March 06, 2013
In the now-infamous case of an independent living facility's policy on CPR, the simple perception is that a woman was dying and needed CPR. Sound and prudent judgment would have been to perform it, or move out of the way and get someone else to do it.
After more than a year on the campaign trail, it all comes down to Tuesday. Elections across the country, topped by the battle for the presidency, will take place. The results could set in motion the framework for new regulatory and reimbursement processes for long-term care and other providers. Or they could further reforms already begun. Dozens of key U.S. congressional races also will be of interest to providers. Beyond the typical local implications, elected members of Congress will be able to dictate the direction of any national agenda for healthcare and funding reform.
April 24, 2012
You could soak up plenty of what you'd want to hear at a conference Monday at the LeadingAge PEAK Leadership Summit: discussions ranging from leadership and policy to payments.
February 21, 2012
The Compliance Store recently revamped its website. Improvements include easier navigation, tab restructuring, site videos, and additional customer-friendly features. Compliance Store staff research more than 60 regulatory/government websites each day in order to compile regulatory and policy updates.
November 22, 2011
The National Labor Relation Board's Acting General Counsel has released a report summarizing a number of recent NLRB decisions involving employers' restrictions on employee use of social media. They provide insight as to how the NLRB is currently reviewing social media issues that impact employee rights.
Today is the first day without Medicaid's extended, inflated matching pay rates of the last two years, a scenario that has state officials and providers worrying about what will come next. The bigger FMAP rates were part of the 2009 stimulus package. Originally, the extra pay was to end in December 2010, but then it was continued, on a declining basis, through Thursday. Some policy wonks are suggesting the rates simply be extended, with states paying back Uncle Sam when their economies recover. Budget hawks, meanwhile, have resisted efforts to extend the more generous rates. Providers are concerned about ever tighter Medicaid funding and are lobbying their respective lawmakers about it. Medicaid is the single largest payer of nursing home services in the United States.
A new review of state assisted living regulations finds that the economic downturn hasn't slowed the development of new Medicaid and assisted living policy changes.
June 05, 2009
Hundreds of nursing home owners and operators blitzed congressional buildings in Washington on Thursday, pressing lawmakers for better Medicare payments, a halt to post-acute payment bundling system talk and other improvements. But one thing they weren't expecting to make much progress on was long-term care reform.
May 28, 2009
It's a wrap on RAPs. Resident Assessment Protocols (RAPs) will be eliminated under a new assessment regimen in development, an official with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced on Thursday.
March 26, 2009
President Barack Obama in a press conference Tuesday night argued that the only way to balance the budget is to address the nation's rising healthcare costs. Medicare and Medicaid, the big government payers of long-term care, and the housing market will be the subjects of McKnight's Online Expo on its final day today.
March 25, 2009
The third annual online trade show for the long-term care field starts today with a whole range of educational webcasts and virtual vendor booths. It's not too late to register for the two-day event at www.mcknights.com/expo.
One new federal bill would expand the scope of disaster relief to include for-profit nursing homes, while another would help fund the installation of sprinkler systems.
March 24, 2009
Under President Obama's budget plan, Medicare and Medicaid spending would be slashed by up to $295 billion over the next 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated.
March 20, 2009
A new Government Accountability Office report shows that the survey and certification system lacks the funding necessary to keep pace with its oversight responsibilities. Sens. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Herb Kohl (D-WI) on Thursday released the report in conjunction with the Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act of 2009, a bill that inflamed nursing home providers when it was initially introduced last year.
March 18, 2009
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) recommended to Congress Tuesday that skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities not receive a reimbursement rate increase for fiscal year 2010. The recommendation angered nursing home providers.
Alaska has the largest percentage of five-star rated facilities in the United States, while Louisiana has the lowest. That is according to U.S. News and World Report's America's Best Nursing Homes rankings. The list expands on information from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Nursing Home Compare Web site, which houses the new "five-star" rating system.
March 06, 2009
Federal healthcare regulators on Thursday announced a sweeping round of delays for an updated tool to enhance the nursing home payment system. The rollout of MDS 3.0 is now targeted for October 2010 and other intermediary steps are being pushed back, officials with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said.
March 01, 2009
A good idea does not necessarily good policy make. For proof, look no further than the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services' recently unveiled Five-Star rating system for nursing homes.
March 01, 2009
In this down-turned economy, when most things seem to be getting more difficult to accomplish or acquire, there is one high-quality endeavor bucking the trend: McKnight's Online Expo.
A federal appeals court has ruled against an Indiana nursing home, which successfully contested 16 of 17 Medicaid-participation and state licensing violations. The court did not find that state health department officials had issued citations out of malice.
A recent article in The Washington Post sheds light on a quietly enacted last-minute Bush policy that hinders the prosecution of cases against nursing homes.
February 24, 2009
The American Health Care Association and the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care Monday reiterated the importance of reforming the long-term care payment system. McKnight's' readers can learn more about payment and policy issues during the McKnight's Online Expo March 25-26.
February 02, 2009
President Obama issued a series of pro-labor executive orders Friday, sparking new worries for providers and other employers that even more pro-union action could be forthcoming.
The state of New York is urging the Obama administration to overturn a rule that denies couples receiving home care the same financial rights as those in nursing homes.
States may not have the infrastructure to support a potential increase in home- and community-based services, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The agency released a report highlighting the projected costs and ramifications of more than 100 healthcare policies, including many proposed for long-term care.
December 18, 2008
The head of one provider organization reacted negatively Wednesday to the way the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has handled the launch of a new five-star rating system for nursing homes. The program is scheduled to launch today.
December 12, 2008
Nursing home operators on Monday will begin receiving advance notice of their first ratings in federal regulators' new "five-star" system, officials said during a conference call Thursday.
December 08, 2008
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) may recommend to Congress that skilled nursing facilities not receive a Medicare payment update in fiscal year 2010.
December 01, 2008
The recent appointment of Peter Orszag to director of the White House Office of Management and Budget indicates that the Obama administration is serious about controlling the rising costs of healthcare, according to news reports.
November 25, 2008
The pending "five-star" nursing home rating system should be delayed because it would not accurately reflect the quality of the nation's nursing homes, the American Health Care Association told the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently.
