will be waiting, watching and lobbying with baited breath over the coming week, as House leaders attempt to steer their three-headed proposal for healthcare reform before the full House for a vote. With two of the three involved committees having already approved a measure, all focus will be on the Energy and Commerce Committee, which canceled another markup session Thursday. Providers potentially have millions of dollars in reimbursements at stake. Draining the urgency for action is Senate leaders' decision to wait until after the August recess to vote on their version of a reform bill, which includes a first-of-its-kind long-term care insurance benefit endorsed by providers.

Some say the House's proposed healthcare reform legislation, which includes cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, as well as a public health insurance plan, will prevent rising healthcare costs from bankrupting the country. Not so, says the head of the Congressional Budget Office.

The U.S. House of Representatives officially released its version of healthcare reform legislation Tuesday. And, as requested by President Obama, the reform package should come to a vote by the August recess, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.