Day in the Life: Taekwondo teens impress
Visitors to the Good Samaritan Society Sioux Falls Village might be curious about objects in some resident rooms: pieces of wood with Korean writing on them.
Most recent articles by Tim Mullaney
Lengthy ‘doc fix’ hearing could mean bad news for provider payments
Long-term care providers could have good reason to worry that forthcoming Medicare reforms could cut into their reimbursements, following a two-day hearing on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers reiterated pledges to permanently change the way physician payment rates are calculated. They also emphasized that provider reimbursement cuts and beneficiary cost-sharing might very well be needed due to the price-tag on the policy shift.
Appeals court keeps observation stay case alive, questions the role of doctors
Medicare beneficiaries can continue to press their case that hospitals’ observation stay practices are violating patient rights, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
Medicare penalties far exceed bonus payments to hospitals, analysis finds
Recently implemented Medicare penalties are having a greater impact on hospitals than newly available bonuses, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis.
Providers, Senate leader focus on long-term care financing after State of the Union address
The White House and Congress should work together to ensure that older Americans have necessary financial resources, including for long-term care, provider associations and prominent lawmakers said in response to Tuesday’s State of the Union address.
Major problems with the pipeline of LTC workers, report states
Workers are leaving long-term care at a faster rate than they are joining the field, according to a new report from the University of California, San Francisco. And many people experience poverty after leaving long-term care jobs, suggesting that employers and policymakers urgently need to ensure the safety of these workers and boost professional development efforts, report authors argue.
Supreme Court appears divided on whether providers can sue for higher Medicaid rates
The Supreme Court appears to be split over the question of whether healthcare providers have a right to sue states over low Medicaid rates, court watchers noted after oral arguments on Tuesday.
Congressional advisors waver on eliminating observation stays
Getting rid of hospital observation stays might not be a good idea after all, according to Medicare Payment Advisory Commission members who previously pushed for the change. Even if observation status is not scrapped as a category, there are other potential solutions on the table to make post-acute care more accessible.
Quality improves in rural nursing homes with 1 RN per 4 nurses, study finds
When it comes to caring for long-stay residents, rural nursing homes do better if they hit a staffing ratio of one full-time registered nurse for every four full-time nursing employees, according to recently published findings.
Hatch: Doc fix is a ‘must pass’
Fixing Medicare’s broken physician payment system is a “must pass” order of business, a key Senate leader said on Tuesday.
