Main News

More training, advocacy needed as Medicare denials continue — 10 years after Jimmo case

By

Kimberly Marselas

Sep 29, 2023

Ten years after a landmark court case determined patients do not need to regain function to maintain access to skilled nursing care and therapy services, advocates warn that elderly patients and those…

AARP scorecard captures nursing home faults, innovations state-by-state

By

Kimberly Marselas

Sep 29, 2023

Long-term care, including access to quality skilled nursing, is “painfully inadequate” with major gaps in every state, finds an updated scorecard issued Thursday by AARP.

As COVID infections rise, nursing homes still waiting for vaccines

By

Jordan Rau, KFF Health News

Sep 29, 2023

With the end of the formal public health emergency in May, the federal government stopped purchasing and distributing covid vaccines. That has added complications for operators of nursing homes who have…

Also in the News for Friday, Sept. 29

By

Kimberly Marselas

Sep 29, 2023

Push to expand hospital staffing ratios could complicate nursing home mandate compliance … Baltimore announces $500 awards for nursing home, other direct care workers … Philips kept complaints about…

Care teams now at risk as MDS changes roll out

By

Kimberly Marselas

Sep 28, 2023

It’s been widely billed as the biggest change to the Minimum Data Set in more than a decade, and on Sunday, version 1.18.11 of the MDS 3.0 finally kicks in.

CMS to lose half of staff in shutdown, full impact on providers uncertain

By

Jessica R. Towhey

Sep 28, 2023

Nursing home providers should not see any interruption in Medicaid and Medicare benefits during a short-term government shutdown, experts and sector observers said as Congress moved closer to the precipice…

SNFist practice driven out of business by False Claims allegations must face trial

By

Kimberly Marselas

Sep 28, 2023

A once well-regarded but now-shuttered physician practice must face trial in a False Claims Act case alleging it overbilled for skilled nursing care, a federal judge ruled this week.

Also in the News for Thursday, Sept. 28

By

Kimberly Marselas

Sep 28, 2023

New York seeks receiver for troubled nursing home … EEOC, Department of Labor issue disability resource guide … Justice Dept hits doctor with $1.3M fine for nursing home critical care billing … Nashville…

Staffing rule could bring system ‘collapse,’ providers say, but CMS stands firm

By

James M. Berklan

Sep 27, 2023

Nursing homes’ leading lobbying organization unloaded a full, research-backed attack on the viability of the White House’s proposed staffing mandate Tuesday. But the administration was unmoved, and…

Feds relaunch CMP grant program, with new limits on uses and annual awards

By

Kimberly Marselas

Sep 27, 2023

Federal officials are narrowing the ways in which providers can use penalty funds collected from sanctioned nursing homes as the Civil Monetary Penalty Reinvestment Program relaunches.

Pay increases for physical therapists returning to pre-pandemic levels: report

By

Jessica R. Towhey

Sep 27, 2023

Physical therapists in long-term care facilities received an average pay increase of 3.7% in 2023, which outpaces increases seen in other healthcare settings serving seniors. 

Also in the News for Wednesday, Sept. 27

By

Kimberly Marselas

Sep 27, 2023

Nursing home hit with $60K penalty over email-related data breach … Public upset over potential operator’s star rating leads county to reconsider nursing home sale … Decline in resident frailty upon…

[Updated] BREAKING: Price of nursing home staffing mandate is $6.8B, 100K more workers, analysis finds

By

Kimberly Marselas

Sep 26, 2023

Nursing homes would need to spend more than $6.8 billion annually to meet a proposed federal staffing mandate, which also would require them to hire more than 102,000 new workers if enacted as originally…

Disrupting an ‘ecosystem that works’: Providers rip staffing mandate’s LPN omission

By

Kimberly Marselas

Sep 26, 2023

As operators continue to parse a proposed federal staffing mandate, one of the biggest concerns is for workers who get little attention in the proposed regulations: the licensed practical nurses whom many…

First state analysis shows mass closures under ‘catastrophic’ federal staffing proposal

By

Jessica R. Towhey

Sep 26, 2023

A proposed federal staffing mandate would force an estimated 4,000 skilled nursing beds out of service in Michigan, according to an analysis by the state’s largest nursing home advocacy group. 

Labor complaint seeks $180K in OT wages, damages

By

Jessica R. Towhey

Sep 26, 2023

A healthcare provider with a history of violating federal wage laws since 2013 is back in the hot seat with the US Department of Labor, which seeks more than $180,000 in back wages for misclassifying workers…

Also in the News for Tuesday, Sept. 26

By

Kimberly Marselas

Sep 26, 2023

Adoption of robotics, analytics growing among largest senior care organizations: LZ200 … Proposed revisions to Washington state ’s long-term care insurance plan launch new wave of protests …  AARP…

Nursing beds continue to slide in annual LZ200 rankings

By

Kimberly Marselas

Sep 25, 2023

The nation’s largest not-for-profit senior living providers remain largely the same when ranked by the number of skilled nursing beds they provide, even after a year in which many life plan communities…

38 nursing homes agree to stop denying admissions to patients being treated for opioid use

By

Jessica R. Towhey

Sep 25, 2023

Three Pennsylvania nursing homes and four provider groups operating numerous facilities have agreed to comply with an order from the state attorney general to admit individuals managing opioid use disorder.

Prisons saw fewer staffing problems than nursing homes did during pandemic: report

By

Jessica R. Towhey

Sep 25, 2023

Fewer facilities run by the US Bureau of Prisons experienced staffing shortages during the pandemic than nursing homes, according to a new federal report.