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.