The occupancy rate for nursing homes was steady at 82% between 2000 and 2011, according to the most recent national health report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of Medicare-certified SNFs increased between 2000 and 2010.
June 03, 2013
Government officials released good news about the long-term solvency of the Medicare program Friday. The projections were based in large measure on lower projected reimbursements for skilled nursing facilities.
June 01, 2013
Q: Some major REITs are trying to unload their skilled nursing homes, the Wall Street Journal recently reported. What's Sabra's position on SNFs?
June 01, 2013
The nation's skilled nursing facilities can expect an aggregate $500 million boost in Medicare payments next year — $320 million less than the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed.
May 20, 2013
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has revised the provider certification manual for hospitals, giving more in-depth guidelines around discharge planning. The goal is for hospitals to reduce readmissions by partnering with post-acute providers.
Advocat Inc., which operates 48 skilled nursing centers, changed its name to Diversicare Healthcare Services as of March 15. Its facilities already operated under the Diversicare name, and President and CEO Kelly J. Gill said the name change is to unify branding.
April 08, 2013
The government should consider Medicare payment cuts for hospice services provided in skilled nursing facilities, according to Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) commissioners. A reduction of 3% to 5% is reasonable, MedPAC says, based on a formula that assumes "equal provision of aide visits" in home and facility settings, and accounts for the labor costs of these two types of care.
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April 01, 2013
A four-person review panel would have to approve civil malpractice lawsuits against long-term care providers before the claims could go to court, under a bill that recently passed the state senate in Kentucky.
March 25, 2013
On a macro level, expanding Medicaid reimbursement for assisted living will result in higher demand across the board. Serving Medicaid residents is not for every assisted living provider, but may be very beneficial to some.
Medicare payments to skilled nursing facilities should be cut 4% in 2014 and then steadily reduced in subsequent years, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission said in a March 15 report to Congress. Rates should be decreased to achieve $10 billion in savings by 2018, the group said.
National HealthCare Corp is buying six nursing homes from landlord National Health Investors for $21 million, the company announced.
February 01, 2013
We have a family that insists on bringing in a space heater for their mom's room during the winter to "make her happy." Are space heaters permitted in rooms in skilled facilities such as ours?
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.
July 24, 2012
Medicare expenditures for beneficiaries who are readmitted to the hospital within 60 days are twice as high as expenditures for beneficiaries who aren't readmitted, a new analysis sponsored by the home health industry finds.
May 23, 2012
Healthcare reform efforts targeted at reducing hospital readmissions are here to stay, experts told participants in a McKnight's webcast Tuesday.
May 10, 2012
Medicare cuts scheduled to hit in January will cost skilled nursing facilities close to $800 million in fiscal year 2014, a new analysis estimates.
Bad debt provisions of recent legislation will cut skilled nursing facility payments by nearly $3 billion between 2012 and 2021, with a handful of states bearing the brunt of it, a report finds.
March 09, 2012
Under a new program, New Hampshire will receive a fistful of dollars in order to keep people out of nursing homes. Seems like a bad break, right? In fact, wise nursing home operators will be grateful.
February 14, 2012
While President Obama's proposed 2013 budget contains expected Medicare cuts, long-term care groups have expressed their disappointment. Among other proposals, the American Health Care Association criticized a provision of the budget that would "align Medicare policy more closely with private sector standards by reducing bad debt payments to 25% for all eligible providers over three years starting in 2013."
Relief could be on the horizon for providers, regulators and other stakeholders who have struggled to find common evaluation and payment models for individuals who move between post-acute care settings, researchers say.
Forty states have either frozen or cut Medicaid-financed nursing home care for seniors between 2009 and 2011, a new survey has found.
In order to survive an uncertain financial and regulatory environment, skilled nursing operators need to look at partnering with other healthcare systems and improving the quality of care, analysts say.
Techniques such as screening for sepsis and a standardized discharge form have helped to lower the rate of rehospitalized nursing home patients in Florida.
January 14, 2011
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has recommended that Congress not provide a cost-of-living increase, also known as a market-basket update, for skilled nursing facilities in fiscal year 2012.
